New Look palate cleanser

Hooray for long weekends!

I was excited to make Butterick 5674 in some snakeprint ITY knit from fabric.com (sold out now, but $2.09 per yard on sale!) As the pattern is new and not available here yet, I downloaded it and taped the 50 or so pages together. The frock has a lining, but I've never found it necessary to line a knit frock. The instructions looked a little complicated, so I decided to make a muslin. Unlike me, but I'm glad I did. I tried for a few hours to put the bodice together, but it just wasn't working, perhaps because the lining does something magic? I don't know. Nothing seemed to line up and I couldn't make out the instructions at all. I ended up chucking the bodice in the bin. What a disappointment. I'm glad I didn't waste any snake fabric on it!

I made New Look 6000 in navy ponte instead. Ahh, love New Look! Such a nice, well drafted pattern.

I extended the shoulders a little. The button was one I removed from the epaulette of a jacket a while ago, because buttons on my shoulders interfere with my handbag strap. Recycle-y!
I also recently finished knitting another moderne baby blanket, with an i-cord border this time, and less wonkiness!

Replacement frocking

I wanted to make a frock to replace this one, which I gave to my pregnant friend in New York when I was there several months ago. She tried it on, and when I saw her face I knew I couldn't take it back. She loved it, and her wardrobe was shrinking as her belly grew...my wardrobe on the other hand is ever-expanding. Hey, I can always make another one, right?

So I had making a replacement frock in mind when I was shopping in the NY garment district, and this is the only fabric I bought while I was there. The fabric is thick and warm and soft and lovely and I might just need more of it. I did look for other colours, but they only had this lovely stuff in black.

The front and back are New Look 6000 (Moggy made it in brown); chosen because the neckline was nice and wide, and the side gathers added a bit of interest to what is a very plain black frock. I extended the skirt into an A-line while tracing the pattern, and left off the rear vent. The sleeves are from the same vintage pattern as the original version, again with some of the volume removed. I overlocked and then turned and stitched the neckline instead of using the facings. The armscye and sleeve head were a pretty good fit without any mucking about, (luckily for lazy me) so I sewed the sleeves in flat, before sewing up the side and sleeve seams together.

I did some photo jiggery-pokery so the details stand out: