Oh Stitch, Please!

Oh Stitch, Please!

Monday 9 November 2015

TwoPieceSetacular - Spring Racing Carnival


"(two piece) Setacular, (two piece) Setacular 
No words in the vernacular 
Can't describe this great event 
You'll be dumb with wonderment 
Returns are fixed at ten percent 
You must agree, that's excellent 
And on top of your fee" - Mouline Rouge. 
I feel this song is definitely about Ada Spragg (Sophie) two piece setacular challenge!



Show tunes aside. I am ridiculously happy with this make. Pause for a moment to appreciate that I am over a year late to the party, but to be fair I have been planning this two piece set since March this year. But as I didn't have a real reason to sew it, the pretty fabric just sat there waiting for it's time to shine. Enter Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival 2015. I am not going to touch on the debate here about horse racing. But I definitely understand why it is a big no no for some people. I thoroughly enjoy the fashions, and watching what others are wearing on the day - also a special mention to the cup day fashions on the field winner in her home made dress. Her fabric was a Tessuti purchase!



The set was ridiculously easy to sew, and CHEAP. It was actually one of those sews that turned out EXACTLY AS I PLANNED IN MY HEAD. That shit never happens. I am appreciating the marvel of this sew. I knew I wanted some kind of boxy crop with a more fitted skirt. initially I had been thinking of cropping the scout and having little sleeves, potentially a ruffled hem... but then I remembered the lovely cropped version on Workroom Socials page and knew that was what I wanted. I missed out on nabbing a copy of the Charlotte Skirt before production of BHL paper patterns stopped, luckily she is available in PDF. I wasn't sure if this pattern was going to be one that would work for me, so my lovely friend allowed me to try hers and I traced it quickly a few months back.


The Charlotte skirt is a beautiful pattern, very easy to sew and very easy to fit! It has 8 darts around the top of the skirt to create shaping, and then is pegged in towards the knee's. This pattern is drafted for those ladies like me who are sporting a badoonkadoonk. Yep. Junk in the trunk. Hello hippy heaven! Previously I have avoided pencil skirts like the plague, BHL ladies you have opened up a new world for me. Am planning a leather look version right now!


Back to the set. After completing the darts, I popped in an invisible zipper (with my new invisible zipper foot. LIFE CHANGED). This happened twice. The first time my brain malfunctioned and I put the zipper in at the legs end... this was naturally the most perfectly inserted beautiful invisible zipper of my life. Seam ripper action, swearing, zip inserted into correct end, then it was fitting time. I put the skirt on inside out, and then had some lovely friends to assist me by pinning the excess down the side seams of the skirt, playing with the amount of peg at the knee's until we were all happy with the effect. I roughly transfered these markings to my traced paper pattern, but I feel with a pencil skirt, it will always take some fitting to get the right fit for each type of fabric I use. I made a little kick pleat at the back of the skirt and am cursing myself for not getting a photo of the pretty topstitching I did there. After that it was simply sewing down my new seam line, finishing my seams and popping on the waistband. I hand sewed down the waistband for a clean and professional finish and closed the skirt waist band with a bar closure. I really like the overlapped tab drafted for the charlotte. It meant I didn't have to be as pedantic about fitting the waistband.





The top was a cropped version of the Workroom Social Tate Top. I have made this number before - see. This time I went for the cropped version. I also added a little detail of a back cut out instead of using a zipper. It wasn't a particularly professional process. I decided I wanted a cut out. So I cut one out, and then I used bias tape to close it up. The inside of the top looks very clean as I used the bias tape on the cutout, arm holes, neck line and hemline keeping the insides streamlined and uniform. The bias tape is a vintage liberty bias tape I found on etsy a few months ago. I only have a little left of this navy, but I also have a yellow and white gingham vintage one sitting there I am planning on using on my Adler dress I cut out yesterday.




The fabric is a pretty little find I stumbled across at Eliza's fabric warehouse in Sunshine. This shop was located around the corner from my old work, so half my stash is made up with fabric I have stumbled across in my lunch break. It is a cotton sateen with enough stretch to work with the charlotte pattern. I didn't line the skirt, due to time.


The important bits:
Patterns: BHL Charlotte Skirt, Workroom Social's Tate Top (borrowed and free pattern = $0-)
Fabric: Eliza's Fabric Warehouse - floral cotton sateen $7pm. $14-. (It is ridiculously wide this fabric)
Notions: Zip & Bar closure ($1.50) Also from Eliza's. Thread from stash.
Total Cost: $15.50
Other bits: Shoes - wittner. Fascinator: target. 

And some more candid shots from race day. 

..xx..










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