New Look 6843 and Burda 8390

Two of the four skirts I'm currently sewing up!
Atop is a lovely piece of grey/beige check fabric long since bought from goodness knows where! well aged, shall we say? made up using my favourite A-line skirt from New Look, 6843.

I like this pattern very much not least because I went to considerable effort to perfect the fit using a combination of pattern alterations as recommended by Gill Arnold to suit my figure and some of my own adaptations based originally on the theory that if you tug at the skirt prior to fitting waistband while held snug with length of elastic, eventually you'll find it wide enough to cover the hips!
Its a quick and easy pattern to make up, and my pattern is now copied onto pieces of fabri-baste which is wonderful and far better than dressmakers tissue paper, in my opinion!

Next is another fast becoming "favourite" pattern! my orange linen fabric is suitably aged and just awaits its co-ordinating jacket! Burda 8390 is a fabulous jacket with skirt and trousers pattern in the sort of style that both suits my shape and suitable for both work and leisure!

I have made up this jacket 4 times now, with and without the collar, and one has the side panels embroidered to further extend the wearability of this lovely pattern!

The linen skirt looks far better ON than on the hanger, I promise! and is very comfortable to wear.

My final skirt is again from the New Look pattern, and is a pin stripe in predominantly black and, as before, well aged having come from a sale at one of Gill's events years ago when I thought I might make a suit for *interviews* at a time when I was considering returning to work!
Happily I am now at work, albeit a more leisurely *j-obby* (a mix of job and hobby which um, well they BOTH are in fact being as I work within the sewing field!). Also, happily, I am required to wear smart suit based workwear, this ought to see me through the winter! I have not decided which jacket to make to accompany it but almost certainly it will be one of my Burda collection as I've worked hard on 5 patterns now to give me the best fit I feel I can achieve short of actually BEING "fitted".

I've been waiting for my Brother overlocker to pack up and die on me.
For about 8yrs.
But (happily) it is in good health and refuses.
I cannot in any way see how I can justify buying - first the marvellous BERNINA - which I was disappointed didn't perform at all well on my sample fabrics and even my very pro-bernina dealer was urging me to hang onto my Brother and put my plastic away!
Then the super-duper Babylock - which I've wanted for AGES and had to be dragged off by my sewing-pal-Ann at a show years ago following a demonstration by the dealer and Ann came by just as I and two other ladies were about to make the dealer's DAY by flinging plastic at her!

sigh ..
and now, at work! I've been polishing and whispering to our latest model, the Elna - and over which I nearly had a push'n'shove fight over with my colleague who claims first preference on account of HER badge says "Elna" ..

but, really my little cheapie, Brother just never lets me down! always produces a neat and uniform stitch what ever the fabric I thrust under its foot, is EASY-PEASY-LEMON-SQUEEZY to thread up and all in all is ALL I ACTUALLY NEED/WOULD USE IN AN OVERLOCKER!

but is IS nice to drool over new machines .. ?