New year -- New directions

It's a new year and time for some new projects.  But before I go any further I want to thank Sunni, of the blog -- A Fashionable Stitch, for featuring my pea coat on her blog.  I was totally blown away to learn this.  It's hard for me to believe that anyone is paying any attention to what I do!  For those of you who do, I hope it's informative and just a little bit inspiring.  

So, like most of you, I have some sewing goals for 2012.  As much as I enjoy making outerwear, it's time to expand my repertoire. This became evident when I dressed for a staff Christmas party with my department members.  Because I wear a uniform at work, my closet is primarily filled with casual clothes.  Plaid flannel shirt at a holiday party?  I don't think so.  In the end I wore a button down shirt, argyle sweater and wool flannel trousers.  Yawn.......  I'd much rather have been wearing something just a little bit more imaginative.  

A big sewing goal this year will be to make some slightly dressier additions to my extremely tired wardrobe.  

This is where I'll start.  The Victorian Shirt from Folkwear.  This is exactly the shirt that I wished I'd had for the Christmas party.  It's not totally crazy, has a dressy vibe and I'd be the only guy wearing anything like it.  That's my idea of dressing.  I'm going to be making it in a very dark purple cotton jacquard.  

Oh ETSY, How I love you!   I think every guy could use a tuxedo shirt.  I've always wanted one but never owned one.  In a way they're sort of laughable, but they somehow can traverse the spectrum from formal to casual.  This is a shirt that I could get a lot of mileage out of.  Hopefully all that pleating isn't totally impossible.  Speaking of impossible, there won't be any ruffled version of this shirt!  And, oh, what about that huge bow tie.  That's out too.  

Another Etsy find.  I wouldn't mind having a nice assortment of vests in my closet.  They don't take much fabric and they're fun to wear.  I often see really beautiful fabrics when I'm in NYC, but can't for the life of me figure out what I'd do with them.  Vests are the answer.  

Lastly, check this out.  Vogue designer no less.  I got this pattern primarily for the jacket.  I'm not a three piece suit type.  The jacket has a reasonable lapel width and a double back vent which I think would be interesting.  I rarely dress up, but I do go to a work related conference every October.  Each year I decide between  the two silk / wool tweed sport coats that I own.  This year I want this jacket in velvet.  

Lastly, some books have been added to my meagre collection.  I have never made a pair of trousers or jeans, so I got David Coffin's book.  I'm just hoping it's not as obsessive compulsive as his shirt book.  Don't get me wrong, I know it's a great book.  But it drives me crazy.  I also picked up a book on pattern drafting by Lori Knowles.  It's very straightforward and full of information.  One of my goals will be to draft both an upper and lower body sloper this year.  Why?  I'm hoping that it can make my projects more creative and less dependent on published patterns.  

It will be interesting to see how this year turns out!  Time to tackle the Victorian Shirt.