Kelly Green Merino Hoodie - Butterick 6101

A few years ago, I was tempted into buying a piece of merino sweatshirting I saw on TradeMe. It wasn't cheap - about $35 p/m from memory, and a minimum of 2 metres, but I was intrigued because I hadn't seen merino in this form before (nor since), plus it's my favourite colour. The idea was to make something warm for shavasana, as my yoga class can be chilly mid-winter. I pinned many ideas over the years, before settling on a classic hoodie.

At Moeraki boulders wearing Kelly Green Merino Hoodie (Butterick 6101)

An old, tried-and-trusted pattern - Butterick 6101 (ca. 1980) became the basic template, with a few tweaks. Pockets would be a must, plus I added cuffs and a hip band. The hood in the pattern is lined, but because the merino has a wonderful soft fleecy backing, I left it unlined, instead making a flat-felled seam down the centre back to keep it neat.

The hardest part was finding a zip and cord to match. I considered white, lime green, daffodil yellow, brass and chrome, before finally finding a dark green zip in The Fabric Warehouse - not perfect, but close enough. There doesn't seem to be any cord in Wellington that isn't black or white, so I created my own out of fabric.

Hands-down my favourite make in recent times.

(BTW, can anyone tell me what happened the lady's leg (with the tennis racket) on the pattern?!)

70's Denim Skirt - vintage Style 1559

When I was 16, one of the first self-drafted patterns I ever made was for a denim skirt. I loved that skirt, wore it for years until it the zip broke (by which time it was looking very tired), then promptly made another. Since then there has pretty much always been a denim skirt in my wardrobe.

This version started with a circa 1976 pattern - Style 1559 - as a base. I liked the length, pocket detail and button front. But after months of fruitlessly searching for suitable buttons (ie, ones I liked), I ditched that idea in favour of a fly-front.

However, great plans don't always run smoothly. First fitting was a disaster! The skirt was so frumpy - too wide at the hem, the waist too high, and goodness knows why the fly-front pucked so much. Into the naughty corner it went for some timeout.

A few days later, I'd formulated a rescue plan. Gone is the fly front, moving to an exposed zip in the centre back; the high waistband was re-cut into a 4cm wide curved yoke at high-hip level; and finally the seams are slimmed at hem length by about 5cm each side.

But the god(desse)s were against me, because 20 minutes into sewing it all back together, the LED bulb in my lamp blew. At 7pm. On New Years Eve. And it would be 2 days before the stupid lighting store re-opened. sigh.

Not able to bear the thought of wasting precious time, I ploughed on during daylight hours. The topstitching isn't perfect, but hey! I still love the skirt and it's already being worn several times.

Brass zip and topstitching thread from the stash.

Denim from Moreland Fabrics

Belt from David Jones