Separately Together

Yep, I made some work appropriate separates.  And here I am wearing them together.  But I'm kinda meh about the whole shebang.  Maybe you can help me figure out a solution.  I've got a few issues I'd like to fix.  I'm on a mission to make some work appropriate things because I got a new job!  I'm still teaching art but I'll be at a new school next year.  I went from traveling between two schools to now being full time at one school, so I am super excited about that.  I don't have to cart all my junk around with me anymore.

 First, the blouse.  I won a giveaway from Forrest over at Presser Foot Propaganda and she sent me this lovely 80's bow blouse pattern (thank you!).  I've never made nor worn a bow blouse before.  I'm super late on this trend, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

I used a really pretty white cotton shirting that has an open stripe throughout.  I love the fabric.  But I didn't take in to account the sheerness.  I sewed up the darts as recommended on the pattern.  They were really deep darts.  They had you cut the darts open and press flat, making a little notch at the waist.  Well, I did that and you could see the ugly seam allowances through the fabric along with the notch.  It looked sloppy.  So I trimmed the dart allowances down to almost nothing and used my overlock stitch to keep the edges neat.  Am I calling this stitch the right thing- an overlock stitch?  Just curious.

I was really happy with the way it helped tidy up the raw edge.  I used it a few more times to overlock raw edges where I couldn't use french seams.  I used it on the inside of my dip dyed dress, too.

The sleeves were insane.  I used the fun little cap sleeve, which is what initially drew me to the pattern in the first place.  But they were huuuuuuge.  They stuck out so far I looked like I belonged in an episode of the Jetsons.  I did the lazy girl's fix and folded them to the inside and slip stitched the folded edge to the armscye seam allowance.  It cut the width in half.

I'm happy with the blouse but I just don't think I've figured out how to wear it.  I don't like it with this skirt.  I think I'll have to wear it in a more casual way.  Maybe with jeans.  Any thoughts?  I feel like my short hair cut makes it too sweet, if you know what I mean.

The skirt I'm happier with, except for those funny bubbles at the ends of the front darts.  I drafted this skirt based on my a-line skirt block from last summer.  I took my measurements again, and sadly, they are exactly the same.  I say 'sadly' because I just finished a twelve week "couch to 5k" running club.  I was hoping for a tiny reduction in booty.  Oh well.

 

My drafting assistant

I'm not calling it a pencil skirt.  I'm calling this a straight skirt.  Instead of having a wider sweep at the hem I made the hem the exact same width as the widest part of the hip.  To me, pencil skirts are narrower at the hem.  I wanted something simple that wouldn't require any sort of slit.  This is the perfect style of skirt to wear to work when I want to feel a little more "grown up."  Mostly I can get away with corduroys and knit tops.  But every once in a while I need to wear something a little more professional, especially since I'll be in a new work environment.  I made this particular skirt in denim because it was really just a practice version.  I have another version in the works.  

But the denim was too boring to not have some sort of fun feature.  I used one of those fancy embroidery stitches on my machine and made a border at the hem.  I changed thread and width with each row.  Would it be too kitschy if I put a little orange fish in there?  It reminds me of waves.

I'm happy with the skirt except for the front darts.  I fiddled around with them quite a bit but couldn't get the bubbles to disappear.  The denim is really heavy.  I think that may have something to do with it.  And there are also some wrinkles on the back waist.  Any idea what they could be from?

And there it is.  They are both good pieces, but not great.  I think with a few tweaks I could make that straight skirt pattern perfect.  And the blouse just needs a better pairing.