Something old & Something new - Simplicity 3887 & Megan Nielsen Kelly Skirt

Yesterday was a great Sydney day after quite a bit of rain and I was lucky to grab some pics of this outfit.

I made the top - Simplicity 3887 about 5 or so years ago when I first moved to Sydney.  I had made it up twice before when I was living in Adelaide with fabric from Spotlight.  But for this one I used a white spotted cotton from Tessuti.  The artwork on the front of the pattern gave me hope, even though the photography is not my cup of tea.

I made version F, but added cuffs on the short sleeves and left off the waist tie.  For the hem I did a facing a couple of inches wide.  The overall look was based on similar tops in Country Road at the time.  I quite like this make, although the sleeve cuffs are just a bit tight to allow easy movement. 
   

I made the skirt - Megan Nielsen Kelly Skirt recently.  The fabric is from The Fabric Store, I bought it earlier in the year at a 40% off sale.  Its 100% cotton and a nice medium weight.  I cut a medium which generally matches my measurements.  The waistband is a snug fit and perhaps the pleats pull a bit at the back but I am fine with how it looks. 

As everyone in the blogisphere knows, this pattern has pockets - nice!

I am really happy with the quality of my stitching on this make.  Its nice to make something well within your comfort zone construction wise and then spend a bit of extra time on techniques.

Some of my best top stitching and buttonholes.  I used the automatic buttonhole function on my machine, but needed to do manual button holes on the waistband and for the top buttonhole on the placket as the fabric was too thick in these areas to allow the automatic thingee do what it does best.

I don't own an overlocker, but this is a great pattern for making everything neat on the inside.  I bound the pocket seams with bias binding and also did french seams for the side seams.  These are things I had never done before I started reading sewing blogs.  Am sure I saw this skirt done with these techniques somewhere, but unfortunately can't remember where to provide the credit. 

I also used a lighter weight cotton to face the pockets so I didn't end up with too much bulk.

The inside of this skirt makes me very happy:)