No boring business

 Clearly April's dress was not a winner in the popularity stakes, but what do you think of my Rigel bomber with a simple tube pencil skirt?  I am huge fan of Papercut patterns for fit, skillful pattern design and easy to follow instructions.

I bought the floral fabric on a whim from a designer fabric website Kristy recommended.  The piece was very small - enough for a pencil skirt (an obvious choice) or for a colour blocked jacket.  I did have a more structured jacket in mind until I saw just how well it blended with the mustard wool ponte that lived deep in my stash.

In theory I love this suit -particularly the back view- which I made as an antidote to boring grey business suits.  In practice I'm a little shy to wear it.  The feeling of needing to hide away wasn't helped by husband's comment to my daughter "Have you seen Mum's vomit jacket?"..."Bomber jacket!"..."Oh I thought you said vomit" (look of sheer innocence upon his face).  

I made it and some other items at an our annual Sewing Guild sewcation at Stanwell Tops.  I was joined by other bloggers; Sharon, Kristy and Beverley and 30 other talented soulmates.  Beverley posted some great photos on her blog.  If you don't get together with sewers in the real world, I recommend it.  We learn a lot and inspire each other.

Autumnal tones for April dress

You could be forgiven for thinking that I spend more time musing about sewing than actually sewing.  My rate of blogging does suggest that! April is a strange month with holidays disrupting the normal week, taxes falling due, and the month seems to fly by.   But there has been plenty of action here, just no so much inclination to sit down and write about.  

In the ages since my last post I have completed my April dress; a wild suit (see my next post); a white wadder; and a flippy skirt that is waiting on a Bellatrix Papercut jacket to match. 


Let's talk about the April dress.  The pattern is Burda 10-2014 101 made from patterned ponte I bought in Barcelona at a store that I was taken to by the charming Spanish designer Paco Peralta.  I paired it with plain ponte from Lindcraft.

The pattern is well constructed and quite easy to sew.  The centre front panel replaces bust darts and does sit quite high, but I like this effect. I added an exposed zip to modernise the look.  The only suggestion I make is to interface the corners especially if your fabrics are different weights.  


This would have helped April as the Spanish wool ponte is lighter than the denser Lindcraft variety. Overall I'm very happy with my dress and have worn it a few times already.

I love the way the fabric matches my vintage Oroton earrings.

While I am persisting with my calendar dress challenge it is a bit of a distraction. I looked into my closet and it is crying out for separates, and solid colours.  Not giving up just yet!