Farbenmix Olivia - color blocking experiment

It looks like I'm getting two posts in this month - amazing,lol.

Pattern: Farbenmix Olivia - underdress
Fabric: Stenzo(?)red & white dot knit, Busilis pink & red dot knit and Colorado red knit, all purchased from Crafty Mamas.

I saw a really cute knit dress that had been color blocked (?) with diagonal lines of pastel colored fabric. I thought that the Olivia would look cute like this so headed off to the fabric stash with the idea of trying color blocking out to see if I could get a similar effect. Unfortunetly there was not much in the way of pastel colored knits- everything either had a print or was bright.

I love red and had a few different types in the stash so this is what I ended up with.

I'm quite happy with how it turned out though I should have started the second panel slightly higher up. To make the different colored panels I just cut the dress front into thirds, added 1cm seam allowance to the bottom of the bodice, 1cm either side of the centre panel and 1 cm to the top of the bottom panel so that it would be the same length as the back. Unfortunetly I didn't have enough of the pink dot fabric to make the tail section so it's just a regular old hood,lol.

I'm not sure that I've sewn the knits together in the right manner. I just cut the panels on the grain line and then matched up the seams. Whilst sewing the panels together I wasn't quite sure that the grain lines were still straight - if that makes sense? I couldn't find much info on the web on how to color block knits (hopefully I'm using the right term for it??)

Anyhow, Bel loves it and that's all that matters.

Front

Back

Trying out the twirl factor

Favorite Things - Hip skirts

Wow, it's March already and I was hoping to get in more than one post a month - it's my goal this month to at least get in two,lol.

I doubt it would be right to call this a UFO as I actually did finish it but absolutely hated it and tossed it in a drawer where it remained for the last six months. Why? Being somewhat scatterbrained at the best of times I measured myself and then proceded to used my bust measurement as a guide to which size skirt to make. Being somewhat top heavy (my chest size is two sizes larger than my hip size) I ended up with a skirt that was way too large and at the time somewhat uninspiring. After a complete deconstruction which resulted in four centimeters being cut off the back skirt peice and 2 cm from the sides of both skirt front peices it now fits beautifully.

The other reason it got tossed aside was that it was just plain boring. The photo's don't do it justice (especially since I wore it to work today and its a little wrinkled- but if I did not post about it now who knows how long it would take to get back to it). I added some ribbon to the bottom of the skirt and some cute buttons which are hard to see in the photo and I'm now actually quite liking it

The pattern was really easy to follow and went together quite quickly (apart from the 6 month "rest" in the cupboard). I think the sizing is quite generous despite my blunder. The only thing I don't like about this skirt is the use of elastic in the waist band - it kind of gives it a bunched up look - next time I think I'll try and put a zip in the side and see how that turns out.