Autumn Wardrobe a la Gertie

These are the first two pieces from my fall sewing plan. I love this outfit. My last make was a dud (btw, I’ve already taken it in and it fits much better), so it feels especially good to make a winner. I drafted this circle skirt following the instructions in Gertie’s new book (if you haven’t gotten a copy yet GET ONE FOOL!!!!). The top is the Portrait Blouse from the same book

I have tons of this brown corduroy and may make another that’s slightly longer. I made this 16 inches long and it feels a little scandalous. I’ll aim for a 18-19″ hem on the black skirt I have planned. I commute by bicycle, so I normally have shorts under my dresses and skirts. That’s the only reason I avoided a wardrobe malfunction today.

See… it’s a circle. Neat-o

I wore this outfit Monday night to go dancing for my little sister’s birthday. I got *so* many compliments. Squeee, I felt very proud of myself. Also, dancing in a circle skirt is crazy fun. I’ve never worn one before and the twirl factor was most excellent.

Obligatory twirl shot

I inserted my first lapped zipper (thanks again Gertie) and hand-picked the side on the overlap. I used a pants hook and bar at the lap of the waistband. Speaking of that, it looks a little bit sloppy up top because the waistband is a skosh short. I’ll add an inch to my next one. I finished this with an easy rolled hem and that’s about it for the skirt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top is the portrait blouse. I was very short on fabric and barely eeked this out. I used the remainder of the cotton gauze left over from Macaron. This blouse is perfect for a light breezy fabric. It looks nice on its own and can sit comfortably under a cardi. Perfection!  My measurements fall in between two sizes so I made up a new size . Let’s call this a size 5.

I didn’t have enough fabric to make facings with so I used 1/4″ bias binding at the neck. The sleeves and hem are serged, pressed and stitched. Nothing too fancy.  The only adjustment I had to make was to lengthen the front tuck/darts by 1.5 inches. When I wore this Monday night I kept tugging at it because the fullness was too low, now it’s fitted right up until my bust starts.

Check out my beasts in the background

Gertie mentions that this blouse is short and I have to agree. I don’t think I could pair this with something that doesn’t sit at my natural waist.  If I make this again, I’d like to add around 5 inches. I’d also like to omit the zipper in future versions and see if I can make this work with slits at the side seams instead.

This outfit is a winner, and I’m looking forward to the rest of my fall wadrobe.

xx, Cynthia

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