Welcome the Gabrianna!

Oh yes, week three of TMS Indie Patten month and I've mashed up patterns from two of my fave indie companies; By Hand London Anna and Sewaholic's Gabriola. And so, I present to you Gabrianna!

My thinking behind the match... The Anna bodice I've made twice before and it's a lovely simple, easy to sew bodice, I also think it needs an elegant skirt. The Gabriola is new to my collection, and the elegant smooth lines of this skirt are a match made in heaven with this bodice in my opinion. I also love the fit of other Sewaholic patterns I've made up.

I actually cut the bodice and made that first before cutting out the skirt. Having not made the skirt before I didn't know how it would fit around my waist/hips, but thought I could play around with it to fit. So I measured the waist of the bodice, and cut the skirt to match that size. I still interfaced the waistband to keep it stable and give some definition.

This skirt is actually quite an easy pattern to make up. Yes, there are a lot of pieces, but it's quite a simple pattern to make up. Although I was in such a rush, that I actually stitched the side skirt panels the wrong way round, My skirt was very odd until I realised what I'd done! I wondered why I had enormous triangular hips sticking out! There was a lot of unpicking taking place!

I even put a pocket in the side seam. The in seam pocket pattern piece actually came from my Pauline Alice Cami pattern, so in theory, I've used three patterns in this dress. Perhaps it should be called the Gabricamianna? No, OK, we'll stick to Gabrianna ;-)

The zip is a navy blue dress zip which I had in my stash. So I was happy, I'm still not good at putting in invisible zips. Give me a centred zip and I'm happy!

I did find time to let this drop overnight. The fabric is quite stable and so I took a chance. I finished it by hand as usual.

I did not go mad to match the pattern, I think my poor brain has had enough pattern matching for now after my plaid cami! However, I did make the effort to try to line up the pattern. I would have been too obvious otherwise. So at least the colours line up on the skirt and bodice, etc.

It was pretty windy along the waterfront!

The fabric is a cotton which I got from Fabric-a-Brac in April. It's actually from one of my fellow WSBN ladies and when she saw this I think she was definitely happy to see how it had been made up. It cost me probably less than $5 and there's still about a metre plus left! As for choosing it for this dress, I wanted something which would show the lines for the Gabriola skirt. The best bit about this skirt is where the grainline is around the yoke and this fabric is perfect. It's not an obvious stripe, but I think the pink pattern lines show the yoke brilliantly.

The details

Fabric:  Blue, pink, green patterned cotton from Fabric-a-Brac, April 2014. I got just over 4m for less than NZ $5, that's about GBP 2.50 for UK folks and about US $4.30. Bargain or what?

Notions:   Thread (both white and blue from stash), interfacing for the neck facing and waistband, and a navy dress zip from stash. Lots from stash!

Pattern:  The Gabrianna = Bodice from By Hand London Anna dress + Gabriola skirt from Sewaholic. Oh, plus a pocket from Pauline Alice Cami dress! I think this definitely satisfies the criteria for TMS Franken-Indie.

First worn:  Photos, followed by WSBN dinner last Saturday. The photos were taken down on the waterfront here in Wellington with Zara, Laura, Kat and, later on, Sandra. As you can see there's always a bit of fighting to be had on who gets the best photographer :-)

OK, Kat and I are friends really...

Changes made:  I shifted the darts slightly with the bodice, but the rest is as drafted. I think I cut between a 16/18 front bodice, 14/16 back bodice. The skirt I cut a 12, but the waist I ended up taking in more at the back. I always think I've got a broad back, but perhaps not! Oh and I definitely cut quite a bit of length off the skirt, since this is a maxi skirt pattern.
Recommend?  As a franken-indie mash-up, this worked like a dream. I think the skirt lines suit this bodice perfectly. I love the way the skirt still skims my hips producing clear lines. I feel like the cat that's got the cream in this creation and would definitely recommend you try it. 

I call it a success. In two weeks, I've made two happy dresses - yay! I think I can get away with this on some of our warmer winter days. Purple boots and purple cardi? Yep, I think so!

Thanks to Zara and Laura who wielded my big girls' camera. Oh and the outtakes, cos I know how much you love them :-)

 Don't ask...

There's a naked man about to dive in the harbour here in Wellington, 'nuff said!