Red hot sigma frock

My husband once shamefully admitted that Chris De Burgh's song Lady in Red leaves him a little teary. 

Well this is Papercut's Sigma frock, fully lined I might add, in a delicious wool crepe that I splurged on at the beginning of winter when I was actually excited about rugging up against the chilly weather ahead. Now I'm all about summer sewing - almost finished another Sallie jumpsuit in a tie-dyed viscose knit, but I absolutely love this pattern, a definite go-to for me. Wouldn't go so far as to say it makes me cry, but hey, never say never...

Besides, I've been wanting a red wool-crepe winter dress ever since I tried an ill-fitting version on at Kuwaii years and years ago. Same old story for me - huge at the top, too tight at the hips. I couldn't sew back then, so I just left the change room feeling like a weirdly shaped freak who needed to cut the carbs and go paleo or something. I know better now, of course. Not only can I make my own, even more lovely version. I possess the secret knowledge of sewers: measurements are nothing more than a series of numbers. Hallelujah!

A tale of two quilts

Very unflattering back photo - but check out the exposed zipper!

Some years ago my Mother In Law gave my husband a quilted jacket that swamped even his 6'3 frame. Sometimes we'd wear it around the house because it was so darn big and warm, but in spite if its' cosiness we called it the 'Ugly jacket' because it made whoever was wearing it feel hideous. That's the power of clothes for you. Clothing is about far more than the practicalities of retaining body heat or preventing sunburn. Clothes impact our emotions and our mood and in the end my husband decided that the cosiness of the Ugly jacket did not win out over the feeling of sheer hideousness its wearer experienced whenever the thing touched his/her back. In the end my husband chucked the Ugly Jacket in the bin, deciding that it would be cruel to donate it to the op-shop. The cycle of feeling like a walking mattress had to be broken. Now.

So here I am in a quilted garment that makes me feel great. It was inspired by this seriously expensive quilted frock I spotted at Kuwaii. I began searching high and low for a navy quilted stretch fabric and discovered this one-off piece on Etsy. It's polyester so I must admit that it does get a little whiffy by the end of the day, but it is so cute and comfy that I am prepared to ignore increases in body odour. Not sure how others feel about this fact though...

I used two different patterns to create this stretchy sensation. The bodice is from Papercut's Sigma dress and the skirt is Gertie's pencil skirt from her first book 'Gertie's new book for better sewing.' They fit together perfectly and even the darts matched up. Bonus! I decided it would be fun to pop an exposed zipper on the back. I've never done one before but it's pretty easy. If you need help I followed the instructions on the Threads magazine website - I prefer step by step written instructions to YouTube tutorials and these ones are clear and easy to follow. Anyone got any favourite sewing tutorials they'd like to share?