Wiggle it, just a little bit

Anyone else remember this song???  Its the first thing I thought of when I tried to walk in my new skirt!

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my long list of sewing (you can read it here). I listed a pencil skirt that I wanted to sew to go with a beautiful Alannah Hill coat I now own, and a pretty blouse...  Well I made both on the weekend.

I'm going to stop calling it a pencil skirt, and start calling it a wiggle skirt.  Its quite possibly the wiggly-est wiggle skirt ever.  To make my idea easier to understand for everyone, I did a bit of a sketch:

Pretty straight-forward really... the seam lines follow the curves of the body, with different fabric in the panels on the sides compared with the front and the back, and a half circle godet/fish tail bit in the back so I can walk, nice size waist band closing with a button, and a zip in the back.

But I kinda cheated... I used the pattern I made up for my Marilyn Monroe inspired dress (read about it here) as the basis, so really most of the work was already done.

But here is why I call it the wiggly-est wiggle skirt ever... it fits REALLY well, so its restricting to walk in, so you wiggle A LOT more than you normally would.... The effect would not be so exagerated if I'd sewn it in stretch fabric though, so I'm going to make another one from the stretch denim I bought to make jeans from, cause I've got plenty of it so why not.  And its not like I wouldn't wear a sexy denim wiggle skirt!

Now for the blouse.

The lovely Laura Mae from Lilacs & Lace made a blouse a few months ago that I really loved, so I followed her lead and sewed the same thing.  So the blouse was sewn from this pattern:

But it has no sleeves, so Laura Mae used the sleeves from this pattern:

Both are readily available in shops, so you don't have to scour second hand websites to find them (however I did buy the DKNY one from ebay).

The sleeves are really really pretty, with poufy bits on the shoulders and a criss-cross band and I think they actually match the sugary sweetness of the peter pan collar and the big bow really well.  Its almost as if they should be together on the one pattern.

Here is Laura Mae's version:

I decided to sew mine from some beautiful, thick, delustred satin.  A beautiful fabric that HATES being ironed into creases!  The blouse was a very simple sew.  The same cannot be said for the sleeves.  They were rather complicated and it took me a few hours just to assemble them.  But I do think the effort was worth it.  The other good thing about them is that, because they are poufy, they make the shoulders look bigger, and therefore the hips look slimmer!!!!

I cut out a size larger than what I thought I'd need for the blouse and thank god I did!  Its quite tight across my bust (even though it said it should measure 37 1/2" and I have a 36" bust) but fits well everywhere else.  I really need to start making muslins of new patterns...  Anyway!  I'm going to modify it slightly by increasing the length of the slit at the front in the hope that gives me a bit more space.  And when I sew it next time I'll give myself more room in that area!

So, the outfit together!!!  This is the bit you've been waiting for:

A bit pancake-y.  Will try a different bra next time!

Curvy curvy!

I probably should have taken some detail photos of the blouse - particularly the sleeves, but I didn't...  I will do that and add them to the album on my facebook page (go like me here!)

Blouse: Simplicity 2154 and Vogue V1160

Skirt: My own creation

Belt: Alannah Hill

Stockings: Trasparenze from Sweet Pins

Shoes: cheep and cheerful ones from Payless

Thanks for reading!

Beccie

xxx