#petitemoi

Lucille Front

Lucille Back

First, a bit about the package:

 [Lucille] features a cleavage-enhancing pleated cross-over bodice, and the choice of either a fit-and flare half-circle skirt or a sexy fitted pencil skirt (from the Simple Sew Patterns website)

Pencil Lucille

I was looking for something stylish and not needing so much fabric, to use the beauty I acquired in Japan (while on honeymoon) four years ago. It’s a floral cotton, from Tomato fabric store in the Nippori area (ohhhh if I could only go back!….).

Nippori textile district

Tomato fabric shop

Buuuuuut, as I only had one backpack which was pretty full of souvenirs, I sadly had to take it easy on not getting mental with my fabric purchases. Here are my lovely purchases, getting used little by little.

Japanese floral, Yuwa fabric, Hawaiian made in Japan, Japanese wool (plus checkered print and Toile de Jouy, bought during the overnight stay in Paris on the way back)

    Because I only had 115cm x 114cm of that fabric, it seemed like mission impossible to begin with,… But with a bit of perseverance, a contrasting waistband (and quarter-scaling), it all worked out perfectly.

Making a draft of your fabric, and your pattern if a great way to check your pattern placements when you don’t have a lot of fabric.

When low on fabric, a little bit of planning goes a long way!

One of my only concern with this pattern was the instruction talking about back waistband, which obviously doesn’t exist (there’s a front yoke waistband, but it stops at the sides). Once you pass that, it’s all good and matching perfectly.

Forget the back waistband :)

Like on every project I sew, I began with staystitching the sides to prevent stretching, and overlocked the pieces that were going to be visible (but neeeeevvvveeerrrr the waist! You don’t want to add any bulk there!).

inserting a staytape in the neckline

I also inserted a staytape in the neckline to prevent gaping (with always occurs on me). Now, I am new at this staytaping thing, and I find it a bit confusing. I have to admit that I’m not 100% satisfied with this one, as I pulled it a little bit too much to make sure it’d stay as close to me as possible. Plus, my tape was probably a tiny bit too wide as it added a bit of bulk on the seam. Conclusion, more practice/testing/reading about it needed (and let me know your tips about it!)

Some other of my “regular” sewing habits, that you should include too if you don’t already, are

-pressing the seams open, e-ve-ry times!

-pressing the darts toward your belly button

-clipping and notching where needed (armhole people!!!!! It’s so important!)

-and…. Well… I just love a garment as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. So, I did my best to make it fully lined, but, it wasn’t really a piece of cake…. And I had to use some hand sewing here and there (!!!!!).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

beautifully fully lined

darts adjustement

I also reinforced the back slit opening, with a bit of organdie -> thanks to Pinterest!

fold a square piece of organdie

stitch on both sides of lining seam allowances

voilà! an easy reinforce slit!

Verdict, a very good 8.5/10. I will probably do it again, but maybe with my own pencil skirt pattern. The pleats are quite nice and original, but I think it does add a bit of volume to my hips…

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and I finally have an event to wear it too (Scottish McOpera Benjamin Britten ‘s Noye’s Fludde I’ve been helping doing costumes with Carys Hobbs!).

If I could only convince myself to wear my Japanese shoes with it now… But I may still be a bit too shy for them! ;)

Ta-da for now!

Caro’ (and Petite-Moi, my 1/4 scale me!)