Second Picnic Blanket Skirt...

Whilst on one of my many recent trips to Sham Shui Po, I picked up this lovely little fabric. It has a woollen quality to it, which i'm guessing is acrylic and it has a random cream printed spot pattern on a lovely rich navy background. 

I made the easy decision to make a second Picnic Blanket Skirt. My first one was a very simple make, with a very effective outcome. This no pattern make by Tilly and the Buttons involves some simple measurements and only a few simple stages of manufacture - seam, placket, gather, waistband, buttonholes, buttons and finally hem. (See instructions here) This time I went with a dark wood button, which compliments the navy very well. 

As you can see, the fabric does crease when it's worn, but I think that this blends in with the overall aesthetic quite well. This skirt sits lower in the waist than the first one, which should suit lots of my existing tops. 

My next question is, do I make another Picnic Blanket Skirt, this time in Christmas fabric? 

Colette Sorbetto - Part 1 - Toile and Alterations

Ok, so last night I started the process of making a Colette Sorbetto (click to take you to their page). It's a very simple downloadable pattern. It was a lot quicker to stick together than The Mathilde, but that's not surprising as there are only 2 pattern pieces! After a quick stick, I took some measurements and decided on the size I was going to make. I went for a 12 (american size) as it seemed like it would make a spacious summer top, which is very necessary in Hong Kong. 

Because the top is so easy to make and doesn't require much fabric, I decided to make a toile. This seemed sensible because I don't have enough of my new fabrics in case anything goes wrong. I decided to use some lovely red poly-cotton that I had left over from a Red Riding Hood fancy dress outfit (i'll leave it at that...). After sewing the centre pleat, darts, side seams and shoulder seams, voila, I had a toile of my Sorbetto. I tried it on straight away as I was very excited that I had just made a top in about 30 minutes! 

There were a few simple alterations I noted straight away - The dart was sitting exactly on the bust point, which isn't the most flattering, so I decided to make it 1cm shorter on my paper pattern. In addition to this, there was a slight amount of bagging under the arm and although this should be a fairly baggy top, it just wasn't right. I knew that adding bias binding to finish the top would enhance this. I decided to measure in 0.5cm from the armhole and remove a small triangle from the pattern. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Lastly, the whole thing was just too short. I have this whole long body thing going on, so I wasn't surprised. I decided to add 6cm to the length. I went for this much just in case. I can after all just cut some off if it is too long. 

I altered my pattern and am now ready to make my first real Sorbetto. I've decided on another nautical print, but before I can get started I need to do some shopping today. 

On my list I have...

• Red, white and matching machine thread to my fabrics. 
• White and navy bias binding (if possible). 
• 7 x 15mm buttons for my Mathilde.
• Some white invisible zips.
• A new pot of pins.
• A Bias binding maker. 

I am going to try Pottinger Street in Central for most of these goodies, I now that I can get most of what I need there. I will then go to Tailoring and Alteration in Causeway Bay to check out their bias binding makers. 

Fingers crossed that this is a quick process and I can get home to sew!