Hello all! This ensemble was inspired completely by the
Sewcialists Grease sewalong. I re-watched the film, looking for something to make that would be practical for the coming winter and suitable for fabric out of my stash. Sandy's cheerleading jumper stood out to me, as well as Rizzos pencil skirts so that's what this outfit is inspired by, albeit fairly loosely in the pencil skirt sense.
The fabric is an amazing sweater knit which I found in Edinburgh while I was there for the university's open day (they do a cracking course on costume for performance). When we went fabric shopping I was firmly set on finding something seasonally appropriate because I didn't want to buy some beautiful fabric, make something and then not to be able to wear it for ages. It's quite a thick knit, and the wrong side is fleecy making it really warm and snuggly.
The pattern for the sweater was the raglan tee from Wendy Mullins book "Sew U Home Stretch" which is the same pattern I made my
lace bomber jacket and
black hoody from. It's a great base to adapt to how you want it. The sweater isn't as fitted as it could be, but I think that's okay because I will want to fit layers under it when it gets colder.
The skirt part of the outfit is very much improvised. I started with a rectangle the width of my hip circumference and overlocked a center back seam. I then tried it on and pinned out the excess 'til it fit.To avoid a dodgy hem and to add length I used a folded rectangle, similar to the sweater. It is quite short because I had to squeeze both the sweater and skirt out of a metre.
The back of the skirt is slightly iffy. As you can see the center back seam (the only seam) is wriggling up causing a bubbly effect which ism't the most flattering thing. I tried pinning them out but they just don't seem to want to go away.
Overall I am really happy with the jumper, it's really cozy and it's great that it goes with all my highwaisted skirts and jeans.
Thanks very much for reading and to Ed for taking the photos
(Todays price was to drive him to school tomorrow)
Lauren xx
