Special occasion outfit and teacher pouch

Two projects to update: the special occasion outfit, and the teacher-pouch.

Let's start with the special occasion outfit. The special occasion was last weekend, and the outfit was completed in time. It felt lovely to wear, and it got a couple of compliments. (Someone asked how I managed to find a mask to match my outfit!). I am not super thrilled with the photos, Partly the lighting made it tough to get a flattering photo, but also, the photos emphasize some flaws. 

In the pants all the seams are French seamed. It also has an inseam pocket. The end result is that the pants kind of stick out at the hip, making it look less flattering than I imagine it looks in real life!

For some reason, even though I have made this pattern twice with no fit issues, this time the waist was just a tad too tight to pull on. So I retrofitted an invisible zip into the back. I did a fairly nice job, under the circumstances! Again, having to work around the French seams was a bit of a challenge, but it worked out fine.

The top was based on the self-drafted pattern I have used about four previous times. I decided to line it with the main fabric. In the end, I think it made it too stiff, so it does not look like a good fit in the front. 

However, overall, I am pleased to have used this fabric, and, again, wearing pure silk was lovely!

The special occasion was at Roundhouse park in central Toronto -an old rail yard; so I had to pose by the train, for fun!

This week, I decided kind of at the last minute to try to complete a project for the monthly pop-up sew-along at Pattern Review: leather (and other fabrics that leave a pin-hole). The story is a bit windy:

After making my utility apron in the winter, my friend KR said 'Hey, it's a techer apron', And she was right - if I taught kindergarten! This apron would NOT go over in intermediate grades! But it planted a seed. I have used a small shoulder bag to carry the walkie-talkie and a few other items when I go outside for duty or phys ed. I use white-board crayons (Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 - no plastic!), and like to keep track of them (being that they are relatively more expensive). There are also a few other pieces I like to have close at hand, and it occurred to me that I could make an apron-like pouch for teaching. It would need to be smaller, and I was planning to make it out of denim, like the utility apron. Then the September topic in the sew-along was chosen, and I thought I could do a leather/denim mix. I went to the local leather store (wow... what a treasure trove!) and bought a goat-hide (so soft!) But I could not picture what I wanted, and was busy finishing the special occasion outfit as well as the Marta skirt.

Inspiration pouch.

At the special occasion event, one of the serving staff was wearing a gorgeous leather pouch; exactly what I had in mind. She let me photograph it, and I later realized that I basically had a pattern that I could use! 

Even though I had evening meetings nearly every night last week, now that I knew what I wanted to make, I figured I could do it i time for the pop-up deadline. And I really like the denim/leather combo.

And I did. Although I took a few shortcuts!

I didn't even press the pattern piece, which was a bit creased!

I really took a short-cut in installing the zipper. I really was not thinking, and instead of putting a 'facing' on the welt, I just cut out a welt and folded under the sides; it has worked - for now.

I could not find the thread I thought I had for leather, so used a combination of ordinary sew-all thread and top-stitching thread. Top-stitching thread can be a real pain, and it did not disappoint in that respect: it got caught a few times, so some of my stitches don't look so nice.

Instead of putting the main pieces right-sides together (as one normally does in sewing), for some reason I thought that would not turn out (meaning turn to the right side) nicely. So I folded under the seam allowance on the denim front piece, then sewed it to the flat back leather piece, then trimmed the leather. It worked, but why did I do it that way?

I should have spent more time looking at my inspiration photo; the pockets are much roomier. I did add little darts on my pocket pieces, but it still lies very flat against the main piece. I think I will be able to carry the walkie talkie in there... 🤞

As usual, I used as much of my stash of harvested hardware as I could. This meant a metal zipper from a Herschel bag. I whipstitched the teeth together at each end - I hope it works, because it will be nearly impossible to reinstall a zipper!

I also have many quick-release plastic buckles in this stash, and I found a set that was the PERFECT size. The pattern has a velcro closing, but I was happier with this method.

See the buckle?

Now out of print; :(

Not finished the hem, here