Getting trendy

The final challenge on the monthly stitch indie pattern month is a RTW copycat challenge. While I don't really follow fashion, I am as influenced as anyone else by what's around me and there are certain trends that I can really get on board with.  The high waisted look is one I like and feel is flattering so as my inspiration outfit I chose this one from Elle magazine, from an article on how to style high waisted shorts this summer.  Really I was just drawn to the colour combos and floral pattern!

While I loved the combination I was unsure about whether I'd get much wear out of a pair of high waisted shorts. I don't really wear shorts all that much (particularly when our summer is being quite so pathetic). However I thought a high waisted mini skirt would create the look well and it gave me an excuse to buy a pattern I'd been lusting after for ages; the Tilly and the buttons Arielle skirt.

I made up the skirt in a stretch cotton I'd bought on Goldhawk Road. Those of you who stop by here regularly (and have good memories) will notice that it's the same one I used to make up my maxi skirt a few weeks ago.

The buttons are some lovely clear ones that I bought on my recent trip to Amsterdam.  The busy fabric means that the button detailing gets a little bit lost but I didn't want to make the skirt too overpowering by adding some statement buttons.

The top is my Flora hack from last week's challenge, while it's clearly not identical to the inspiration top, I felt it conveyed the cropped and very white, summer top, that seems to be everywhere this year.

You may have noticed that it is quite clearly not me in these photos. Somewhere along the path of making my carefully considered RTW copycat, my sister came to visit and suddenly this outfit became her outfit! I don't really know how this happened or how I ended up altering the skirt at 10pm one Sunday night so that she could wear it to work the next day. I never really understand how these kind of things happen in our relationship but somehow they just do!

Anyway, I probably didn't need two skirts in the same fabric in my wardrobe and it's nice seeing her get pleasure out of something I've made.  She stuck to her end of the bargain; of acting as my model for these photos and its nice to have photos of someone who is a lot better at modelling than I am and also has the useful knack of not shutting her eyes in 2/3 photos which is what I do! We took these on a recent trip to Bristol and managed to take these photos in between rain showers and visiting every charity shop in Bristol!  Sadly as the British summer time is not coming up to scratch at all, my sister had to model the outfit with tights (and really hideous shoes), so it's not quite the super summery outfit I had planned.

I now need to get planning my own Arielle!  Why should my sister be the only one with a great skirt?

Bow backed Nettie

Hi all, I hope you've had a lovely weekend.  We've had, what I suspect, is the last of the summer sunshine which has made everything very cheery and I've been able to relax and enjoy catching up with some friends.  At the risk of becoming a Closet case files fan girl, I've got another Closet case files pattern to show you today; a Nettie dress.  I love my previous Nettie dress and bought this fabric to make another, months ago.  I found it on the Birmingham rag market, on a trip with my boyfriends family.  They were very long suffering as we did a tour of the market and Barry's. I got the stripey jersey for my boat necked lady skater on that trip too.

This time I wanted to make a Nettie hack that I had spotted on Tilly and the buttons a while ago, the bow back was really calling to me.  I used the tutorial that Tilly had posted but obviously used the dress version of the Nettie pattern.

The bow is not lopsided but it's surprisingly difficult to photograph a back!

The guy who sold me the fabric claimed it was a cotton jersey but I'm not sure I believe him as it doesn't feel like any cotton jersey I've ever seen.  Although I haven't been bothered to do a burn test to find out, I think I'm dressed in 100% poly ponte!  This fabric has very little stretch which means my new Nettie is definitely not a dress to wear on a body-conscious day.

I got my boyfriend to take some pictures of me in this on a lovely walk around Morden Hall Park.  It was such a perfect autumnal day and we got some lovely pictures.

Also some daft photos where we established that I am  not suited to being a model, you should have heard me whinging about the sun in my eyes and uncomfortable lumpy bits of the tree poking into me.  Clearly I am not prepared to suffer for my art.  

I wanted to enter this dress for the 'dressed to the nines' category over on sew independent so we also took some photos once I was ready for an evening out.

Belt from New Look and sparkly shoes from Dorothy Perkins.

If any of you reading are following the Sew Independent 2015 contest could I make a polite request for your vote!  Have a lovely week all and happy sewing.