Two piece Liberty silk twill setacular

Last weekend I attended the superfun Sydney Frocktails hosted by the wonderful Caz (Useful Box).  It was a great night and I met loads of lovely ladies and saw again many sewing friends. Honestly though weeks out from the event I was really struggling for an outfit and was close to not going. I didn't want to wear anything I already owned and I didn't have any fabric in the stash to sew up.  In almost desperation I decided to bring out a skirt I'd made back in August but had never worn as I didn't have the right top to go with it (well of course it goes with stripes but not perfectly with any stripes I already own - as hard as that is to believe) so I, at the last minute, bought some extra fabric over the phone from the Fabric Store to make a two piece setacular.

Warning - these photos were taken the day after the event, I am tired and my outfit had become quite crinkled and I didn't put nearly enough effort into ironing it..but it's been so long since I posted I thought I'd better get something on the blog!

The fabric is a Liberty of London silk twill which is a bit tricky to sew but the twill gives it some stability, only of course to be offset by the stripe matching required.

The skirt is a simple pleated wrap skirt which I made up as I went.  I had no interest in putting in a zipper to this fabric so the waistband is just a long piece that wraps around and through a button hole. I haven't quite worked out where the wrap should sit but the tie is long enough to wrap around either to the front or to the back.  

The top is from 'We love Tops' a Japanese book. I've made this top up a few times but it has never really worked for me with pleats, but this fabric just calls out to be pleated and I needed it to be cropped to work with the skirt.  I really love the top and  will wear it seperately with my navy culottes. 

 Do I love it?  Mmm..  I think I did a great job at matching the fabric with a pattern. It's super fun to wear and I did enjoy the feeling of silk.  But I also felt a bit dowdy in it which might have somthing to do with the skirt length and the shoes I chose to wear with it (despite the fact that I do love these shoes) I think they needed to be higher.   Sewing can be a bit like that can't it?

A bit of a roller coaster of liking it, loving it, hating it.... loving it again.

I managed to pick up a bit of fabric last weekend, so excited to get sewing again following the Christmas present rush and the sewing laziness that followed!

Flutter (crazy eyes) Flamenco

This is truly a French make: the pattern is the latest release 'Flamenco' from Delphine et Morissette and the fabric, 'crazy eyes poplin' from Wear Lemonade.  (This fabric came from France to Canberra in around a week!).  Turn away now if you are sick of ruffles because this top has the best ruffle ever! The perfect match of fabric and pattern. 

There really isn't much to say, regarding construction. It's a straightforward make with binding at the neck and no sleeves to set it. The neck scoop is larger than I would have preferred but I've grown used to it.  The back piece is cut in two but next time I think I'd just cut on the fold as most fabric would be wide enough to cope with the pattern size.  There are no ruffles on the back.

For close observers of the real pattern you'll note that I added an extra bit of sleeve. The original pattern has the ruffles and the sleeve ending just at the elbow... which I don't really like on me. So I added the extra bit and I really like the extra design detail this provides.  The bottom has a curved hem (which requires a tiny hem), but for me it needs to be tucked in a bit so sorry - no photos of the hem. :(

So a very quick post on a favourite make which has already been worn heaps! Long like ruffles and crazy eyes!

Slow Sunday Iris in the City

I always keep my eyes on what Julie is sewing as it is always stylish and she often introduces me to new pattern companies and so another new French sewing company to catch my eye through Julie is Slow Sunday Paris. For me the aesthetic coming out of the French designers is hard to beat! The Iris immediately appealed to me however, not being a PDF pattern it took a little while to arrive.

In the meantime, I had purchased from Miss Matatabi hot of the press, Rifle Paper co for Cotton and Steel, 'City' in navy and gold so it sat waiting for the pattern to arrive. The gold in this fabric is fantastic! I was worried that it would fade after a wash but so far so good. The gold is as luminous as it was when it arrived. The fabric feels stiffer to me than a voile but I like it.  

Eventually the fabric and pattern were united and I was able to sew this up last weekend.  The pattern instructions have pictures, but is all in French and I admit to a lot of 'winging it'.

The pattern has no darts, drop sleeves and a facing so the only slightly tricky bit is the bottom of the sleeves which also have a facing to allow for the ties.  I was worried that mine were a bit untidy but given you knot the fabric it all works out. It was hard to get a photograph of the sleeves, but there is a cute little tie there. 

All in all a most satisyingly easy summer make and one that I will probably make again.