Dressmaking is in the pipeline

Despite efforts to convince myself otherwise, because I love the wonderful purpley-brown colour - and the warmth of boiled wool - I have to recognise that the skirt recently purchased doesn't fit. The larger size was comfortably loose but the waist was ... well, was there a waist? ... and the smaller, which came home for a better assessment, is a bit snug round the thighs and the waist is still wrong.

Then, a lightbulb moment - take a pattern from the garment, adjust it, and look for boiled wool at the Knitting & Stitching show. 

It's been a while since I attempted any garment sewing - 2015 in fact. And even longer since making a pattern - the book that got me going on this was published in 1996 - "Patterns from Finished Clothes: Recreating the clothes you love" by Tracy Doyle. 

Here we are ready to start - "like a patient etherized upon a table" comes to mind - but no finished garments will be harmed in the process....

Getting this far involved finding the tracing wheel, which involved a LOT of turmoil in the studio, sorting through shelves and cupboards and delving into baskets and boxes. The mess remains, but that's ok for now.

A garment needs more than its shell - there's lining (still to buy) and "notions". I found some petersham ribbon in my Ribbons drawer (yes, a whole drawer full of ribbons, excessive I know) - never mind that it's white for a dark skirt, it's an internal waistband and will be a mark of individuality. White for the purple one, and yellow (though it's a bit narrow) for the navy one. And zips of the right length - and colour - emerged from the "recycled zips" drawer. Result!

 As for the ladybird dress started in 2015 - it needs a fitting session, first of all, and then I can take a deep breath and get to grips with putting in the zip ... something I used to be able to do with my eyes closed.

Now the skirt pattern has been traced and checked and adjusted and is ready to use -

The boiled wool is having a gentle pre-wash - 

 and the next patient is etherized on the table -

This will be made in the red fabric, a thin, part-viscose boiled wood, which was washed on arrival and is currently drying.