Vogue 1247 Rachel Comey skirt

I'm back from Austalia and pleased to report that we had lovely weather and I did get to wear my new dresses out to dinner - Sydney has some amazing restaurants, thank goodness for the elasticated waists!

While there I met up with Maria and Sharon , who both came to Hong Kong last year, and spent an afternoon of coffee, lunch, chatting and, oh maybe some fabric shopping.  They made me, I tell you!  We visited Pitt St Trading, a gorgeous store and a refreshing change for someone used to rummaging about in markets, The Remnant Warehouse, a great source for activewear and bra fixings, and NSW Leather, a must visit if you want leather with it's jaw dropping selection.  Having never sewn with leather I had no idea where to even begin there, but I will do some planning before my next visit.  Thank you ladies for a lovely afternoon!

Here's what I picked up, I can get a huge range of cheap fabric locally so I tried to focus on unique pieces that would be harder to track down here.

From Pitt St:
A digital print jersey, a burnt orange (despite what the photo says) doubleknit and a stretch cotton sateen remnant;

Matt black sequinned fabric;

Stretch burnout velvet in a dark purple with an ombre effect, also impossible to photograph, but it is stunning;

From The Remnant Warehouse:

Two lightweight silk cotton prints and two pieces of powermesh.

Previously Maria had gifted me some fabric so on the day we met I wore this new skirt that I made from it and utterly failed to take a single photo, you know how it is when you meet fellow sewists - time just flies.  This is the very popular Vogue 1247 Rachel Comey separates pattern.

I made a size 12 and lengthened it from a mini to just on the knee.  I was too lazy to bind all the seams, although it does make for a lovely finish, and instead just used my serger.  I get why this is such a popular pattern - it is a basic a-line shaped skirt, but the inseam pockets in the front seam are a great, fun little detail.

Funnily enough, Sharon was wearing her version of both the skirt and top, I really want to make the top too, but lots of people have reported sizing issues.  Sharon gave me some tips and references to look up so I'm going to try it soon.  By then I hope Spring will have arrived and I will be more inclined to model a summery outfit!

I've got a few tops to post next, plus a ton of workout gear, then I am diving into the new stuff!