Feline groovy

Here's the poncho from that Burda pattern of which I showed you the top yesterday, made in a black deadstock chiffon with what they call a foil overlay. In effect it's a metallic gold surface print; it's so fine it doesn't really come through to the other side, and it gives a lovely subtle effect. This one was pretty straightforward except for one little wrinkle: the fabric was so fine that it proved impossible to mark it. So I used tissue paper. I would draw out my stitching lines on the tissue paper, pin it to the fabric, stitch through it, and then very carefully pull it away (it helped to fold it along the line of the stitching, as then it would tear close to the seam). There's supposed to be a neck facing, but I thought it would look better if I just used bias binding and then put a nice trim over it; the metallic heart trim is from Stephanoise, and it's the same as I used on the concert skirt. It's faux leather, so extremely easy to handle.

But what I really want to concentrate on here is the skirt. Isn't this just the most wonderful print? It's a viscose challis which is normally quite expensive, but they had an offer on it, so I was tempted. And, in any case, I wanted to do a practice run for the concert skirt to make sure I knew what I was doing (spoiler: I didn't, entirely, so it's just as well I made this).

I love viscose. It has the most amazing drape, and it's pretty nice to sew with; cotton and its mixes can be a little stiff, but viscose just flows, and you can get a needle through it with the greatest of ease. I was a little afraid this was going to fray, because I had just made a pair of trousers from a black viscose poplin and oh great Scott did it fray. You more or less just had to breathe on it. It was worse than satin. In fact, however, the challis wasn't bad; the level of fraying was comparable to a poly-cotton with a plain weave. Not enough, in short, to stress meowt. 😁 Oh, and the other thing that is great about viscose is it is very cool in hot weather, and unfortunately we tend to get that round here in the summer. I am not good with heat; I mean, look at me. I'm so pale that every time I'm admitted to hospital, someone, at some point, asks me if I'm always that pale, and the answer is "actually, yes". You don't want to see what I look like when I'm really ill (there exists, somewhere, a photo of me lying unconscious and full of tubes in a hospital bed when I was fighting for my life in 2016, and I'm about as white as the sheets). So I burn very easily, plus I'm generally uncomfortable. I am fascinated by India but I know very well I'm never going there. I'd wilt in seconds.

Anyway, back to the skirt... I did pretty much everything I detailed in the concert skirt post, with a few exceptions. First of all, of course, there wasn't an overskirt, which made things easier. Also, viscose gathers easily, so I gathered it onto the waistband rather than faffing about with pleats. But the thing I really did wrong was to assume that the tie belt would be enough to hold it all up and I wouldn't need elastic.

Eh. No. I started with four ribbon carriers, put the belt through, put the whole thing on, and of course gravity went "bwahahahaha" and proceeded to drag the waistband down so that it drooped in arcs between the carriers. I had to sew eight more carriers on in a hurry and narrow down the channel by stitching across the middle of each carrier; it now works, but it's definitely a jury rig. (Fortunately it's not obvious. It looks fine.) Hence the actual concert skirt got elasticated, and so will any future skirts I make using this technique.

There is one other thing I didn't bother doing on the concert skirt, for two reasons: the cotton poplin I used for that was both stiffer and narrower, so it was not in any danger of billowing out and catching in my wheels. Viscose, however, will billow all over the place if you don't restrain it, so I sewed a couple of unobtrusive carrier loops on the sides of the skirt just below knee level and made a narrow tie so that I could pull the skirt in at the bottom when sitting in the scooter or wheelchair. (And now you know why I don't wear skirts very often. There is this risk.)

Despite the couple of glitches, I'm very pleased with both these pieces; they're great for when it's too hot for comfort. (Well, I wouldn't wear the poncho like this if I was going any distance, but in fact the community centre where this photo was taken is a stone's throw from my flat, so I could get from A to B and back without burning. Otherwise, it works well over pretty much any light top.)

For those wondering, I do not, at the moment, have actual cats; I lived with four of them for many years and they were splendid (and very different) characters, but here I have no room and no direct access to the outdoors, and cats do need space. But I hope not to be living here for the rest of my life, so maybe one day!