Remember that wool, collared Patrones top I made recently? Well, I’m so happy to report that my overly detailed instructions for it weren’t in vain, because Kim’s made this top, too! It’s fitting, really, since she’s the one who hooked me up with this issue in the first place… 😉
Doesn’t she look great? In her own words:
“The fabric is some kind of knit polyester that I picked up at Birmingham Rag Market for next to nothing (no more than £1 per metre) ages ago. It has lurked near the bottom of the stash for so long I had forgotton it. This is just a ‘wearable’ muslin and whilst I will wear it I cant wait to make up the proper version. I do like the brooch in the collar – I have tried about 4 and they all look good so I have plenty of options.
I was doing really well on the ‘wearable muslin’ today – then came to a bit of a block on the collar. I could have spent some time puzzling it out but I hotfooted to the computer to recheck your instructions and had the whole thing solved in no time.
The whole thing took less time than I was expecting (about 2-3 hours start to finish) and looks great. The collar feels a bit odd to wear but I’m sure I will get used to that.”
I am loving the idea of using a detachable brooch on the collar instead of a button – it’s so much more flexible and makes it even easier to dress up or down depending on your horde of vintage brooches… I’m such a magpie when I get to vintage jewellry stalls!
As for myself, right now I’m firmly in “dress mode”! After I finally switched over to my winter wardrobe a few weeks ago, I realised I’ve only got two day dresses suitable for winter – my bamboo wrap dress and a RTW ASOS black wrap dress. Both are great little dresses, but I really need some more options, and some I can wear on windy days without worry for my work commute (only a month to go until I’m back at work so I’m thinking ahead!).
So first up is the amazing knit cowl dress Lauriana drafted for me(!!!) this summer, plus some added long sleeves, made up in a luscious Dolce & Gabbana viscose knit. How awesome is she that she not only observed which size I am, but that I adore cowl necks and assymetrical details, and gave me the option for a sleeveless or sleeved version?!
I finished that one really quickly (hooray for knits!) so I moved on to devour my first length of fabric from my latest Totally Fabrics haul, a brown floral viscose jersey print with shades of teal, fuschia, and grey thrown in (you can see what else I snapped up over in my fabric gallery). I’m midway through sewing this into BWOF 06/09 #129, which, on first basted fitting, is just HOLYCRAPAMAZING and I really can’t believe no one on PR has made this yet!
Oh, and the other good thing about winter knit dresses – they’re great for holiday feasts. I’m wearing the “Lauriana meets Dolce & Gabbana” dress tonight for the moorings expat Thanksgiving dinner and I fully expect to fill out all those waist gathers! Ha!