With needle and thread...

One of the advantages of our new house is having our dining table out all of the time. As long as we are sensible about not piling crap all over it, it means I don't have to rearrange half the house in order to get my sewing machine out!

I had some gorgeous batik fabrics in my box which I'd bought to make LRP kit with. But I hadn't had the time or space until now to get around to it. Last weekend, with another event on the horizon, I decided enough was enough and it was time to get the machine out.

Look at all that space!

All the leaning over the table cutting out endless pieces of fabric has messed with my neck a little bit, but I have to say it was worth it; I am so pleased with the final results!

First up is this vest in a gorgeous blue and pink fabric. I had already made one of these vests before in green, so I knew what I was doing.

Apologies for the poor photo

Next up came the first attempt at the harem pants from the same costume. I had bought this green material to match the green batik I used for my first vest. They are surprisingly easy! Skipped the more complicated wasitband/ties for just elasticating the waist, because I couldn't be bothered with complicated sewing and nobody will see the waist anyway, as I will be wearing a skirt over it or have a belt/scarf around my waist.

A second pair of harem trousers, this time in a nice, goes with everything black. The fabric is polycotton, so they are fairly lightweight. They will be great as an extra layer at cold events, with leggings underneath and skirts over, but also lovely and cool when the weather is hotter just worn on their own.

I am most proud of my skirts. In being economical with my fabric, I had to cut everything out in single layers, which meant pinning out and cutting no less than sixteen panels (as I made two skirts at the same time). I was getting seriously fed up of it by the end! But it was made much easier by having the space to do it properly. And the hems! My God, they went on forever. They are full circle skirts so the bottom hem is never ending. Once again, I abandoned the "proper" waistband casing in favour of just sewing a wide hem at the top and threading elastic through it. I'm quite a lazy seamstress, it has to be said!

The pink and black skirt is my favourite I think. It's so bright! I'm hoping the weather behaves itself this weekend and lets me wear some of it. I'm not looking forward to yet another wet and cold weekend living in my leather trousers!

I still have another shirt planned, in black, but I don't think I'll have time to do that before the weekend. Hopefully I will get some photos of the kit in action to show you next week.