No. 6 Any Occasion Top Spring 2012

Number 6 on Tim Gunn's list is the Any Occasion Top, here are a few examples from the Net-a-Porter website, that can easily go from day to evening. You can swap out the jeans for a pair of black pants or a skirt and you are ready for dinner.

I am especially intrigued by the Etro top (I love the crazy colors), and if you have a collection of chiffon cuts that you didn't know what to do with, this would be a good use for them.  There's even a Vogue pattern (V1301)  that was recently issued that might be a good start if you shortened it a bit.

No 8. Day dress

This is the day dress I did for the Tim Gunn Sewalong on Patternreview.com. He suggests a day dress and when I got this fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics I knew that’s what it had to be! I think this fabric really has a Tommy Bahama feel to it.

It was the Bernina My Label basic dress pattern but, of course, I had to change some things. I put pockets on the front because I always wished dresses had pockets! Hey, I made it so I can do whatever I want with it! I put the slits in the front as opposed to the one in the back and added a placket neckline. I finally mastered doing plackets so now I want to use them more often!

No. 4 White Shirt

This my interpretation of the white shirt. I used the Bernina My Label tailored shirt pattern and using David Coffin’s book and DVD I flat felled the seams and did the placket the way he instructed. It’s much more professional than the one that came with the pattern. The fabric came from G Street Fabric and is a white on white stripe.

I could not resist using the embroidery on my Bernina Artista 165E to do a monogram on the cuff. When I originally got that machine I didn’t realize how much I would use the embroidery but it’s great for things like this.

No. 3 Classic Dress Pants

These are my completed black pants. I used the Bernina My Label flared pants but narrowed the leg. I also omitted the back pockets as I didn’t see any reason for them. The back is much smoother this way. I used a classic fly front and belt loops. The fabric was a black on black stripe silk suiting fabric I got in a Michael’s Fabric bundle a while back.

No. 8 -Day Dress done Vogue 1220 Donna Karan

Embroidered cotton dress with self sash.... from Vogue's latest pattern releases for Spring.