1 January 2009

Back in Black

Happy 2009 everyone! May this year bring happiness, health and joy to you and your loved ones. But most of all, may the sewing gods smile down upon each and every one of you!

Now, on to the sewing...I have wanted to make cardigan 103 and skirt 118 from BWOF for a while now. Considering the issue is from September 2005, I do believe I allowed the patterns to age the appropriate amount of time before use. Well, I could just kick myself now - why, oh why, didn't I make these patterns up sooner? I am madly in love with the cardigan and I have a fairly serious crush on the skirt!

To test the fit of each garment, I made a wearable muslin in some less expensive fabrics I had in the stash. The cardigan was made from a black boucle knit fabric and the skirt from some black RPL suiting, both from a Wazoodle flash sale. I made size 36 for both garments, with no original alterations. This proved to be perfect for the cardigan, but the skirt did require a narrowing of the yoke to fit my waist better.

I love the cardigan so much I have already made it up in another fabric (I'll show it you in a future post). I have plans to revisit the skirt as well, although the next time, I will be making a shorter version - the amount of fabric in the longer length is a bit overwhelming on my short body.

I also made a top to wear under the cardigan. I used the free pattern, Lydia, from Burda Style. I love this style of top, as it can be made in a wide variety of fabrics and each version will look different. I used up a remnant of a fabric I had used in my SWAP 2007.

So, here are the finished garments. The black garments are basically dark amoebas in the photos so I tried to lighten them up a bit. Alas, this only helped marginally, but here goes:

13 comments:

Summerset said...

Very nice! I love the shape of the skirt, I can see this really working for you. I made a similar BWOF cardigan (or maybe the same one!) this past year and really liked it.

Lisette M said...

Great to see posting again. I really like the skirt!

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

I remember that BWOF cardigan...I remember wishing that it came in a larger size! *LOL* However, I love yours and the accompanying pieces...also thank you so much for posting some of your garments! I've missed you and them!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Shannon for the link! I will linkback as well. Nice work by the way. I wish I could sew more, but time constraints with working a full-time job and doing web design on the side leaves me no time to sew. Plus there are no "really" good fabric stores in the city I live in, and the one that has any selection of fabric is a little on the expensive side per yard.

Tany said...

Gorgeous!!!

Happy New Year to you!!

The J said...

It appears I didn't procrastinate quite long enough - yesterday I cut out an ankle-length 8-gore skirt with a yoke... which would have looked awesome with a bottom shaped seam instead of straight across. Ah, well, next time ;).

angie.a said...

Aw nuts. I have April, May, July, and Nov from 05. That is one awesome skirt! The cardigan is pretty perfect too. I love your new little stat thing (where you're paying yourself to exercise, teehee!!!)

C said...

The skirt is especially adorable. It looks really comfy too.

Ann Made Studio said...

What a great start to a New Year!
I love the look of this out fit. The fabric for the top is gorgeous!

Alexandra said...

Happy New Year!
What a great way to start it with new creations!
I like to age my Burda WOF magazines - sometimes they are so fashion forward that it takes me a while to get used to the new look.

Linda L said...

I like the cardigan, top and skirt. I downloaded the Lydia pattern but yet to make it up.

Anonymous said...

a-ha! I knew that skirt looked familiar - I made that way back in 2005 back when I was a bigger size (so hence haven't seen it in years). I should really remake that, I remember I made it in a maroon suiting fabric with a jacket to match.

And the coat on the cover of this issue I just finished this week! This was a great issue!

Anonymous said...

Love the black skirt. It would look amazing on the dance floor! You inspire me!