Here it is, in all it’s glory!

I made this whole ensemble for myself, but was very much egged on to complete it by the #sewfrosting challenge hosted by True Bias and Closet Case Patterns. Here I present my completed Rumana Coat (pattern by By Hand London), a self drafted velvet leotard and a self drafted full skirt!

Coat
Rumana Coat | By Hand London
Fabric | Shell: Navy EcoWise wool - Pendelton Woolen Mills
Lining: Light Blue rayon crepe de chine - Fabric Depot, RIP
Notions | sleeve head, hair canvas - Wawak

Top | Leotard
Self Drafted
Fabric | stretch velvet - Mill End Fabric

Skirt
Self Drafted
Fabric | embroidered satin - gifted from friend’s grandmother’s stash
velvet waistband - gifted from friend’s grandmother’s stash

Headband
Self Drafted
Fabric | Cotton flannel - Modern Domestic

The frosting competition celebrates everything that is over the top in sewing. The outfits and clothing we can’t really justify wearing everyday, but imagine a world in which we could. My world of frosted sewing almost always looks as though it were designed for an early sixties cocktail party. In my real life however the only time I can justify using such lush fabrics is for winter parties. Tis the season for velvet, satin and wool isn’t it? I love mixing textures and when you can mix the most fabulous of them all what is more ‘frosting’ than that?

Details below…

My Rumana coat is pretty straight forward in outward appearance. I have made several posts now about what it took to make, including all the fun couture techniques and finishings (proper fitting a toile/muslin, horsehair canvas, sleeve heads, lapel bridle, etc). For my coat I had to add extra pockets — because pockets. In this case it was the addition of two inner welt pockets which sit just over the outer pockets to minimize bulk and not interfere with the bust/waist. I also added a hook closure that is hidden in the front facing and attaches to a small fabric loop on the opposing front facing. And per usual on my garments a hand embroidered tag with my initials.

This spectacular 2 yards of incredible embroidered satin was ‘gifted’ to me by my good friend’s grandmother (in actuality gifted by my friend’s mother who knew I would use the fabric instead of letting it sit in a pile for the next 30 years, for which I am forever grateful!) I also made the narrow velvet waistband out of similarly gifted fabric. I received a few half yards of incredibly supple velvets in varying colors, but this one matched the burnt red/oranges in some of the flowers so well.

The fabric for the skirt was so wonderful I couldn’t imagine cutting it any more than I had to. I originally wanted to make a circle skirt because I hate the bulk created at the waist of a gathered skirt — and this fabric had so much extra thread gathered from the embroidery — but I didn’t have nearly enough fabric. Also the lovely long lines created by the vines would have bowed over and I loved keeping them and the thick selvedge edge clean.

The velvet leotard is made using some simple poly velvet I found at Mill End, and honestly was a last minute addition to this outfit as I wasn’t sure it would work out. Besides the waistband on my skirt I had never worked with velvet, much less stretch velvet. To make it I modified my fitted shirt sloper by taking in the side seams from the bust through the waist to accommodate a more bodysuit/leotard fit. I also decided to see if I could make a reasonable leotard out of it by attaching my basic panty sloper to the bottom of the pattern and cutting out what was essentially a long sleeved swimsuit — and low and behold it turned out well! I went back and forth on how I wanted to finish the edges (elastic, zigzag, self band) and ended up creating a narrow self band because everything else seemed to detract from the lovely soft lines of the velvet.

Lastly here is my hairband. I have naturally curly hair and the hairs right by my temple always seem to get fuzzy at the lightest touch of moisture. That and every hat I try to wear during the winter inevitable flattens my ‘do which is so not cool. To combat this and keep my ears warm I started wearing scarves around my head. This lead to me start making my own hair bands/wraps/ties to get more options to mix and match. This one came together out of a simple warm cotton flannel that had the lovely crepe weave that makes it tie around my hair smoothly instead of grabbing onto my hairs and causing them to frizz out. Bonus it keeps my ears super warm.