Am very excited to be on holidays this week, and had a little trip to the country to visit the parents. Mum was kind enough to be my photographer for some new pieces.....
A while ago I drafted a knit pencil skirt pattern, very simple, based on waist, hip and thigh circumference. The waistband is drafted to be sewn stretched onto the rest of the skirt, eliminating the need for elastic. The waistband is wide - narrow elasticised gathered waist bands don't suit me, they tend to ride up to my waist, and the gathers add bulk around my hips. Whilst I have been loving some of the jersey maxi skirts being made at the moment, I needed something that wouldn't add bulk where I didn't need it! So I thought I'd extend the length of my pencil skirt and see how it went! This is made from a lovely fine navy and cream striped linen jersey, found for a bargain $2/m at Darn Cheap fabrics - one just had to dodge the holes and warped bits throughout! The verdict - a little bit too big as the jersey is pretty stretchy, but very comfy stretchy wear otherwise.
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| Wide waistband - comfy, no riding up! |
Next up are my Colette Iris shorts - these are the wearable muslin and I am very pleased with them. I initially cut and made up a size 6 and was devastated post zip insertion to find them unpleasantly tight, so these are the 8 and they fit perfectly. Its a really easy pattern, and I love the princess seams with pockets. The only thing I'd do differently with the next pair is to extend the pocket piece up to be able to catch it in the waistband, so they don't flip around, and add some extra hem length. I only did one button hole as I couldn't bear the idea of making 4 button holes only to find out they don't fit! You can see they really need the two to keep the pockets flat. I also found them to be fairly short and had no hem allowance left to keep them a decent length, so hemmed them in bias tape. The fabric was given to me as part of a stash donation, and is a cute rough slubby gingham check, and the facings are scraps from the stash.
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| Very comfortable - perfect for posing and performing stupid lunges |
And finally I have my 2nd version of the Wiksten Tank. I've tweaked it a little after making my wearable muslin - the biggest change is scooping a whole heap of excess fabric out of the back neckline - there was massive gapage there, plus I think its nice to have a little bit of a lower neckline at the back. I was very technical, and just used a bread and butter plate to scoop it out, then evened up the shoulder straps. This is the most beautiful Nani Iro double gauze called Melody Sketch in dark blue that I bought from
this seller on Etsy. It is printed in a slightly graduating pattern, and I had hoped that the contrast from the top of the shoulders down to the hem would be a bit more pronounced, which its not, but its still very beautiful. I made a mistake in binding the neckline in the double gauze - its too bulky, and its a pretty crappy job. C'est la vie.
I have made a 3rd Wiksten tank, as a gift for a friend out of my crazy test pattern fabric. Interestingly there was a bit of armpit gapage with that fabric - I think because its a lot stiffer. This pattern works best with really light flowy fabric. I do have some gorgeous silk that was destined for another one of these, but I'm now thinking of trying the Grainline tank instead, just for a change......
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| This is the best pic of the fabric - some of the dots are silver, so so pretty |
So that's most of my newly made Summer/Festival Wardrobe..... I'm heading off to the beach for a couple of days where there is no sewing machine, so instead I'm taking about 5 patterns to cut out in readiness for sewing up when I am home - including my muslin for a Colette Peony, some BurdaStyle pants for work, and a Megan Nielsen Banksia. Very exciting!
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