Yesterday, I persuaded #2 daughter to go to cardiopump with me. She didn’t even pretend that it was fun, and today is feeling as though she is coming down with something. I am hoping that it is leftover jet lag, plus that achy feeling that you might think was the flu if you don’t usually go to cardiopump.

She brought us souvenirs, including a Yorkie candy bar (“not for girls!” says the wrapper, and apparently the large size claims to be for “well hungry men”), and a wealth of stories which I won’t tell you because she has a xanga of her own. Last night we stayed up with the boys playing Catchphrase and eating pizza. It’s very fun having her home.

The Sew? I Knit sewalong is doing a top between now and July 15th. I think I am going to make it as many tops as I can make between now and July 15th. I have three I had already begun (I know, it’s shocking), and also I am determined to do the SWAP (Sewing With a Plan) idea.

We are beginning with one for #2 daughter, so she will be prepared for her job-hunting. This is my less-than-skillfully-done “storyboard,” which is the cornerstone of the SWAP plan, the place where you plan the whole thing out. I’ll add swatches of fabric once we have them.

I’ve ordered an Italian silk suiting in a subtle houndstooth check with beige, purple, and green shades in it. Once it arrives, I hope to find a good subtle geometric print that goes with it for a two-piece dress. The rest we’ll do in solids — purple, green, navy, gray, maybe ginger. It all depends on the exact nature of the print, so we’re waiting till that comes to do any further fabric shopping.

We cut out the top from Simplicity 7183, using a navy blue peachskin. We’re going to do the pants and skirt as well, but #2 daughter doesn’t care for the jacket from this pattern. I’m trying mostly to use patterns she already owns, but we will have to find a jacket pattern for her suit.

Maybe this one.

I’ve been delayed on my own SWAP because I have not yet found a print. I think this may be because I do fabric shopping like a quilter — ambling around the fabric store waiting for the sheer gorgeousness of a fabric to call out to me. Really, if you look in your closet, even at clothes you really like, you probably wouldn’t be wowed by the fabric on the bolt. When you buy fabric for clothes, you ought to think about things like how it works with your pattern and your skin tone and your lifestyle, rather than how it would look flat, like a work of art. I have to adjust my thinking on this.

So when I was wowed by the Italian suiting, I had to recognize that I am not a dramatic type in my dressing, that my job involves unloading trucks and being spat up on by children and therefore won’t accomodate Italian silks, that I am too pink to wear that much beige, and that it therefore would not be the right thing for me. I think it will be perfect for #2 daughter. I am still waiting for my print to come. (You will only find that mildly amusing if you have seen Disney’s Snow White. And remember the songs.) Okay, I have descended to dumb puns, so it is clearly time for this to end.