Working nine to five, what a way to make a living…..

I have been sewing solidly for four days but I managed to get my outfit finished in time to enter the bonus competition for the bundles from indie pattern month. I ordered the first three items from the working 9-5 bundle as I have been after the sew over it Anderson blouse for a while, so to get a bonus skirt and jacket with it was too good to miss. I decided to enter this competition on the day it opened so I decided to go for the blouse and skirt as I thought this was achievable.

I made the top from this fantastic crepe de chine dragonfly fabric from fabricland. I wanted to buy the ostrich feather fabric in the link but they had sold out and then this caught my eye. I got the last 1.70 m off the roll which was perfect for the top. I cut a straight size 10, which fitted perfectly. The design of the blouse means it is very unfitted at the front, so much so that you would flash everything to all of you don’t add a stitch at the front. When I made the sleeves I was worried they were a little tight so I tacked them on first to try on before I serged them and was pleased to find they fitted well.

I love the design of this shirt and received a lot of compliments at work when I wore it. Little features like the ruched shoulder seams and pleats on the sleeves made my colleagues surprised to hear I had made it.

I will definitely make another Anderson blouse, fabric is on my sewing desk ready (spotty in case I get it finished this month!!) But would make it a little longer next time. The finished length is fine when the hem is pulled tight and worn high on the waist but most my trousers are low waisted so this doesn’t always work for me. The instructions for this top are interesting to say the least, it’s a really quick make but I read the instructions half a dozen times and couldn’t understand the description to make the facing or the casing for the ribbon at the hem. In the end I threw out the instructions and made my own casing design. I am not the only one with this issue, ciara also struggled with this…..so not just me!!

The skirt pattern is the Sew House Seven Alberta street pencil skirt. This skirt has great reviews as being a quick make…..but it was a nightmare for me! I only didn’t throw it in my ufo pile because of this competition.

I used another fabric land fabric in navy blue which is Sturdy cotton weave and looks smart now finished. I cut a size 8 as the pattern tells you to measure your body and go by that. An 8 says hips 39″ and waist 28 1/2″, I measure hips 39″ and waist 29″ so sounded good to go. The pattern also says not to be put off if it looks snug, it will fit fine…..I added a little extra when I cut out as not convinced. I tacked the side seams and added the waist band to test it and found the front panel fitted perfectly but I had a gap of 5cm for my bum to hang out the back!! I used the back pattern piece to recreate the side curve and made up two small sections to add on either side.

I think I got away with it in the end, but swore a little to get to the finished garment. I had to unpick the seams to add in the new sections, then unpick them again to add in the pockets and again to add the waist band….I found my fabric did not like this at all and kept fraying. The waist band actually fitted so I had to grade in the extra section at the top. By the time I had finished the inside looked a huge mess….Thank goodness for my overlocker that saved the day.

Although I am not convinced by the sizing chart, I do think the instructions were really clear on this pattern and had I not sewn the sides to test the fit it would have been a quick make. I wore this to work today and it was comfortable but smart for the office, I had no comments which my husband interpreted as “must have looked like a rtw item”!

I might make the jacket to match the skirt but want to see how well this fabric washes first before I spend too long battling with fraying fabric!

That’s all from me for now, thanks for having a look and feel free to check out my blog.