Dressmaking once more

Tonight I had my first dressmaking for beginners and improvers class. It looks like a lovely group although i didn't really get to speak to many people yet. There is a very sweet one though called Iris. I want to be her friend a lot. She just seemed to be doing what she liked and setting her own agenda for discussions so i think she is a good influence. And she had a lovely apron for sewing - something I think I would like myself.

this is the sort of thing Iris wore - probably from her younger days

The class i think is about half and half with beginners and improvers so it will be nice to see what everyone gets up to. There are three of us from last year's pattern cutting and our teacher is the same as before so she said we can do what we would like. We have been set the task of buying a skirt pattern and the fabric for homework (Julia says she will be stricter on homework - I think this will be good for me) so this means really I need to find a good pattern or draw one sharpish and get my fabric and everything else too. The beginners are all so keen I fear I won't keep up!

I had in my mind that I wanted to do a dress, but as everyone will be doing a skirt (except Iris - she's doing a dress) I think I will put my dress idea on hold and use this first term to sort out a really simple and well fitting skirt pattern and practise making it up to perfection (or the best I can). I think this will be a big challenge for me as I do have a tendency to cut corners and rush the stages.

I think one problem with the projects i took on last year was that they were a bit too fussy (especially the Fendi style dress), and not really the sort of things i like to wear which are really quite simple. This is probably not good for the class where I'm meant to be pushing the boat out, but i think there is enough challenge in achieving a beautiful finish.

I will need to get a move on, but am pleased to find my toile from the blocks i made last year fits much better than i remember and it should be a very easy alteration to create a pencil skirt pattern. I started to do a little research and found this picture which i think is nice:

It is called a reeba pencil skirt and I found it here on the channel 4 style page - good for an hourglass shape apparently (i am hoping good to create one - not that you need one to start with)

This would really fit the bill as is so simple, but with a little bit of design in the darts and waistband. I will do a little more research though to see what i can see. It's not really so different to the skirt i made last year so perhaps that pattern will be the one to use again (although i have not worn that one so much - i think it has needed an iron for a while!)

As for the fabric - well, i knew what i wanted there, and now have bought it! Some black wool crepe from linton direct. I know it doesn't sound very exciting at all, but I have been needing to make a black skirt for a long time and I hope that this will really be lovely stuff to ensure it is the nicest black skirt it can be. I also rather impulsively got a little bit of grey white and blue houndstooth which was on sale (it is nice to buy a couple of pieces to help justify the postage costs) I had seen this before and i love this style for a skirt. Also this is silk and viscose blend so i am really looking forward to seeing what it's like. I'll give you a peek when it arrives too!

wow - a lot of activity for one day. I feel like this is the kick start my inner dressmaker really needed.

yours back in the swing,

Emilia. x