I can't even tell you how ready I am for Fall!  My mind has been on nothing but wanting to sew "transitional" garments that I can wear now and later.  

Inspiration:

It's no secret that I'm in love with all things peplum.  So I made another peplum top and I can promise you that this one will not be the last one.  I still plan to make a couple with sleeves for the Fall/Winter.  This one is New Look 6130.  

Love the neckline and my polish is Essie "Good as Gold"!

The only alteration I made was adding an inch to the waist.  I used this fabulous stretch white cotton sateen from Mood Fabrics.com.  And I added an exposed zipper to the back for that extra bit of pizzazz. 

I bought the zipper from Joanns.  It's this one and it's 24" long.

And I made another pair pants from Vogue 1143.  This time in a gorgeous bright coral lightweight stretch wool crepe from Mood Fabrics.com.  Believe me when I tell you that this fabric is beautiful.  The drape is amazing and it's light enough to wear now and I can add tights for cooler temps.

This is what I wore out last night with the husband.  This is Badgley Mischka's pattern -- Vogue 1089.  I made this dress 2 years ago.  And this tangerine linen number has been a warm weather favorite.  I made it at time when I was first opening myself up to wearing more color.  And speaking of this color, it's been one of the hottest colors this season!  

Orange Dress Trend!

Don't you love how the dress just happens to match the color of the beautiful sunset?

This is another collar style necklace that I also bought over the weekend.  I think I'm slightly obsessed.  And on my nails is Essie "Penny Talk".

And I paired the dress with my Zara shoes which are well broken in now and makes them super comfy to walk in.

In case you didn't know, color and I mean gorgeous happy colors will still be trending for Fall 2012.  Check out the Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall 2012.

I'd been wanting to make more colorful pants for fall.  But finding a pants pattern I really like is always a challenge.  You can have a particular silhouette in mind, but finding a commercial pattern that fills the requirement is always difficult to me.  This is what I wanted in a pair of trousers:  A midrise; flat front with darts; darts in the back; fitted through the hip and thighs; flaring at the knee; a leg opening wide enough to cover my shoes while sweeping the ground.  You'd be surprised at how difficult that is to find.  Most commercial pants patterns with wide legs are usually wide from the hip down.  Now what I've discovered about myself is that I look best in the least amount of fabric.  And those pants with all of that fabric falling from the hip line just make me look bigger and wider than I am.  It's the same reason I prefer sheath dresses to those with full skirts.   

I've had Vogue 1143 by Guy Laroche in my pattern collection since it was released.  I don't know why I'd never noticed the cut of these pants before.  I guess it's because the style of the jacket was stealing the limelight.

If you've made pants before, these are pretty standard -- so I won't go into great detail.  However, I cut the size 16, in a stretch twill and added 6 inches to the length.  I wear heels and I wanted my pants long.  I ended up with a 36" inseam, which is really hard to find in RTW in really nice pants.  I used a 2" hem and followed Mimi's great tip on "Weighing Down Hems".    

And over the weekend while shopping with my daughters in Forever 21, I came across this really cute collar necklace and it begged to come home with me!  Check out this trend:

Wearing:  blazer: Simplicity 2250; top & belt: TJ Maxx; clutch: Vintage; necklace: Forever 21.