Sewing up the basics

When I got back from Sydney, I thought that I would whip up my basics in a few weeks.  I started with this t-shirt, in an organic cotton knit from Tessuti.  The pattern is cut off a ready-to-wear shirt of mine.  It is raglan sleeved, with a wide neck.  I don't think the traced off version is as good a pattern as one I drafted for a similar style last year and now can't find, so I think next time I will have to draft my own again.  I had a few problems with the transfer on the front, detailed below.

The skirt is made out of the same linen/silk blend that I used for my wide-legged trousers earlier this year.  I love this fabric and wear the trousers all the time.  It is available from Tessuti in lots of different colours.   Peter likes it too and touches it every time he walks past...well that is his excuse!  I used a basic Burda pattern, changed the CB invisible zip to a fly front and added some oversized pockets.  I started this skirt about 2 months ago, but every time I sat down to sew it, I got interrupted.  It didn't help that I had to think about it every time I came back because I did not have instructions for my modifications.  Eventually I got sick of the interruptions and put it aside.  Now that my Christmas sewing is done, I have got back to it.

The oversized pockets were inspired by a Lee Matthews wool felted skirt that I saw in a Marie Claire magazine.  I was going to put press studs on the pocket flaps but sometimes they go wrong and I didn't want to mess up the skirt.

The iron-on transfer was from a booklet of transfers from Sukie.  The pictures are really groovy, but the colours did not transfer as well as I had hoped, even though I followed the instructions to a tee.  The transfers also slip around a lot.  I messed up one shirt front because the transfer slippped halfway throught the process.  I cut a new front, cut out the old one and stitched the new one in its place, which meant that the shirt ended up a little bit smaller than I wanted.  I basted the transfer in placed before I ironed it on, second time around.

In spite of all those set-backs, I really like the resulting outfit, especially the colour combination.