I arrived home from work today to happy children, a lovely cool brandy & dry and the enticing aroma of dinner being served. How wonderful is that!

This photo was taken at the end of the day, so it’s a little creased! This is quite a popular skirt on Pattern Review. Like pretty much everyone else, I lengthened it (around 3 or 4 inches, I think) and only took a tiny hem. I think that it would have been okay a little shorter though! The most intriguing feature of this pattern are the pockets.

There they are, in the seam between the yoke and the bottom part of the skirt! I really like the way that they are inserted. I used some left over Kaffe Fassett voile to line them. I am also extremely proud of my invisible zip efforts in the back of this skirt, and that I managed to line up the yoke seams pretty much perfectly. I did use a hook and eye right at the top of the zip to keep it closed nicely.

The fabric is stretch cotton drill that was languishing in stash. I used my overlocker to finish seams, rather than the binding suggested by the pattern. I also left off the waistband completely, although that wasn’t part of my original plan. I did the right thing by trying this skirt on as I went along. I’d cut out the size 12, which I though would be more than big enough around my hips, and figured that if I left out the darts that were in the yoke it would still fit my size 16 waist. When I tried it on, I had to sew up the darts as per the size 12 markings, then it fitted well. So I cut out the waistband at size 12, and wrapped it around me. There was absolutely NO WAY that it was going to go anywhere remotely near fitting me. I presume that the yoke would have needed quite a lot of easing to fit into the waistband. In the end I used bias binding to finish the top of the yoke. Which was a good solution for me really – I don’t especially like waistbands.

I stitched the hem down with a triple straight stitch, and will possible go back and do another two rows as a topstitching feature.  I recommend this pattern, and the next time that I make it (and there will be a next time – it’s already cut out) I’ll take it in a little more, and maybe sew it a fraction shorter. Because I made this one out of a stretch woven (as is the next) it does tend to give and bag out a little during wear. I’d also like to make the top that is in the same pattern.

And it fits her perfectly! I used a stretch cotton/lycra sateen from Spotlight. Love the ikat print! The striped ribbon is from Ribbons Galore.  I’d actually bought the ribbon before I bought the fabric, purely because I liked it.  They’re a perfect match!

This really is a terrific pattern.  Freya and I wear pretty much the same size in clothes but are quite differently shaped.  She has an hourglass figure with a teeny waist, and I have a thick waist but slim hips and thighs.  But this dress works well on both of us!

I didn’t make any changes to how I’d made this dress last time. I used an invisible zip in the side seam, and was very pleased with just how invisible it was. A proper invisible zipper foot makes a huge difference. I sewed the armhole binding to the dress before I sewed the side seams, but only topstitched the armhole binding into place afterwards. This gave me a nice finish around the armholes.

I took a 3 inch hem, and used the blind hem stitch on the machine to stitch it into place. I don’t know why I haven’t used this stitch more in the past! So overall, a success. I highly recommend this pattern!

I adore these Heather Ross prints, and the cotton/linen, slightly heavier weight fabric is just perfect for an item like this wristlet. These were leftovers from making skirts for my girls, but the wristlet will possibly be for me. There is even a little zippered pocket on the inside.  That was inserted using a groovy technique that I hadn’t used before.  I love learning something new!

Since I rarely go out anywhere that requires a teeny bag like a wristlet, I’ll use it for make-up. Although as my blog photos testify, I don’t really wear a lot of makeup.  So I’ll probably use it for small items that need to be kept contained inside my larger bags. That said, this wristlet is not all that teeny. It’s definitely compact, but the darts shaping it mean that it is surprisingly roomy inside.  You could definitely fit everything you’d need for a night out inside this wristlet, including phone and compact camera.

Now I’d better finish off making Freya her birthday dress – because her birthday is today!

After reviewing these photos and wearing each outfit, the blouse and trousers in the top right photo are in the op shop bag. The pattern matching is terrible, and the pants aren’t comfortable to wear.  Let’s see what weather (and clothes) the next week brings!

I was attempting to sew view 1, but didn’t actually notice that if I was adding a frill to the bottom as per that view, I needed to cut the skirt off at a shorter length. Whoops – now Clare has a maxi dress.

And as you can see, this is also way too large for her. Take it from me everyone, check the measurements on the pattern pieces before you decide what size to cut and sew (although this was a single sized pattern). The Oliver + S dress I made her for Christmas was also size 8, and fitted perfectly. Obviously these vintage girls patterns were drafted larger – I don’t think that it is entirely Clare’s petite-ness! The good thing is, now I have made next year’s birthday dress already. It should fit when she turns 10. Or maybe 11.

The fabric is also vintage – from June’s stash. I suspect that it could be organza – it is very sheer and has a fairly open weave yet a relatively soft but crisp hand. If you can enlighten me further it would be welcome!  It is quite narrow, around 90cm wide. I vaguely remember that width fabric from my childhood, so figure that this fabric is from the seventies or earlier. The bodice is self-lined, and I used some soft voile to make an underskirt. I really like the underbust gathers combined with a four-gore skirt, and the little frills along the edges of the shoulder straps.

I have another vintage dress pattern in size 8 already cut out for Clare. What are you betting that it will be much too large as well? Maybe I’ll sew up the other Oliver + S one I have cut out first, just to make me feel better.

This was quite straightforward – I just added length! For ease of walking, I inserted a triangular godet into the centre back seam. You can see the shape of it here. I quite enjoyed doing the little bit of maths to work out where I wanted the point to be – at knee height – and how wide to make it. If I were doing it again I’d insert it higher and make it wider, but it is quite wearable as it is.

The fabric is from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table. I suspect that it is polyester. It has a lovely hand and drape.

After having these photos taken I realised that the dress is a fraction too long as it is. I’ll shorten it by an inch or so before I wear it next. As with the orange version, I deepened the cowl self-facing to around double it’s original depth. I also shortened the bodice depth, as previously.  There are now a couple of other maxi dresses being planned in my imagination.

Strangely, the extreme heat that we had at the beginning of 2012 has turned into extreme cold (well, for January). We’ve all been wearing long pants and long sleeves and – confession ahead – we’ve even had the heater on at times during the past couple of days. All for the benefit of the invalid, of course. This tunic is really going to hit the spot once winter does hit us. Crocheted in Patons Jet, it is warm and cosy and has a flattering fit. Just check out the internal shaping!

Like all the Doris Chan designs that I’ve crocheted, it’s done in one piece. I love that! Everything flows together beautifully. The back also has lovely shaping in it for the armholes.

This was a two week project for me, but that includes the time crocheting it in a different yarn right to the part where I joined the neckline, tried it on, and realised that it was too small. The perils of yarn substitution! A couple of days later I found the Jet on sale at Spotty, and restarted. I’d really like to try this again in a more summer-weight, yet drapey, yarn. It would be a marvellous summer/spring/autumn layer. I also worked an extra four rounds in the shell pattern before starting on the empire line waistline ribbing, so that the ribbing would hit me below the bust. And other than that, I just kept crocheting on until I had no more yarn left. I think that it is about four rows longer than the pattern specified.  It wasn’t a difficult pattern and it was rather fast once I got going.

Ravelled here.