Boat Neck Top

Everyone has been posting (probably a year ago now) their version of the Burda boat neck top, so I had to make my own, minus the Burda part. I took the back and sleeves from the Jalie tunic top, and approximated a front from the top part of the Jalie pattern attached to another shirt front that I knew fit well. I used a thin wool jersey that I bought a year or so ago from Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. I think it was $7 a yard - all I wonder is why on earth I didn't buy more of it! I had some scraps of Echino fabric lying around, so I decided to applique a little bit onto the front so I could tell the back from the front. I used instructions found here. Next time I will make the stitch width a little wider - the Echino fabric is a double gauze, so the threads are sneaking out in parts of it. I probably should have stabilized the neckline, but didn't (I just folded it over once an stitched). Here it is:

The Lion A-Line

This is my second skirt using the Twinkle A-line A-plus skirt from BurdaStyle. I've gotten a lot of use out of that pattern! I also used the yoke pattern as the basis for a wool straight skirt with a waistband. This used 1 1/2 yards of Echino Lion double gauze fabric. It was a delight to work with - behaves well as cotton does, but so soft! It was worth every penny. I did line it - I suppose you don't with double gauze, but I hate dealing with facings. I didn't really make any changes from last time. I realized I did change where the pleats were in the last skirt - just moved them both out from center about an inch, so I did the same thing here. I couldn't get the machine blind stitch to be terribly blind on this fabric, so I catch stitched them hem in place using the Sewing Divas instructions available here.