Button Front Lady Skater - Shades Of Me

I am super excited to be a part of the Shades Of Me series being hosted by two gorgeous bloggers, Hayley from Welcome to the Mouse House, and Celina from Petit a Petit and Family. Differing time zones meant I was late to the sign up sheet, so black was my colour of choice. And seeing as I could sew any shade of black... :)

I recently picked up the Lady Skater by Kitschy Coo and decided a knit project would be easier to alter for my pair shaped body than something with darts and so forth. I am really inexperienced at fitting... and it honestly scares me. I ended up making a size 5 graded up to 6 at the waist. Amanda's instructions are really good for that.

I lengthened the skirt about 5 inches. I am 5'11" and the dress is drafted for someone 5'5", so I knew that more length would be necessary if I wanted it to finish at the knee. As you can see from the pictures, I altered the front bodice to include a button placket. I am happy to say that there was no real alterations to do this, I cut the front bodice pattern piece exactly as is except I did not cut on the fold.

Then I cut 2 placket pieces 3" x length of the centre front. I made the following illustration to show you the next steps. If you own the lady skater pattern or something similar, you will be able to work out what I am doing.  Although it doesn't show, both the placket and neckband are folded in half to be sewn on.

Once the ends were finished off, I sewed the neckband on the final 2 inches or so, ironed the neckline and top stitched, finally trimming the seam allowances. Is this method perfect? Uh no. But I am conquering perfectionism remember!

I totally chickened out of knit buttonholes. Although I went to the trouble of making a real placket, I sewed the buttons on through both layers. Haha.

Anyway, thank you Hayley and Celina for having me! I have definitely enjoyed sewing up something for myself.

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