Princess Smartypants very sensibly suggested that I not hem the blouse if I wasn’t going to wear it, so I won’t. I did, however, gather up a collection of nice fabrics — linens and cottons — for a summer wardrobe. I was always pretty resistant to the idea of having a stash of fabrics, but it’s nice to be able to do this without having to go shopping.

I could make a wardrobe of blue and beige, with one wild fruity red blouse.

That is a tropical print lurking in there. Those who read my blog all the time and have total recall will know that my daughters have told me repeatedly that I can’t wear tropical prints, and that I do it anyway. However, the print doesn’t work with the red at all. It may have to go.

Let me explain about the SWAP concept. The letters stand for “Sewing With A Plan,” the idea being that you plan out your sewing ahead of time, and end up with a wardrobe of clothes you can wear together. The rules of this idea were developed by some Australians, but I think they really got solidified as rules when some Canadians began an annual contest. If you follow the rules, then you make 11 garments with two colors:

1 jacket, from a basic color
1 skirt and 1 pair of pants from the basic color
a two-piece dress from a print including both the basic colors
1 skirt or pair of pants from the second color
5 tops in coordinating colors

The object is to make these things with TNT (tried and true) patterns — that is, patterns which you’ve made before and fitted properly. That way, the whole process is quick. Everything you make can be worn with every other thing. So when you go to get dressed for work, you can grab any combination of these garments and fling them on and be dressed. If you’ve done this right, then you have two months’ worth of outfits with no repetition, though I think that long before that people would begin to refer to you as “that women who always wears blue and beige.”

I’m thinking that I’ll make one thing a week and have my SWAP completed by the time I start teaching summer school. If not, then I’ll still have an additional piece or two to wear, and that’ll be good.

In order to do this, of course, I’ll have to corral my work time and schedule some sewing time. Today I have my gym bag packed up, because I am going to go to the gym on the way home from class, as I am supposed to do. I am going to work for eight hours or so, not 10 or 12. I am going to have proper meals, and go to bed early enough to get a reasonable amount of sleep. I have one class to teach, a bunch of papers to grade, one website to write and three needing some other kind of work, and a rehearsal. This is a realistic amount of stuff for one day. This is the plan.