We’re almost finished with this series mon petit! And today I’ll be sharing quite possibly my favorite one out of all of them! My birthday suit…well, coordinates. LOL. And is anyone surprised? It’s stripes!!!
We ate dinner at August’s that night so I only wore this outfit for a few hours. But I felt like a million bucks every minute of it.
Note to self, you will need more than breast petals to pull off this look. I was so nervous the entire time. I was trying to keep an eye on the front of my blouse. But, beauty is pain just a nervous downward glance every now and again.
Would you believe I used a bedsheet for this look? It wasn’t intentional at all. I was shopping online for an actual bedlinen set and I found this sheet set. I didn’t love it for my bed, but I loved it for an outfit. Do I ever shut off my creativity? No. I couldn’t if I tried. LOL.
I purchased the king size since I wanted as much fabric as possible. I’ll be honest, and say that I’m really glad that I didn’t purchase this with the intent of using it on my bed. The sheets are definitely a polyester blend that would probably make me sweat at night. But when transformed into an outfit worn in a chilly restaurant, it worked out perfectly.
I know you’re dying to know what pattern I used. Well it’s complicated. My top is from Simplicity and Mimi G 8655. I left off the sleeve portion and made it short sleeve. I made sure to cut all of my fabric on a single layer with the intention of having horizontal stripes. It’s important to keep in mind which color stripe you started cutting at the shoulder line to keep it symmetrical on both shirt panels. You may follow the standard pattern directions to get this look.
My skirt is self drafted. It’s a basic gathered skirt. Here’s how to make it:
Supplies:
- Striped fabric (at least 2 yards)
- 7-9 inch zipper
- Interfacing
- Measure your waist and draft the top and bottom line of your rectangle. You’ll want the line to be the same length as your waist. Mine is 36 inches, so my top and bottom line are both 36 inches.
- Measure down the side of your leg to where you want your skirt to end. Subtract 3 1/2 inches from that length.
- Next draft your waistband and bottom band. This is going to be the same length and width so you can should be able to draw this once, but you’ll cut 2 of your fabric. To use me as an example again, my waistband and bottom band are both 36 inches by 3 1/2 inches.
- Once your pattern is drafted then you will cut 2 of the large rectangle and 2 of the smaller rectangle.
If you are using stripes or a print you will want to make sure to cut on a single layer. If you want to make one like mine, then cut your large rectangle pattern piece so that the stripes are vertical. For the bottom band and waistband you will cut those on a single layer as well. Cut the stripes so that they are horizontal.
- Once your pattern pieces are cut you’ll want to use finish all of your edges on the large rectangle using a serger. Repeat this step for the bottom band as well.
- Sew the bottom band to bottom of the large rectangle using a half inch seam allowance. Iron the seam facing up.
- Next using your favorite gathering method, gather the top part of your skirt. You can use 2 basting stitches (one at a 1/8 inch, the other at 1/4 inch) and gather as much as you like. Make sure that the entire circumference is the same as your waist.
- Sew one side of the skirt from top to the bottom.
- Measure about 7-9 inches down from the top of the skirt and make a mark with a fabric pen.
- Sew down from that mark to the bottom of the skirt.
- Attach your waistband to the skirt. Iron the seam up.
- Follow these steps here to attach the waistband and add in your zipper.
- Hem your skirt using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.
No time to sew? Here’s some similar ready-to-wear looks I found online. Click on the pictures below to find out more…
RAVEN MAUREEN 