I picked up this amazing piece of velvet at a House of Hackney sample sale about a year ago and have had this project quietly on the back burner ever since…

I was rummaging in the remnant bin when I came across a 1 meter square (minus a couple of chunks taken out of the corners) of the brilliant Leonine amoeba/leopard print for £5. I knew straight away that I wanted to turn it into an A-line mini skirt so set to work using New Look 6106. I changed it slightly by omitting the pockets and added a lining (some lovely and slinky black silk habotai from Ray Stitch). I think the fabric is meant for sofas but it’s got a lovely soft drape and the slightly more structured look is exactly what I wanted. Sewing the velvet was a bit of a headache as it’s so prone to fraying – I’m so glad I have an overlocker! As you can see from the side view above, getting the seams to stay matched up when trundling through the machine was also tricky but I’m rather pleased with the end result (as you can probably tell from that last pic!).

I finished this dress in a three night sewing frenzy back in April when a good friend’s Birthday party (and the promise of a child free night of dancing) gave me the urge for something 60’s and shiny to jump around in.

The fabric is another House of Hackney sample sale bargain (from the same trip that yielded my Leonine A-line skirt). It’s been hanging about in my stash for far too long as I’ve been too intimidated by it’s beauty to cut into it. The detail and texture of the fabric is incredible – the black background is lush and smooth whilst the palmeral print is picked out in tiny green and metallic stitches. Different sized stitches give the palm leaves an amazing depth – it would be a shame to save this fabric for the evening really as you can appreciate the detail better under natural light.

The pattern is Simplicity K1609 – a 60’s style shift that is so simple I had a hard time visualising how it would turn out. I even umm-ed and ahhh-ed about making the bow from view B but as soon as those lovely deep side darts came together I knew I was onto a winner and the pattern would let the fabric shine! The side darts are actually a huge feature on the finished dress but you can’t really see them on the pattern model or the technical drawing on the envelope so they were a nice surprise! I cut a straight size 12 and the only change I made was to skip the interfacing as the fabric was weighty enough without it.

It’s been a while since I sewed a new garm so I’m excited to share some photos of my finished bomber jacket today! The pattern is, of course, the Rigel Bomber by Papercut Patterns – a simple, unlined bomber jacket with welt pockets. I chose a pink sweatshirt fabric (rather more lurid than these photos make it appear…) as I wanted something warm, comfy and easy to care for. Also, since it’s super cosy, fleece backed sweat-shirting, I thought it might be nice to see the contrast in texture on the inside of the jacket.

I learned a couple of things while working on this project. One thing, which is blindingly obvious in hindsight, is that (of course) if you choose to make details like ribbing, zips and welt pockets in a contrasting colour then any imperfections will stick out like a sore thumb. But if I stand at a jaunty angle like this then perhaps you won’t notice  The other is that although this is a simple enough jacket pattern, jackets are inherently more difficult than dresses as they don’t look ‘pretty’ in-and-of themselves and don’t ‘spark joy’ in quite the same way. Also there are more straight lines and corners to match up so if something is slightly off then it’s harder to sort of ‘use the force’ and ease on down the road and lose the excess in the side seams (or wherever – hope it’s not just me that sews like this!).

I’m hoping this will be a good addition to my day to day getup, especially once the temperature drops a little more. I’m already planning a silk version for work but think I might try lining it this time – and maybe skip the pockets to save myself a whole load of time (and a little bit of heartache – my overlocker chewed up two side panels as I tried to make the inside of the pocket situation look neater). Thinking about the pockets just then made my heart feel all heavy and then it hit me – making jackets feels a lot more like ‘tailoring’ and a lot less like ‘dressmaking’ – more mathematical somehow with fewer nice, curved seams and pretty necklines. One thing I have realised though is that I desperately need to sew more every-day things so perhaps jackets are something I’ll come to enjoy more with practice?

One last thing (to do with my upside down feet). Long story short, my tripod is broken. I really wanted to show off these trainers which are by New Balance though as they just go so well with the jacket – what a coincidence