My Weekend Getaway blouse.

It's my favourite time of the year again, that 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'.  I love the arrival of autumn, to me it has always had a feeling of a fresh, new start.  Maybe it's the association with the new school year, but I love nothing more than putting summer clothing away and deciding on the autumn/winter attire.

Since I embarked on the combination of the Ten Item Wardrobe and theproject333 a few seasons ago, it has made be very selective about what I include in my wardrobe.  Each item has to really WORK for me in every sense, that is, colour, size, style to suit both me and my lifestyle.  I will expand on this a little in a separate post, but one of the pattern designers that I love is Liesl Gibson who has a few lines of patterns, namely the Lisette range (for Butterick) and the Liesl & Co patterns.  Nearly everything I have made from these ranges fits me well and I get a lot of wear from.  

So this pattern, the Liesl & Co Weekend Getaway dress/blouse pattern has a lot to live up to.  I have made it in Atelier brunette viscose fabric called facet.  It's a geometric type print in a navy and black print purchase from misformake.  The pattern itself has been out for a while, I just thought I should give it a go.

I made it in a straight size 14 with a full bust adjustment of 1/2 inch (really well explained in the instructions) and I think it's a pretty good fit.  It's a very straightforward make.  Perhaps this fabric isn't the best for showing off the details of the pattern, there are pretty shaped pockets, cuffed 3/4 length sleeves, and full front facing and a back pleat.  It all blends in a bit too well with this fabric, I think plain fabrics would show the details off better.

Anyway, it's an easy-going style, relaxed fit, just pull over the head and that works for me, so it is part of my Autumn 2015 Ten Item Wardrobe. The only slight adjustment I might make is to sew the facing up another bit, it is just a little bit low for me, but we're only talking 1/2 to 1", not a big deal.

An addition to my 'project333' has been these lovely oxblood ankle boots, probably the most I have ever spent on ankle boots, but I reckon if you're buying less overall, you're better putting more money into things like footwear, coats etc.  I look on them as a long term investment.

Happy Autumn!

Merchant and Mills Fielder Top

 So this is the first of my autumn makes, it is the The Fielder top from Merchant and Mills.  It is based on the easy going style of the sweatshirt, so is a pretty relaxed style, except it is made in woven fabrics instead of stretch.  The only stretch part is the ribbing around the neckline, waist and cuffs.

 I had purchased this beautiful patsy double gauze fabric from Merchant and Mills intending to use it for the Fielder, but decided it was more a spring/summer fabric, so I chose to use the lovely Nani-iro fabric (jewel-song-pocho-yozora) from misformake. (I see they have sold out for now)  It is a steely grey with metallic dots which have a slight pink tinge.

I love these double gauzes for spring/autumn, because although they are fairly light weight, there is a cosiness to them.

 I got the ribbing from Merchant and Mills and it is a lovely quality, in this case I used the grey which goes really well with the Nani Iro.

The pattern itself was very straightforward, the sleeve is in two pieces and is raglan in style,

You can also make a dress version with in-seam pockets which could be a useful casual dress, might make one at some stage.

So, overall, I like it, it's a simple, casual style, probably more for the week-end or a more sporty look.