An outfit in one

Ok, so nearly a month since my last post, but do I care - well no, not really. Life is life and if it gets in the way of sewing, etc, then there's nothing I can do. Sorry, not sorry!

I've started a new job and it's completely different. Apart from when I'm going out to visit customers, most of the time I'm now actually working from home, so my clothing needs have changed somewhat. Mind you, that hasn't stopped my wearing my dresses at home so far! Plus as well as a need for more relaxed clothing when I'm at home, I don't have set hours, which means less time for sewing.

We've had a pretty warm, dry summer here in Wellington and the need for cooler clothes influenced my choice of items to sew here. A brown linen straight skirt and sleeveless blouse, perfect for warm dry days.

I don't think there's really loads to talk about, so I shall let the photos do the talking. The skirt is from my self-drafted pencil skirt block and has a side zip. I made one in a pale green stretch cotton just over a year ago (never blogged.)

I bought this brown linen years ago in the UK to go with another patterned/sequined linen, but that hasn't quite happened. I just needed a skirt and the fabric fit the bill.

As for the blouse, this is another iteration of New Look 6598, which I made last year (I've just realised I never blogged about it!) The fabric is a quilting cotton from a quilting shop here in Wellington which closed down over a year ago. I made the same changes as last time, which was to use bias binding for the armholes rather than attach facing. I think this works a lot better and lays flatter.

I love the shape of this blouse. Sleeveless means it's cool and I love the fact there's no collar. It has darts in the front and back for minimal shaping, and the ties on the back give it that bit more shape.

I spent ages thinking over the colour of button to use, going first with the dark pink, but eventually going for the orange. The dark pink buttons were shiny and stood out too much. I think these matt finish orange buttons look much better.

The details...

Fabric:  Skirt: Brown linen from Goldhawk Rd, London, bought September 2011 (a definite stash buster). Blouse: Quilting cotton from Piece by Piece, Marsden Village, Wellington, bought 2013?

Notions:  Thread, zip, interfacing and buttons

Pattern:  Skirt: self-drafted pencil skirt. Blouse: New Look 6598

Changes:  The skirt pattern is mine to play with as I want! The blouse, I made bias binding for the armholes rather than use facing.
First worn: Together, these were worn to a WSBN meet in town where we checked out the cab of the AirNZ 737 outside Te Papa!

Photos taken here at the waterfront and also near Made on Marion. Thanks to two of my WSBN crowd taking the photos.

Worn with:  Pumps from Overland! Yes I like that shop!

Another one?  I probably will make another of these blouses. It's so easy to make and really comfy to wear. As for the skirt - most likely. A short straight skirt is really useful to have in my wardrobe.