Men's shirt to pencil skirt

My odyssey through the UFO pile is proving productive, but today's project I have to share with you is something I made at the end of last year, but had never got around to photographing, though it is in high wardrobe rotation.

A good number of years ago, I found this shirt in an opshop. I was 6X Large, and the fabric was really nice quality, so I bought it, intending to make a pencil skirt. And then it sat in the refashioning pile for years.

In the end, it was a very quick project, and only took about two days. I used the pencil skirt form Vogue 1989, and easily cut the front and back from the shirt body, placing the button placket down the centre front. I intended to use the shirt hem as the skirt hem, but it ended up being off by about half an inch, so I had to re hem it. I am very happy with the length. I also pegged the skirt, but I think  did it a little too much, as it is a bit tight at the bottom. Instead of a vent, I just leave the bottom button undone, nice and easy. I finished off the waistband with a press stud.

I've been usually wearing the skirt with this fantastic lace peasant style blouse, which was another oversized opshop find which I ran in the sides of. I love the combination of loose top, and pencil skirt. I am slightly restricted with what I can wear with it, since I don't really want to be buttoned right down the front.

I also got some hair close up photos, I am loving curling my hair, and experimenting with hair wraps. It makes me feel so much more put together!

I am off now to finish another project, which I am so excited to share with you in a few days. Until then, have a great week

An entirely handmade outfit

 My staple of handmade items to this point has been dresses, but I am beginning to dream of many summer separates. I am itching to hand in my thesis so I can have days of uninterrupted sewing. However, my days are currently more filled with referencing, and questions of twelfth century English identity through historiography.

Last Saturday night I decided to just sew something. I needed a break. I only had a metre of this absolutely beautiful floral fabric. It's Japanese, and the hand of it feels almost like Liberty lawn. I bought it at a fabric market last year. I wanted something simple, so I decided to modify the bodice of BHL's Anna dress, one of my TNT patterns.







I cut both front and back on the fold, and added about five inches to the length. This was dictated by the limited amount of fabric. I just extended down the pleats. It was a incredibly quick sew. I finished the neck with bias tape, and put in a side invisible zip. I always wear things tucked in, so the hem is actually the selvage. Very pleased with myself I then ran into a significant fitting problem. I hadn't graded out the hips. I am very much a pear shape, and the blouse no had hips narrower than my waist. There was no way this was fitting. I thought about adding a peplum, but in the end the fix was quite simple. I unpicked all the pleats and darts to their original lengths, creating enough room in the hips. I was incredibly relieved. I then also made a matching hair scarf. It's a little thinner than my previous ones, so it was a bit more a struggle to catch in all my thick hair, but it worked!

The skirt was made a few months ago. The pattern is Simplicity 6862, a one metre, four gore 1970's skirt pattern. This will certainly be a TNT. The fabric is a light weight pink wool. I didn't line it to make it a quicker make; I have a very large collection of slips as it is.

So there is the first of my summer sewing projects. I have a new outfit, and all the pieces will be able to be mixed and matched as well.