Tessuti Evie Bias Skirt and Alexa Tee

For my second project with Minerva, I chose to make Tessuti Evie Bias skirt  with this lovely satin backed crepe with a suede feel .

Ordering fabric online is something I haven’t done a lot of.  Where I live in New Zealand I am quite lucky to have several very good fabric stores and a couple of chain fabric stores within a short drive so I really have little need to buy fabric online.  That is not to say I haven’t done it before!  Being part of the Minerva Maker Team has given me the opportunity to try fabrics that are not available locally.  To begin with I found it quite daunting but given this is my second time ordering from Minerva and on both occasions the fabric has been exactly as described, I am now starting to relax a bit more.  The bonus is also, that it is quite exciting to arrive home from work and find a fabric parcel on my doorstep.

For my second project with Minerva, I chose a khaki green crepe.  This fabric appeared to be a dappled green in colour on screen and was in reality a suede feel on the right side and satin on the reverse.  The colour was exactly as it appeared on screen but wasn’t quite as drapey as I was expecting for a crepe. 

I had already decided before it arrived that I would make a Tessuti Evie Bias skirt with the fabric.  I wanted a skirt for spring that I could wear to work but could also be dressed down with a tee and sneakers to wear in the weekend.  I try to make all of my clothes these days to be as functional as possible so I can get the maximum amount of wear from them and not make too much frosting.

Because I had made the Tessuti Evie Bias Skirt before, I already had the pattern cut and ready to go in my size so it was simply a matter of purchasing an invisible zip before running this skirt up in an evening.   Like my previous version I chose the waistband/zip option and not the elastic option, although I did briefly consider making it this way.   Unlike with  my previous version, this fabric didn’t shift around and actually kept its shape quite well.  Unfortunately because the fabric doesn’t have a lot of stretch on the bias, this skirt is a tad tighter than I would have liked but, given I am working on shifting a few unwanted kilos gained over the winter months, this will be only a temporary annoyance. Because the skirt is cut on the bias, I had several quite big, odd shaped bias cut pieces left over.  They are too nice to throw away but I haven’t quite figured out what to do with them yet.  

As I had hoped, my skirt does go very well with sneakers and a tee for the weekends as shown in these photos on a recent long weekend break.  I have yet to try it styled for the office but the colour is almost a neutral so should tone in nicely.

To go with my bias skirt, I made another Tessuti pattern.  This time Tessuti Alexa which is a long time favourite of mine.  I like that it has some shaping but also retains a modern tee shape.  Boxy tops of any description do not work for me.

I had a piece of cotton lycra that I found in my stash.  It is a lovely quite heavy stable weight in the most crisp white.  I had, a while back, bought this sequin applique that I intended to add to another project that never quite made it to fruition.  There was a discussion on Instagram recently about wearing sequins and I happened to mention that I had never worn sequins.  It was after this comment that I remembered the sequin applique that was sitting in my stash just waiting for the right project.  I decided to add it to my new tee.  Who doesn't need a sequined tee shirt in their life?  Can I just say, that this was a touch of genius because this is now my favourite tee.  I have only worn it once and I am not sure how durable it will be, but worse case scenario, I will just unpick it and wear it without the applique.

These photos were taken on a recent long weekend camping trip to Timaru.  Caroline Bay in Timaru is one of those places I had passed through regularly but never stopped.  I am pleased I took the time to explore because it is  really worth the stop.