WIPs

So yesterday was surprisingly productive. (It did rain, but only for ten minutes.)

I worked on the Solomon's Shrug

No, it's not finished. That's the amount I got done out of one ball (Sirdar Juicy). AND it finished the yarn at the end of a row!

I also worked on the Full-skirted Medieval Dress:

which I've been working on for a couple of months, on and off. The instructions are from Medieval Costume and How to Recreate it. Please note I said 'instructions' not 'pattern'. There is a diagram on page 99 of the book showing how you layout the fabric and manipulate it, but a lot is left up to the dressmaker to interpret.

I'm hoping to make one to wear to the Abbey Medieval Festival in July (I go every year, it's awesome, if you're in the area check it out) but I thought I'd better make sure I wasn't going to stuff it up hugely and waste a lot of fabric, so I made a doll's version first, which is being modelled here by Kim. Please make her welcome.

Here's another picture of the dress which shows more of the skirt:

It is an ENORMOUS skirt. A full circle reaching down to the floor is a LOT of fabric. The good thing is that the actual yardage to buy isn't that much, since there's some pretty impressive cutting and piecing going on.

And in other news:

The skirt waist has been gathered and the waistband is pinned on ready to sew. The colour is actually a very dark navy - imagine a blue-black. The pattern is from No Time To Sew, with a few alterations. (Like shortening it by 5" and tapering the panels in an extra 6" at the waist and even then it needs extra gathering. And yes, I did make the smallest size.)

Next up, hopefully I'll be finishing these off. Although, there's always the next project to start on...

Ta-Da! (Belatedly)

Many thanks to all of you for your patience! A combination of RL commitments and technical issues has meant I've been running around in circles for the last few days. Hopefully it should all be straightened out now!

Finally I have photos of the new top:

The pattern is Simplicity 5759
I made view D, size 12. The size I chose was a bit larger than I would normally wear, but I was making the pattern in a less stretchy fabric than the pattern envelope recommended and didn't want it to come out too small. Actually, the pattern envelope says you need fabric with 50% stretch, but I think this is more applicable for Views A-C, which include quite tight-fitting ruching. Views D and E seem to need fabric with more drape but less stretch.

Fabric used here was called 'Megan', bought about four years ago through Knitwit Australia - it's a polyester/spandex jersey-type knit with about 20-25% stretch and great drapability. One metre was plenty to make this top.

In the pictures I'm wearing the top with a skirt I made about the time of purchasing this fabric. This was the first time I used the pattern and fabric shown here, and they have both come to be firm favourites.

The fabric used is Knitwit Monaco in Violet, also purchased through Knitwit Australia. It's a polycotton double-knit which is made so that the right side of the fabric is polyester-rich, and therefore durable, while the wrong side is cotton-rich, and therefore soft and breathable. It sews up like a dream and produces a really tailored look - comes in about 15-20 different colours - I have have 6 skirts made using it.

The pattern is Kwik Sew 2771, 8-gore skirt. I made view B but lengthened the pattern 1.5 inches as I wanted it to hit just below the knee. I've since made several skirts using this pattern with the length modification, and it is a great classic basic. If your fabric is 150cm wide (60") and has no nap, then you don't need more than a metre of fabric - ignore the suggested layout and put your pieces top-to-toe for a more economical use of your fabric. It also makes up very quickly - I made one in a single day when I desperately needed a black skirt.

The next project is a 6-gore navy skirt - stay tuned, because it's driving me to frustration!