A kaftan

It has been a grim week here in Australia. Such enormous loss of life, communities devastated, landscape disappearing under the weight of embers and ash, and all this at a time when northern Australia is reeling from extraordinarily destructive floods. Now we have a rather silly columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald blaming the loss of life on "green ideas".

It seems rather trivial to be thinking about what to wear, what to sew.

Nonetheless I have done some sewing. The Japanese print top is finished, well made, but it is a bit tight through the bust. Oh well, I didn't think I'd wear it anyway.

LESSON LEARNED: Jersey is very clingy..may even shrink a little when you cut it so provide extra seam allowance.

I have made a kaftan style top from McCalls M5666. If you make this pattern, it is very large. I cut a muslin first, then went down two sizes. The sleeve is cut in one piece with the body of the garment and this creates a lot of extra bulk under the arms, so a draping, lightweight fabric is essential. While I think a more tailored cut would flatter my top heavy shape more, the finished garment is well constructed and feels very comfortable to wear. What's more my daughters approve. When I tried on the Japanese print t-shirt, my youngest groaned please DON'T wear that Mum. Since taking this photo, I've adjusted the neck drawstring so that the right sleeve hangs correctly.

I am now ready for some more challenging sewing. I'm working on a muslin for a jacket and will go to my fabric stash to make up a simple blouse 113 from BWOF 11/2008. The jacket is from McCalls M5477. My fabric is a black paisley print on a beige background which I think lends itself nicely to view C.