Welcome… the Gabrianna

Oh yes, week three of TMS Indie Patten month and I’ve mashed up patterns from two of my fave indie companies; By Hand London Anna and Sewaholic’s Gabriola. And so, I present to you Gabrianna!

My thinking behind the match… The Anna bodice I’ve made twice before and it’s a lovely simple, easy to sew bodice, I also think it needs an elegant skirt with clean lines. The Gabriola is new to my collection, and the elegant smooth lines of this skirt are a match made in heaven with this bodice in my opinion. I also love the fit of other Sewaholic patterns I’ve made up.

I cut the bodice and made that first before cutting out the skirt. Having not made the skirt before I didn’t know how it would fit around my waist/hips, but thought I could play around with it to fit, so I didn’t make a muslin. So I measured the waist of the bodice, and cut the skirt to match that size. The waistband is interfaced to keep it stable and give some definition.

This skirt is super easy to make up and I even managed to put a pocket in the side seam. The zip is a centred dress zip which I had in my stash. I chose this fabric since although it doesn’t have an obvious stripe, it still shows where the grainline is from the pattern placement, particularly on the skirt yoke.

I did find time to let this drop overnight. The fabric is quite stable and so I took a chance. I finished it by hand as usual.

The details

Fabric:  Blue, pink, green patterned cotton from Fabric-a-Brac, April 2014. I got just over 4m for less than NZ $5, that’s about GBP 2.50 for UK folks and about US $4.30. Bargain or what?

Notions:   Thread (both white and blue from stash), interfacing for the neck facing and waistband, and a navy centred dress zip from stash. Lots from stash!

Pattern:  The Gabrianna = Bodice from By Hand London Anna dress + Gabriola skirt from Sewaholic. Oh, plus a pocket from Pauline Alice Cami dress! I think this definitely satisfies the criteria for TMS Franken-Indie. So I could call it Gabricamianna? No, OK, I like Gabrianna too 🙂

First worn:  Photos, followed by WSBN dinner last Saturday. The photos were taken down on the waterfront here in Wellington, where is was a tad windy if you can’t guess by the hair everywhere!

Changes made:  I shifted the darts slightly with the bodice, but the rest is as drafted. I think I cut between a 16/18 front bodice, 14/16 back bodice. The skirt I cut a 12, but the waist I ended up taking in more at the back. I always think I’ve got a broad back, but perhaps not! Oh and I definitely cut quite a bit of length off the skirt, since this is a maxi skirt pattern.

Recommend?  As a franken-indie mash-up, this worked like a dream. I think the skirt lines suit this bodice perfectly. I love the way the skirt still skims my hips producing clear lines. I feel like the cat that’s got the cream in this creation and would definitely recommend you try it.

I call it a success. In two weeks, I’ve made two happy dresses – yay! I think I can get away with this on some of our warmer winter days. Purple boots and purple cardi? Yep, I think so!

For more details and more photos, including the outtakes, check out my blog. Outtakes, I hear you say? OK, here’s just one…

This is the naked man on Wellington waterfront, ’nuff said…