A simple kimono sleeve top and high waisted skirt, self-drafted.
The blouse is made from a mystery fabric I picked up at an op shop a while ago. I’m a sucker for polka dots.
I had intended to make a peter pan collar for this (as can be seen from my previous sketch), and in fact I did – painstakingly drafting the pattern pieces, ironing on the interfacing and sewing several times to get the shape right. Then I tried it on. I couldn’t quell the overwhelming fear that I looked like a small dog in a circus wearing a ruffle. All I needed was the party hat to match. The boy told me that I was being too harsh, and that I didn’t look like a dog wearing a ruffle at all, more like a clown. Thanks. So the collar was promptly cut off, and I ended up finishing the neckline with some self-made bias binding (thanks to these Coletterie tutorials) with a little keyhole opening at the back.
I made the skirt from some red cotton drill I picked up a few months ago at DK Fabrics. And before you say anything, I know it’s not in my colour scheme, which would suggest I’ve failed at sticking to that promise pretty quickly. However, I had the fabric before I decided on the colours, and I thought this could be a wearable muslin, so it doesn’t really count. I’m intending to make something similar in grey soon which IS in my colour scheme 
. Oh, and it has pockets. I’m doing pretty well at sticking to that promise!
It’s just as well I’d intended it to be a muslin, I say, because it didn’t all go to plan. I was 98% finished and just preparing to sew the buttonhole when I commented to the boy how pleased I was with the neat finishing job I’d done. Then I attempted the buttonhole.
Now, I’ve never used the auto buttonhole on my (mum’s) sewing machine before but I figured it couldn’t be too hard, and being a generally sensible person I tested it out on a couple of layers of scraps of the same fabric first. Perfect result. Excellent. I tossed the sample aside, grabbed my skirt and away I went. Only it didn’t go so smoothly. I’d only made a narrow waistband, so there was some seam allowance in the bit where the buttonhole needed to go and my machine wasn’t too impressed by all that thickness. It got stuck. I cursed it. It got stuck again. I cursed it again. I tried to figure out how I could over-ride the ‘automatic’ part of the function but couldn’t. In the end, I muddled through, making a very imperfect buttonhole but glad to be done with it nonetheless. I grabbed my seam ripper because I couldn’t find my small scissors and set to opening the middle of the buttonhole. A little tired and cranky by this point of the evening, I was a little overzealous and managed to open not just the buttonhole, but the whole waistband. Granted, I should probably have considered the fact that leaving about 3mm between top of buttonhole and waistband edge wasn’t the soundest idea in the first place, but hey, I’m new at this, and I don’t always think things through so well. Now my carefully sewn skirt had a nicely torn waistband. Great.
At a loss as to how to fix it, I reverted to a simple technique, which I’m pretty sure you won’t find in any sewing books. I grabbed a patch of fabric, overstitched the edges and stitched it straight over the torn bit of waistband. Professional, huh?
It worked, though. I made another buttonhole on the opposite end of the waistband, this time sewn horizontally and opened up with scissors (every now and then I do learn from my mistakes!), sewed the button on and voila! I don’t even think the patch is a problem, because it’s a side zip and button, so it’s usually hiding somewhere under my elbow.
By the way, both patterns were drafted with the help of a recent purchase, Cal Patch’s Design It Yourself Clothes, Patternmaking Simplified. So far I’ve found it to be very well explained and simple to follow and would very much recommend it to any newbies like me who want to try making their own patterns.
[listening to Duke Ellington and John Coltrane - In a Sentimental Mood]
Making the most of a wet and windy autumn day to catch up on a long overdue clean up at home.
