A little catch up

A little 'where I'm at post' is needed I reckon.

Firstly in very sad news Jo H. was right. Tania culottes use up a whole lot of fabric. My dress had enough fabric to make either the front or the back or potentially just one entire leg. None of those options were appealing. I still love the idea of eyelet/broderie anglaise culottes, I'm just going to have to source more fabric first.

As for the eyelet topshop dress? Well, I ripped it apart.  The picture below was the only one I could find of it, foolishly I didn't snap it before I snipped it. Good lord there was a lot of stitching. Topshop evidently believe that if it's going to have a seam you might as well do it 5 times. Anyhoo, it's not going back together now. 

This photo was taken in Moscow where it was about 40 degrees and I was not dealing well with the heat. I had tiny blisters and I was just getting over shingles. Nowhere had air conditioning. So a dress this insubstantial was appropriate. Looking at it now I miss it. But that's only because I know what it has become... (that sounds a bit unnecessarily over dramatic)

I decided to turn it into a sorbetto, which being both free and requiring little fabric seemed like an excellent idea. However, I didn't make a muslin, I have no idea why, I have perfectly sensible muslin fabric just sitting around. And it's a little off, the bust darts need to be fatter and the neckline is a bit weird, but that's because I tinkered about trying to get the shoulders to not be so crazily far apart. 
It's nearly finished, but I can't decide if I want to add sleeves, which isn't the point of a sleeveless top I know, but something is needed to improve it's looks. There's a sleeve pattern for the sorbetto over at sew-incidentally that I might have to have a little look at but adding sleeves seems to be fairly common.  

So all in all I feel a little disheartened. However, excitement lurks around the corner because I have a plan for something beautiful. Tania culottes will have to wait because my new and exciting plan needs to be finished before the first week in September and I am going to make a proper muslin!

My datura styled differently

I presented at a conference last month and I wore my datura wearable muslin. Styled differently I loved it. I've recreated the whole outfit (without the name tag or nervous sweatiness) just for the blog. My housemate might think I'm going a bit bonkers.

I'm even considering moving on and cutting into the liberty fabric to make the 'proper' version. Although looking at the view from the back, I will definitely cut the shoulders a little slimmer. 
I've even included an actual picture of me at the conference, not that you can really tell who it is up there. In my lovely photographers defence, it was taken on a camera phone in the semi darkness.

Tucked into a high waisted pencil skirt I think it works a lot better. Proof if needed that not everything looks best with jeans.

Tilly's picnic blanket skirt - The finished article

Ta Da!

It is finished and I like it a lot.

Climbing up was easy. Falling off not so much.

The pattern itself wasn't really a pattern, it was just maths and an excellent step by step guide. Which was fun. To start with I didn't have a metre ruler, but I've *acquired* one since (think skip diving).
I learnt how to apply interfacing, ruching, hand sewn buttonholes and applying snap fasteners / poppers.
I did not make a muslin, but I didn't need one for this project. I did however do everything properly, I tacked the skirt to the waistband before machine sewing, I practised button holes before cutting into my skirt and I did a lot of finishing by hand. So it took a while but I like it all the more.

One of the things I like best is that the skirt is nice and full, but because of the shape you don't have to worry about the breeze exposing anything. 

I compromised on my buttons versus poppers situation and added one button at the waistband and kept the rest of the placket button free. I'm not that sure about the styling, I felt a little bit like I should have been on my way to Sunday school, but I'll have a think about it.