phew… I’m beyond exhausted, but also absolutely thrilled to announce the release of our latest two patterns… the Booragoon skirt and the Booragoon top!
So; here’s the story -yes, there’s always a story. That’s what a blog is for, right?!
For our niece’s 21st last year, for which I made this bumblebee cake; Cassie made a self-designed skirt for herself. It was a seriously cool skirt and brought forth many oohs and aahs and the inability to keep oneself from checking it out. Fortunately, not only did Cassie welcome the checking out part, but also excitedly declared on the spot that we should most definitely make it a pattern. So the horses were out of the gate and we were off! Of course, it did not proceed as swiftly as hoped; not only did work get in the way like a great big ol’ nuisance (not like it pays the bills or anything) but Cassie also returned to work after maternity leave was over, which slowed things down a little too.
And while Cassie’s skirt was beautifully made; she had done a massive amount of hand stitching to make the zip insertion and design lines work; which I knew would have be worked on before we could even think of releasing it.
See; the top tier of the skirt has a sharp edged, right-angle panel encircling the waist; very architectural in its genesis; that incorporates the waistband and a front panel. The front panel folds down to hide a zip closure; and the waistband has an attached, very long and skinny tie to further pull it all together. Sounds interesting? It is!
It took a bit of experimentation and fiddling, but I eventually worked out the zip insertion; so you could do it all by machine.
The top is one I’ve made for Cassie many times before; and we both decided the top really complemented the skirt very well; so we decided to release the patterns as a set. But of course you can always buy them separately as well. Actually; while I would rate the little jersey top as an Advanced Beginner level of pattern, the skirt really veers into Intermediate-Advanced level, thanks to the difficulty in mastering those nice sharp angles.. I would never tell anyone not to give it a go, however, Honestly; if I’d been scared off by Advanced ratings in my early sewing days I reckon I never would have got anywhere! I’m a big believer that’s it’s a good thing to push yourself. At the same time, the skill level thing is there for a reason!
We are offering a special, release day sale on the new patterns; the Booragoon Top, the Booragoon Skirt, and the Booragoon Top & Skirt are all 20 % off for the first 5 days, starting today. You even get a little special, and permanent discount for buying the set of patterns, as opposed to separately.
All three options re listed for sale in our Etsy store; here.
Is this a good time to mention that the skirt has a pocket? It’s just big enough for a phone and some small things, and it’s surprisingly unobtrusive. I’ve got my phonon my pocket for all my photos and it can’t be seen at all!
My lovely daughter-in-law Lainey agreed to model for us again; and the set I made for her is an all-in-one colour set; so it gives more of a dress vibe: for this one; I bought cotton from Spotlight for the skirt, and the cotton jersey for the top was a lucky match from Mum’s stash.
This next set is one of my earlier attempts; it was not particularly well made because I was still working out the zip at this point; but I really liked the skirt-over-a-dress look of it so saved the idea for my “real” one, above! Cream cotton jersey inherited from Mum’s stash, brown gabardine leftover from a long-gone pair of jeans/trousers I made for myself years ago.
And this set is playing with a dress-over-a-skirt look, just for fun. Both fabrics inherited from Mum’s stash.
All these different looks are achieved simply by different combinations of self and contrasting fabrics, and I really love this kind of versatility in a pattern!
Working on this pattern also contributed substantially to my #use30 challenge, for which I am quite grateful too, hehe. Thanks for that, Booragoon skirt and top!
Oh, the name? Booragoon is a local suburb here in Perth, and the location for a very popular shopping mall, which was actually both mine and Cassie’s introduction to department store shopping, for me dating back to my childhood years. Well, for Cassie too; but I mention for me in particular just to illustrate how long the mall has been there. It is also where my Dad had his practise for many many years; so when we went shopping we were always popping in to visit him while he was there. So “Booragoon” just has sentimental memories for us both; being a place “to shop” if you like. And we thought the Booragoon skirt and top was that kind of outfit that you might put on in order to sally forth for a day of genteel shopping and maybe a cup of tea and piece of cake to fortify yourself during the ordeal. Aaah, memories!
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