Simplicity 2215 Skirt Version & McCalls princess seam blouse

      What's a girl to wear?  This month I had to attend a Home & Garden Show for work and I really wanted to wear something light, comfortable and forgiving....especially considering I would be moving around all day. Also, I had to make sure I wore nothing low cut or too short.  I didn't want any distractions!  The choice was simple: a black and white gingham blouse with already adjusted pattern and Simplicity 2215 skirt version.

     The blouse was easy peasy since I had  just finished one.  The gingham fabric is 100% cotton and very lightweight.  I did use a special coarse sew in interfacing for the collar and cute pearl rose buttons.........I love decorative buttons.  Since the pattern was already adjusted, I sewed this up in no time. 

      For the skirt:  I choose a 100% cotton twill black fabric (From the stash).   I love how easy the twill holds the pleats, and again it is very lightweight.   I cut and sewed a size 16 pattern.  Normally I do a muslin test for a new pattern, but I  sewed it on the fly and did have to loose a front pleat and extend the waist band an inch so I would have a little more room. Fortunately the pleats are not evenly spaced, so loosing a pleat was no big deal.  What I truly love about this skirt is the pockets!  Side zipper pockets were a mystery to me, but  the pattern's instructions were really easy to understand.  Overall the pattern was easy to sew and went together quickly!  

     Check out the photo from the Show.  I wish I had put my hands in the pockets to show them off..........but I was working and this was quickly photographed.  Of course I would have straightened my blouse too!

B&W Gingham blouse with pleated Skirt