But the season is Fall. Lovely Autumn, with your changing leaf colors and crisp sunlit days! The change in the air is always so inspiring for the sewin’ room, wouldn’t you agree? Here are some things that I think would be nice to have, and probably even nice to sew. Will I make with the sleepless nights and fruitful sewing activity this Autumn? Hard to say: “a smidgen bit” most likely; all the way up to “some” would be nice; “all” is, like, totally not my procrastinating (and telly-watching) style. Still, come windowshop with me!

I’m all about a structured shirtdress, and this tweed is awesome. It’s very coat-like in this more substantial fabric, with lots of buttons, a double-breasted front closure, button-closeable-flapped patch pockets, self-fabric belt and shoulder epaulettes really copping the ingredients of a traditional trench coat. And it is described as a “coat dress,” so even the manufacturer says you can wear it as either, but … whatever. In that respect I can look at wrapdresses as bathrobes, right? It’s way cooler as a 100% dress than as a coat, says me. If you look at the biggest possible view, you can see the multiple gores of the skirt, the waistline seam, and the armscye princess bodice seams which will all make fitting this thing way easier. I mean, you won’t be wearing a pair of pants and a blouse underneath this thing, so you definitely don’t want traditional trench coat ease in this thing. Pattern possibilities: New Look 6815 if you give it a seam at the waist and fudge the skirt into a multiple-gored one and add a bit to the center-front pieces to get the overlap down pat. (Of course, the back has a shaped upper yoke and a center pleat running the length of the bodice which is chopped up into four pieces itself, but … I just don’t feel like playing around in photoshop that much just now. Maybe (read: probably) later.)

So here’s a sewing conundrum: the sweater dress. Not only is it a conundrum in the difficulty of caring for, finding a good pattern and fabric for, and then aren’t sweater knits sort of a pain to sew anyway? I’ve also got to decide between BCBG’s shawl collar-midriff band combo and the inimitable DvF’s three-quarter-length sleeved keyhole mandarin collar wrap option. My brain is facing a meltdown, I tell ya.