Here’s what I did last night. Today was my niece’s birthday lunch and it’s now growing cold (14C)and I bought this fabric in November from Dots N Stripes UK. I loved their service. They were quick to fix up the postage for my order.

I love wearing dark printed cord outfits in the winter and this piece was just waiting for the right temperature before I could attempt to make it up.

I’ve used McCalls 2113 which I’ve used before with a border print. The pattern had the correct adjustments so last night I cut out the dress, found a matching satin bias binding tape and pulled it together without the sleeves. I needed to know that it would fit over my curves, before I went to sleep last night.

I’ve used an invisible zip in brillant red and as the print was everywhere, there wasn’t much need to match the print pattern.

I opened the sleeve by 3cm, so it would fit over my arm, while wearing a woollen knit long sleeve top and tights underneath. The other adjustment was I lowered the neckline by 5cm and put back the gaposis and turned this into the pleat, making the neckline square. If this is going to be just a dress, I’ll add 8cm to the hemline. This is definitely a weekend dress.
When we got to the lunch, everyone was in their winter greys and blacks, so as bright as I was, I didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Yesterday I attended the first of two chanel jacket workshops with the Rhodes sewers so my next post will be about the pattern and the bright chunky silk woven left over that’s been waiting for this opportunity. OMG.