I work remotely from home a few days a week at the moment, logging in to a work server.  On Friday the server went down.  The downside?  No work for most of the day – and therefore no pay (I’m a contractor).  The upside?  I finished off a tee-shirt and skirt – as well as various domestic tasks!

The top is the Maria Denmark Olivia Oversize Tee. I have used this pattern a couple of times before with the 3/4 length sleeve. This time I chose the short sleeve. It’s an extremely straightforward pattern, all constructed on the overlocker. I used the same size as last time, a little shortened, and with all waist shaping removed.

It’s a little difficult to get that neck band to sit nice and flat. The curve at the bottom is quite pronounced, so you really do ned to get the right amount of stretch – which of course varies depending on what fabric you are using. I find that twin needling around the neckline helps enormously with getting it to sit properly. I used two different colours in the twin needle to pick up on a couple of the different colours in the fabric. I really love the colours in this fabric, which was a gift to me from Anna. Except – and don’t you hate it when there is an except – it turns out that the fabric is quite delicate.

After one car trip there was a pull on the teal section near the waist and marks on the teal sections near the left shoulder, both from the seat belt. My seat belt isn’t in bad condition, I must tell you! It’s just that this fabric is far from sturdy. Which is a little upsetting, because the colours and pattern are superb. I’ve washed and pressed it since without it improving things. Sob!

So, to the skirt. It’s a Grainline Moss Mini, without the added band. This definitely does make it rather mini, but it is long enough for me to bend over without any unintentional exposure. The fabric is a twill from stash – I think it’s cotton. I used a lighter weight cotton for the pockets. And as you can see, I decided to topstitch in chocolate brown. Just to make my life difficult.

I used upholstery thread in the needle and normal polyester sewing thread in the bottom. I also switched the needle to size 14 to accomodate the thicker thread. It was hard to get the topstitching super straight and the lines parallel to one another, but I think I did okay! Any slight sways and deviations are now declared to be “rustic”. I like the ease of the zipper insertion method in the pattern, but after having made this skirt four times I now think that it often gives a bit of a bump at the bottom of the zipper rather than allowing it to lie flat and smooth. In wearing it just forms to the body though, and curves over my stomach curves.

White skirts definitely do show all the sitting wrinkles. The fit is actually rather good over my hips and bottom. I sewed approximately size 8-10 in this pattern. The waistband is quite firm on me, but because of my relative lack of hips that keeps it fitting well. You can’t see my perfectly matched lines of back yoke topstitching in the above photo because my top covers them, but rest assured, they are there!

This is a fun and easy to wear hot day outfit, and I’m actually rather glad that I was game to get my legs out after all. My husband does think that the whiteness of my legs blends in to the whiteness of the skirt, but I don’t really care. This is me, complete with moon tan. I reckon I’m doing okay for someone heading rapidly towards 47!