My Most Favourite Skirt in the World

Do you make yourselves a special garment for Christmas day? I do. I've gotten into the habit since I started sewing, and as of next Christmas, I'm going to sew something special for Little M too. I'm also going to sew her birthday dresses every year - I've got the cutest pattern picked out for this year - more on that to come soon.

This year I had a sew myself something that would allow me to breastfeed, and something heat-friendly - Melbourne's weather on Christmas day was tropical - reminded me of my Queensland home! When we were in Italy, Tessuti posted this skirt made by Georgia on their blog. I immediately fell into lust, and wanted to make my own using some of my Singapore cotton. Here is what I came up with:

I used a yoked waistband off a simple skirt pattern, and the tiers are just rectangles of the fabric - the full width and 25cm long. I didn't have enough fabric to make 3 tiers - I stupidly didn't check my fabric width, made the skirt using 3 tiers (1st tier is one piece of fabric, 2nd tier is two, 3rd tier is three), slipped it on to test the fit and looked like I was wearing a bandage on the top half. My fabric was 110cm wide, Georgia's lovely version was 145cm wide. Woops. So I unpicked and started again. Dedication I say.

I fully lined it using a viscose lining from my stash as the fabric is very sheer - the lining makes the skirt more full and very swishy, which I love. Who doesn't love a good twirl?

The best part of the skirt to me though is the pom-pom trim along the hem (completely copied from Georgia). It is from Tessuti, and is extremely cute (Little M thinks so too - she tried to rip it off - I think she's brilliant for using her pincer grip, but would prefer her not to practice on my skirt :-). I used just under 4m.

I feel very feminine in this skirt, and hope to wear it more this summer - I might wear it to lunch with a dear friend of mine today. I don't know what to start on next - got the Colette Patterns Handbook for Christmas from Michael - should I make the Meringue skirt? Any other suggestions?

Tessuti's New York Cape Pattern

After sewing my second Lady Grey this year, I had been seriously hankering for more winter sewing. I thought about making a jacket, but then Tessuti released their New York Cape Pattern, and I decided that a hooded cape would work a treat!!

The pattern was expensive ($35), but I really wanted it... :-) It came printed on printer paper, with black and white photos and instructions on A4 paper. The cape is unlined, and all edges are finished with poly-cotton hong kong binding for the inside and wool binding for the outside.

I found the pattern very easy until I got to the wool binding. I sewed the binding on according to the instructions, but it looked awful. It was all wonky and the edges were wavy. I don't know what I did wrong, but I unpicked it, sewed it again and it still looked awful. My next attempt was to sew it in by hand. Thats 10m of hand stitching. It still looked dreadful. So I unpicked it and sat down for a while and thought about it.

I realised that the binding was too short in length. I also realised that if I was going to sew it in by hand I should only use a single thread, not a doubled-over thread. So, off I trotted to Tessuti to buy more binding. I bought half a meter more than the pattern suggests.

I sewed it in by hand, and here is what I came up with!

I am very happy with it now. I did do a few other things differently than the pattern instructions. I added a line of topstitching along the edge of the hood, as the layers of wool were a little bulky. Now it sits flat.

I also hand-sewed the buttonholes. To do this, I consulted Shaeffer's Couture Sewing Handbook. I used silk thread and a buttonhole stitch. I am really proud of them:

The fabric is from Tessuti - a dark navy wool/cashmere blend, the wool binding is also from Tessuti and is black, and the black buttons are from Spotlight.

This project took me a loooong time... but I am really happy with it. I think it will be great for Melbourne's spring - not really cold but not warm yet either. I wore it this morning out to breakfast and it was perfect!