A skirt and a sale

Here is the skirt I drafted and sewed back in August. It has been worn quite a lot -- both dressed up with a blouse and pearls as well as dressed down as you see here with a black tee and slippers.

Suck in tummy - check! Angle the body to look slimmer - check! lol :-)

Back view.

I need to make more of these skirts -- they're quick to sew up and best of all, FIT! I think I'll practice drafting and sewing one of these for my 12-year-old niece ... or skinny sister who is built like a 12-year-old (no, no, there is nooooo jealousy in my tone here ... LOL!)

OK, now for the sale news -- the Spotlight sale catalogue arrived today and there are some tempting goodies which go on sale from Wednesday 6th October to Sunday 24th October:

• Butterick patterns are buy 1, get 1 free ... and VIPs get an additional 10% off
• Knits are marked down ... SGD$8.99 - $13.25 a metre (from $12.99 - 18.95 a metre)
• All printed cottons (poplin, sateen & voiles included) from $6.96 - $12.56 a metre
• Adjustable dressforms @ $439.96 (usual $549.95)
• 100% cotton stripes and dots - $6.95 a metre
  

There are Christmas prints and panels too. Guess which mall I'll be valiantly trying to avoid for the next few weeks? :-)

Burda top in action

Here are the action shots at last, taken by a colleague at the office today. Yes, we're a pretty casual office :-) (and boy are the yellow walls ugly). This top is proving to be very comfy so far.

Oh and you can read my review of this top at PatternReview here. On to the pics!

Front (my hands are there to "shape" me a waist. hahahhaha!):

Back (the way I'm standing makes it look as if I have non-existant hips. My hips are small, but they're not that small ... it's an illusion):3/4, standing on the red carpet (as if! hahaha!) view:

I should do this more often

It's done! Well, almost ... just need to hem it ... but you get the idea ;-) Nobody is around to take a pic of me in it right now, so the action shots will have to wait just a while.

Apart from having to fight with the slippery fabric, this top (Burda magazine 2/2009 #108) came together rather quickly and easily, thank goodness. It fits well enough and I'm rather pleased that after so long, I've finally sewn something for myself again.

Construction notes
Pattern - Burda magazine 2/2009 #108
Fabric - Lovely Poly/Lycra knit from NicoleXavier

• I cut a 40 at the neck, blended it out to 42 at the arms and waist and then back to 40 at the hips
  
• Sleeve cap was lowered by about 3/4 " - i just eyeballed it and cut a wedge off the top
  
• I ignored the Burda instructions cos this is a fairly easy top and I didn't like how they had you insert the sleeves in the round. Doesn't make sense for a knit! So here is how I did it:
  - stabilise shoulder and neck with strips of knit interfacing
  - sew shoulder seams
  - sew neck (i just turned it down and sewed; didn't use a twin needed or coverstitch
  - sew sleeves into armholes
  - sew up side seams, from ends of sleeves to bottom of top
  - hem sleeves (i used a 3-step zigzag cos I was too lazy to set up the serger for a coverhem)
  - hem bottom
• Try on the top and resolve to get less "fluffy". LOL!
  

I'm definitely going to make this again, but in a more stable knit the next time(s). Working with slippery fabric made me run through (in my head) my inventory of swear words in multiple languages. Hahahhaha!