Stocking Up on Seperates

I have been known to build outfits around very small things. Like a few buttons becomes a need for a dress, a pair of shoes needs new trousers or something, and so on. I bought this ring while on holiday in Los Angeles:

- and then I bought these boots from Ebay:

And - I came across this picture somewhere on the interwebs, and became obsessed with, of all things, the belt loops!-

Source

I noticed a western theme bubbling up. As luck would have it, I had these two pieces of fabric in my stash which I'd never quite found a use for:

I really wanted to make these into blouses, but looking at my wardrobe, I realised I also needed skirts to go with them. And it would give me a reason to make something with those belt loops! I had fabric left over from my Birkin flares, and some other black twill from a long ago project, enough for 2 skirts. And so 2 western-themed outfits were born!

Here's the first:

The blouse is Simplicity 3414 from 1950:

I made view 1 with short sleeves:

And added a subtle western touch with some top stitching and arrowhead tacks around the fabric channels on each side:

The skirt is a denim-weight black stretch twill, which is a hack of my self drafted pencil skirt, and a flared section taken from Burda 122 and added at the back:

I have worn this skirt constantly since I made it - it's like the skirt equivalent of a favourite pair of jeans. I added some denim details to it like topstitching, belt loops, and a jeans-style zip at the back:

Centre back fly zip

On to outfit number 2:

The blouse is Simplicity 6110, from 1973:

And the skirt is mostly Simplicity 6017, with pockets borrowed from Butterick 4990:

And with self drafted belt loops!:

I carried through the theme of topstitching and arrowheads on the inverted pleat at the front:

And that's really it! I'm off to listen to some Patsy Cline and eat some bbq. See you soon!

2 Skirts and a Cape - from Ikea?

I'll warn you now - this is a bit of a rambling post, taking in everything from Ikea to Vincent Price, 80's Butterick to pattern matching, but stick with it - you might have some fun!

I've written before about how I usually end up overspending whenever I visit Ikea, and more often then not I end doing most of said overspending in the fabric section. This time I had a reason to be buying fabric, as Mr Needles was getting a long held Halloween request for a cape fulfilled. He's a big fan of horror movies, especially those from the 60's and 70's, and wanted to conjure up a Vincent Price look for Halloween - a combination of this:

Vincent Price in 'Masque of the Red Death'

and this:

Vincent Price in 'Witchfinder General'

I drafted my own pattern using the ever helpful (though at times a bit complicated) Natalie Bray - the cover (picture below) actually features the diagram for drafting a cape:

I used this pattern for the hood, which I lengthened to get the right amount of drapey, spookiness necessary:

I'm terrible at estimating fabric, and nearly always overbuy and this was no exception. He'd requested it be nearly floor length, so after playing around with the pattern pieces on the floor of the living room, I estimated about 4 metres would be enough. 

Pattern making in action - when only newspaper is big enough for your pattern pieces.

 Next stop Ikea, where I found  this plain red, medium weight fabric for only £4 per metre.

Lenda from Ikea

The cape was basically lots of long straight seams, and I wasn't going to bother with lining or anything, so it went together pretty quickly:

At the halfway stage

Hood fitting session with Mr Needles

And just to add a little touch of the baroque, I added this closure made of buttons from my stash:

Here's the finished product, on Halloween night:

I only really got these pictures - too busy having a good time!

So that was the cape. But what about the skirts mentioned in the title? Well, the overspending and over estimating on fabric came in handy, because I was able to get a couple of skirts for myself out of the leftovers and a sneaky remnant I bought at the time.

First, a pencil skirt using this 80's pattern:

I really liked the idea of the pockets - always handy! - and the button back closure. Here's how it looks:

The skirt seemed a little baggy at first, so I took it in a little through the side seams. Fits great, but the only concern is that now I have to be careful with any bending, as any extra strain on the buttons can be disastrous. I've already popped one, and sent it flying across the room! If I made it again, I might replace the buttons with a seam and zip.

Close up of button closure

And pockets are always a great addition:

So a piece from the remnant bin at Ikea also managed to come home with me - 1.5 metres of this over sized check:

Berta Ruta fabric from Ikea

I decided it would be perfect for the other skirt in this pattern, but without the back buttons, and the checks would make some really interesting lines:

Because of the limited amount of fabric, the back and front seams match, the sides not so perfectly, but you can't win 'em all!:

And again, pockets! - which I cut on the bias, so no need for any pattern matching:

I've worn both of these skirts at least once a week since I made them - they're just really handy to throw on with a t-shirt or sweater.

Hope that wasn't too long for everyone - see you soon!