What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday #201

The children are still in bed. Most unusual for my two, even now they are teenagers. The Mechanic has left for work and I’ve been making the most of an empty kitchen table. Inspired by The Great British Sewing Bee last night, I’ve got out the pattern that I was lucky enough to be given on a recent trip to Salisbury.

The pattern comes with a Croquis Kit. No, I didn’t know what that meant either. Essentially it’s a paper doll for big girls. All the elements of the dress are printed separately and they all fit together. The bodice is always the same, but there is a choice of skirts, sleeves, neck bands and details like button tabs. You can play at fashion designer, without the need for drawing skills. Just trace off the bits you want.

Here’s a closer look at the style I’m aiming for, with the pleated sleeves, flared skirt and the narrower neck band. I love this pattern. Now just to figure out the sizing! The children are stirring and will be down for breakfast any minute. Time to clear away.

For more creativity on show, call in at Julia’s place, you’ll find plenty there.

PS You can read more about TGBSB in Monday’s post.

A Month of Sunrays ~ But Not What I Thought

When I saw that Julie had a new theme for the month on her blog, I must admit to being a little surprised at the subject. You see, to me the word ‘sunray’ didn’t immediately conjure up rays of sunshine, but something quite different.

Now I know that Julie has used her (not inconsiderable) powers of persuasion, to get her readers into various shades of purple, in the past. But narrow knife edge pleats, of the sort I remember gracing the pages of the Damart catalogues, that dropped through my Gran’s letter box periodically, when I was a child. Really?

It got me wondering if there was a more modern take on the sunray pleated skirt.  My search was rewarded with this gem of a dress and in the perfect colour too.

Dress by Rukshani Gunaratne photographed by Mariah Jelena

I intended to post this yesterday, but it took me a while to discover the designer of the dress and I didn’t want to use the photograph without crediting them. I’ll be back tomorrow with my desk as usual and the beginnings of my quilt blocks.