I have been sewing, honest! I know I’ve been quiet but with the heatwave we’re having at the moment and Wimbledon proving to be quite a distraction it’s taken me quite a lot longer than I thought it would to complete the skirt and top combo I started a couple of weeks ago.
I started with the McCalls 7292 view B top and went for quite a thick red cotton that I had in my stash. The top was quite simple to make but did come out a little bit bigger than I would have liked. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve lost weight recently or if I should have allowed some ease on the pattern. I have used this pattern before (view C) and it has fit me like a glove so I’m not entirely sure why it was different this time around.
I decided once it was finished to embroider a flower on one of the shoulders to make it a bit more interesting and it came out quite nicely. The patterns are ones that were handed to me from my Nana, now her eyesight isn’t too good she can’t do much needlework.
I started on the skirt from Simplicity 2654 view 3, a full circle skirt. I used quite a thin black cotton and it was simple from start to finish (apart from taking ages to cut out as I was watching the men’s final and getting very excited about Murray!)
I did embroider the bottom with the larger flower pattern, hoping that it would lift the skirt a bit as it looks very black. The red against the black didn’t make it pop as much as I thought it would. I know that might sound a bit silly but I did think after maybe I should have put some red ric rac on the bottom of it, then again it might have made it look a little cartoon-y and this is, really, a top and skirt for work so it doesn’t have to be too colourful.
The finished top and skirt:
What do you think? Should I have have stitched some ric rac on the bottom rather than the embroidery? Any advice would be appreciated.
I’m not sure if it’s just because the last thing I made was so colourful compared to this it seems a little boring!