Pattern: Butterick 5970 for the skirt and around 4m each of polyester fabric and lining. Blouse is drafted from a Zara blouse.
Notions: Zips, hooks and bars. Lace to cover the hem of the skirt
Both the skirt and the blouse were one of the first things I have ever made. The skirt was easy to put to there and I loved how it flared when I twirled. There is boning (aka zip ties) in the hem to give it the voluminous effect without a petticoat because god knows I do not want to wear more clothing in this weather. However, my last minute decision to add boning resulted in the most horrendous looking hem which could be seen because the back is longer than the front.
I ended up sewing a long lace strip to cover the horror and it gave it a pretty nice touch.
The blouse is actually a mockup and made with a cream cotton poplin, which ironically turned out better than the not-mockup (the red blouse which no longer exists). The centre panel is painted (unwisely, with acrylic, and thus can never be washed) and I have a short video on it here:
The fit of the blouse could definitely have been improved — it bunches up on the upper chest area and I have to keep pulling it down. The problem was fixed in the non-mockup, although that had its own problems. I paired the outfit with a vintage boater hat I found in Thailand.
Steffi Heloise 