Although I’ve made up Jalie 2804 twice before, it’s a couple of years since the last one!  I thought that it would be a good match for the granny square printed fabric.

I made this the size that it was already traced – which I think was a W – but ran the side seams in a little bit. I am still wearing both the other tops I’ve made from this pattern, and they are a fraction loose around the body which makes the ruched front overlay sag rather than ruche.

This is the 3/4 sleeve version, with the ruched front overlay and a modesty panel. If only I’d read my blog post from the last time I made this I would have remembered that the modesty panel causes some pulling where it is sewn into the armhole. Not that it’s very noticeable in this busy fabric anyway. The granny squares weren’t printed quite on grain, which caused me a little distress when cutting out the pieces. In the end they are slightly angled along the bottom hem. I compromised between grain and print lines – still not sure which one I should have taken the lead from. Hems were secured with Heat’n’Bond Lite before twin needle stitching.

This is a lovely weight fabric, and it’s certainly a unique item. I wore it to the Craft and Quilt Fair on Thursday, and when someone recognised me from my blog  she asked whether I had blogged it yet! I had a lovely day out at the Fair, after first visiting GJs for backing fabric and wadding for my Medallion Quilt. And the best bit – I ran into Jan as soon as I arrived and we were able to wander around the quilts and chat together. All that I bought was a bag full of interfacings and tapes from Freudenberg/Vilene. Very restrained – especially considering all the wonderful yarn that was there this year to tempt me. I also had a lovely time chatting to Jan’s friend Bonnie and was lucky enough to meet up with my friend Tanya for the second time in 24 hours! A terrific afternoon away from everything – just what the doctor ordered.

I had some ponte left over after cutting out a dress (as yet unassembled).  Not wanting to waste it, I juggled around options for a skirt.  Most of the ones that I investigated wouldn’t fit onto my limited amount of fabric.  Bummer.  So in the end I used New Look 6463 as a base, and added a hem ruffle.

New Look 6463 is actually designed for woven summer weight fabrics. It is an elastic waist, slightly a-line skirt with length and lower flounce variations.  I used the top parts of the pattern for view B, then cut straight across the full width of the fabric twice for the gathered ruffle.  Since I cut using a rotary cutter and ruler, I didn’t even hem the bottom of the ruffle.  Ponte is handy like that.

The waist was also very simple. I cut a length of elastic to fit my waist (minus a couple of inches), joined the ends into a circle, quarter marked it and placed it on the inside of the skirt, then overlocked the top edge of the elastic to the top edge of the skirt, stretching to fit as I went. After that I turned it to the inside, so the elastic could no longer be seen, and used a zig-zag stitch to secure it in place. It’s comfortable and avoids threading elastic through a casing. And because I never tuck anything in, it will never be seen.

At first I was a bit doubtful about this style – I felt it was a bit too youthful – but once paired with my boots and new granny square fabric top I was very happy! Details about the top to come later. And because I used an old pattern I’ve used before, and “scrap” fabric, I consider this to be essentially a free garment!