This week is all about sewing for your season. We'll be looking at different patterns and different lifestyles in two different hemispheres side by side! Today we are looking at casual style.

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VFT Piper Top with Greenstyle Taylor Shorts

Suzanne here, in what is currently a very green PA, USA. I'm pretty much a fall winter girl, so I will admit that I am jealous of the weather on the other side of this post! I feel most comfortable with a bit of layering up....but I can't handle any weather over 75 degrees - so needless to say, I don't wear layers in the summer.

Recently, I've decided to shrug off my personal insecurities and bare some skin. I was bullied throughout my childhood, and learned to hide myself... clothes became camouflage that allowed me to slide through life without bringing any more attention my way. XL men's shirts, way big overalls, and mumu dresses made up my daily uniform from elementary through high school - college was only work out pants and tanks.

Why was I bullied??? My weight primarily. I I was a chubby kid, I am a curvy woman. I've tried every diet and program under the sun. I've gained and lost weight like a rollercoaster on crack. I centered my self worth and my beauty around the number on a scale and the size in my jeans....and if I couldn't achieve an acceptable number I simply wasn't beautiful.

But no more!!!! I'm a proud 14/16, 200 plus pound woman who is Beautiful just the way I am!

So long jeans and long pants even in sweltering heat!

So long big baggy over-sized clothes that have no shape!

So long dresses and skirts that only come to the ankle or floor (not that a maxi isn't' cute! BUt not if you are just hiding).

Time has taught me things abut myself and about beauty - namely that what I think matters way more than what others do! I now longer dress for other people, I dress for myself - I dress in what makes me smile, makes me feel confident, and makes me feel like me.

Pattern Hack Tank and Thurlow Trouser Shorts by Sewaholic

Hi, Lisa here in Australia, where we are on the cusp of winter – the weather decided to show off for my photos this weekend - we still get some beautiful sunny days here in late autumn (fall).

When I bought the fabric for this skirt, the woman in the shop asked me what I was making. I told her it was a skirt for myself – and she said, “Oh, a costume?” Ah, no, just an everyday skirt. For a grown woman. In novelty Wonder Woman fabric…. I had a very brief moment of doubt, but I had an outfit in my head that I just knew would work for me, so I went ahead and made it.

Autumn/winter casual is mostly jeans and warm cardigans for me – and I often just grab the same outfit over and over again. It’s easy and practical, and although it makes me feel comfortable and warm, it certainly doesn't make me feel beautiful. It makes me feel boring – as if I just blend into winter - which doesn't work for me at all. This skirt, however, puts a spring in my step, and a gives me a twirly, happy attitude. Every time I wear it, I get a compliment (often from a stranger), without fail. Which I suspect is as much about the way I feel when I’m wearing it as it is about the somewhat eye-catching fabric choice. I've been told it’s cute, fabulous, amazing.

And it makes me feel happy to know that this is my own style, and that I can have an idea like that and make it for myself. I think back to that moment in the store, where I might have second-guessed my choice, and gone with something more conventional. But being an individual – rocking my own style – wearing something eye-catching and unique – that makes me feel beautiful. (And secretly, it also makes me feel a little bit like Wonder Woman – but it’s still definitely not a costume!).

The flowers I’m holding in this photo are blossoms from a gum tree (Australian native), which my little girl picked for me while I was having my photo taken, because she thought it would look beautiful for me to be holding flowers in the photo. I think she was right.

The pattern is the Pattern Emporium Ladies Skater Skirt. It’s a circle skirt with two length options (this is the longer one), and an elastic waist, zipper, or button front. I used wide black ruffled elastic for the waist on this one, which makes it very comfortable to wear, and very quick to make. I really can’t get enough of this pattern - I have another four of these in my wardrobe already!

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