Completed: Boring(?) Basic

Turns out that all I needed for a bit of a blogging renaissance was to drop the quality of the photos... lol! Here I am hanging out in my natural habitat (mess) and generally not caring.

We're here for the sewing not the scenery right?? Lol

Note sewing/cutting gear on the table.

ANYWAY, the garments! This is a wool/spandex blend crepe 3/4 circle skirt! Crepe DOES pick up all fluff, but I still love it. Mmm, spongy. 
This time I went shortish to keep it sassy. The proportion is so much nicer to my eye when it's above the knee. Plus since it's for winter, I will wear it with tights so I don't feel exposed!

It may looks simple, but there IS a secret here which I'm very proud of:

BOOM there's a pocket in with the lapped zip!!

This was no simple feat, and so I sampled it beforehand with scrap fabric, and wrote notes.
I'm not going to the extent of a tutorial as I'm not sure anyone else is crazy enough to want to put a pocket alongside a zip. To be honest, if I'd cut the skirt with a centre back seam I wouldn't have bothered, but I forgot about the zip/pocket conundrum until it was cut on the fold!
But there we have it, a learning opportunity.

Also I faced the waistband with this cotton from my friend Trees. She has such cool taste in fabric, so it's fun to have an unexpected secret on the inside. I made sure it can't be seen from the outside though! Understitching is a must!

In fact I was SO intent you couldn't see it from the outside, that I hand sewed some black tape near the opening as it was visible from the side of the waistband overlap. I should have thought not to have that bright white near the side seam! It's so obvious!

OH and evidently I was so caught up in my fancy pocket/zip conundrum that I forgot to put the lining in with the waistband, so I had to hand stitch in in afterwards. Oops!! It was worth it though and it looks and feels nice. I quite enjoy hand stitching anyway....

Main hem finished with premade bias tape. Lining hem just a double rolled hem.

By the way, my tights have tiny white dots on them.... CUTE!
And secondly, I made my top too!
This is the third striped Renfrew I've made.. see Striped top #1, Striped top #2 here. I could basically live in stripes, spots, and full skirts.

OH and here's a pic of me in the other component of my uniform: A long bathrobe-like cardigan. Lol! I haven't made one of these yet but I have started knitting one!

The pattern I'll be making is Melia in charcoal grey. Can't wait to see it take shape!