Matching a new skirt

In a moment of weakness I bought a new skirt. It's delightful. I love it. It's well made, with good quality fabric. But as soon as I got it home and the initial euphoria wore off, I realised I had nothing in my wardrobe that matches it (I still love it though 😉). I contemplated making a plain white or off-white top. But this didn't get me excited at all. I wanted something SPECIAL. I spent a few days daydreaming about fabrics and what would go with the skirt (I love these kinds of daydreams!)

And then there was a lightbulb above my head! I remembered a piece of fabric in my stash - poplin-weight rayon. Nothing special but a perfect match for the emerald green leaves in my new skirt. Not a close match - a perfect match! Ironically, I had got this fabric out only a little while ago but didn't have enough for what I had in mind. There was 1.5m. Enough for a simple shirt, which given the busy skirt fabric, was what I needed. But I was still stuck on which pattern to use. And then another lightbulb moment! I remembered a pattern that I'd bought a while ago for a three panel skirt (not used yet) but that also has a sleeveless shirt pattern, with a back yoke and gathers along the front shoulder seams and a V neck (McCalls 6711). There was enough! I cut out a size 14 - no pattern mods but given the relaxed fit I wasn't worried.

Given the fab colour match with the fabrics you'd think finding a matching thread would be easy. Wrong! My thread stash grew exponentially a few years ago thanks to my Granny. Nothing there. No match either at my fave LFS or at Spottie. Argh! I decided near enough was good enough and got started (with some new thread 😉).

The shirt made up easily. I think I could have done better in the gathering at the shoulders. There's a bit of gathering stitching visible. The drape of the fabric is not a light as recommended by the pattern so the finished product is a bit "blousey". But this shirt will be worn tucked in with the skirt so that's ok.

The grand unveiling was at a family dinner where both my mum and SIL complemented my outfit. Win! This combo has become a work staple and worn at least once every two weeks.