Stripes and sunflowers

 

Damn, it’s a great day.

Confession time: I made this skirt four years ago. Four! Ironically, the same can be said about the top. I recently went through my “to do” pile (you know the one, the one in the corner of your closet/drawer, the one you don’t even want to look at because all your past traumas resurface and you feel like a failure all over again) looking for something I could quickly finish to wear.

This skirt used to be finished but back in the day I executed very, very poor judgment over the hemming method and so it had to be redone, obviously. Instead of doing a blind hem, like I should have, I used iron-on hemming tape, but one that mysteriously dissolved in the washing machine.

Soooooo I dragged it out of the corner of shame and completely pulled apart what remained of the hem tape, ironed, and used my machine’s blind stitch setting to finish the hem instead. I also took out the hook and eye and replaced it with a button, because I felt like it.

And so I ended up having a new-old skirt to wear all over again!

I bought the sunflower fabric from the upholstery section of Spotlight, I think it was something crazy cheap like $4 a metre. I couldn’t resist doing a little bit of pattern matching, the stripes lended themselves perfectly to it. The only issue is that there is an odd number of pleats so the pattern repeats at the centre back instead of alternating. I still think though I made it when I was relatively green, it’s better than what you can find in stores.

As for the top, it was sent to the naughty corner for the ridiculously tight armpits. It’s also made from god-awful quilting fabric that reminds me why I don’t sew tops anymore. Admittedly, I got more desperate for cute tops since banishing it, so I haven’t done any modifications, but I thought it matched pretty well with the skirt. At least I know what modifications to do for next time (those modifications being to throw the pattern in the bin and just use a variation of my sloper because that’s what it’s there for!).

Top: New Look 6808
Skirt: Self-drafted box-pleated skirt (tutorial here)
Shoes: AliExpress
Hat: TaoBao

What do you think about the hat? I feel very decidedly Dior in this getup. I bought the hat from TaoBao (find the same one on AliExpress here) and I have been wearing it everywhere. The Australian sun is very harsh in Summer and I’ve been looking to boost my skin protection now that I’m in the wrong end of my 20s (and getting wronger by the day). The one downside is that it flies off at the very mention of a stiff breeze, but that’s what the ribbons are for, I guess. I do feel like a bit of a wanker walking around with a hat done up in a bow around my chin every day on my way to work but that’s the price I pay for excellent sun protection.

No more out of me today, so I leave you with a photo of two cute ladies.