Something I made Earlier...

 I am attempting to get some sewing done whilst off work for Easter holidays but it doesn't seem to be happening at the moment so I will comfort myself by wearing something I made earlier a couple of weeks back.   I made Simplicity Amazing Fit 1717.  It is the first time I have tried anything from the Amazing Fit range (Simplicity are 50% off at the moment) and I really liked the pattern- a good maxi skirt can be hard to find.  

You choose your fit - curvy, narrow etc and there are extra inches built in to the pattern pieces to allow for fitting.  The instructions explicitly encourage you to fit with basting/long stitches temporarily holding pieces together whilst you try on and adjust so no need to make a muslin or toile- the only bit I would advise you to test first is the waistband to give you the idea of which size to cut.  The fabric is Denyse Schmidt Chicopee Cord from Annie at Village Haberdashery- beautiful soft strokeable fabric.  I made this out of 2 metres with a little creative cutting- the waistband is cut cross grain.

I added a flat binding to the waistband following this excellent tutorial at Coletterie and tweaked the pockets.  I think the original large long pockets could end up looking a little strange and as I like to use pockets a lot I thought flat ones would end up bagging out so I adapted the pattern piece to make a pleated patch pocket with a bound edge.   You can find some very helpful pocket tutorials for adding your own pocket choice here. The floral Shellburne Falls print works perfectly with the Chicopee, Denyse Schmidt's fabrics from different ranges often work together subtly without being too matchy matchy. 

My usual helper came out to play, hi Lottie!

And rewarded with neck rubs!