Thursday 17 May 2012

Thai Scalloped Pencil Skirt

 

Burda6889with font  Well, my computer decided to die, but fortunately Robin knew a guy who was able to fix it – AND save all our photos (THANK GOD!!!!!), so I’m able to post up my last project. This is the Burda 6889 pencil skirt that I have had highlighted at the side of my blog since I updated the look. I had made up a muslin for this ages ago and decided it was pretty much the perfect basic pencil skirt pattern for me – I didn’t even need to do any alterations at all (yeay!). The fabric is a gorgeous bright pink eyelet that I bought on my trip to Thailand last year. I only had a metre to play with so it’s a lot shorter than the pattern suggests for the length, but I think it’s fine (although, perhaps a little short when I sit down!). The skirt is lined with matching pink lining, which I actually treated as underlining as I thought it would be easier. I hemmed each piece of ‘lining’ before basting with it’s matching eyelet piece and then treated as one. It worked out really well, and together with the lovely serged seams, makes the skirt look really neat and rather professional inside! Still loving my overlocker!

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In these photos I’ve paired it with my self-drafted purple cowl top, and I think they work really well together – something I wasn’t planning on, but I’m delighted with the result! Hey guys – I’ve made an outfit! Wooo! lol!

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I spent a lot of time working out the pattern placement and measuring the scallops to ensure that the hem would match up. I am so delighted with the results:

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Even the back seam is a perfect match:

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Because the skirt is tapered, the rest of the seam doesn’t match up (plus I discovered that the flipping circle pattern didn’t line up with the grain!!!), but I decided it was more important to make sure the scallop of the hem was perfect.

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I really love this skirt, and I’m planning on using the same pattern to make a skirt from the turquoise eyelet fabric that I also bought in Thailand. I’m not, however, 100% about the fit. If you look at the image on the front of the pattern, the waistband doesn’t actually sit right on the waist of the model, and the same goes for my skirt. So for all intents and purposes, it’s correct. But I just have the feeling that this skirt would look better on me if it was sitting at my waist. Which is something I’m really surprised I’m saying, because I have, for most of the fashion-conscious part of my life, always avoided wearing waistbands on my true waist. I have always felt that I have quite a short torso, and thus having the waistbands of things (skirts/trousers) lower, makes it look like my body is more in proportion. However, over the last year or so, I have really felt my opinion of this change and I have found myself reaching for waist-cinching belts, and wearing clothes that really accentuate my waist. Is that down to current fashions trends? Learning to sew and appreciating my body shape? Or perhaps loosing some weight and being happier with my proportions? Probably a bit of all of those options!

Whatever the answer, I think I am going to take in this skirt so that it sits at my waist. It will make it an inch or so shorter, but I think that should be OK. I’ll wear it with a killer pair of shoes for nights out!

Sunday 13 May 2012

I made it…AND I wore it! 9

Just a quick shot of my black and white shift dress in action. This is my family and I on holiday in Spain. My Mum and Dad organised a surprise engagement dinner for my FiancĂ© and I, including pre-dinner fun on rented bikes (of sorts). Since I didn’t realise I was going to by cycling, I wasn’t really in the right attire!!! It was such a laugh though…and I pretty much just kept my feet up the whole time!

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Wednesday 9 May 2012

A little bit Shifty

Oh dear, just when I announce that I'm back on the blog, my computer crashes!! Anyway, it's working again and I'm back - again!!

As promised, here is the second shift dress that I completed recently:


This is the same pattern as my Ikat and Lace dress, New Look 6643. Because I made it immediately after it was very quick. I even used my Ikat and Lace dress to get the sizing - laying it onto the pieces and drawing on the seamlines. Not sure quite how accurate that was though because this dress is tighter than the original! Fortunately the fabric has a little bit of stretch in it. Turns out that I really like the fit of this dress, it's a bit more flattering.


The pink flower brooch was made using this tutorial. It is really easy and so much fun to make!! I recommend you give it a go!! I'm actually thinking about incorporating it into my wedding in some shape or form. If I do, I'll let you guys know.


The zip for this version is a regular one, which I handpicked - such a great method! I've definitely jumped on that bandwagon, and I don't regret it one bit!!! Some detail shots of both dresses:



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