Winter Skirt & Long Sleeve Tee

At the moment in Brisbane it has been about  40 degrees each day for the past two weeks and I am sewing Merino.  Have I gone crazy?  Perhaps.  :)

However, I am heading to London and Zagreb at the the end of February and I know it will be freezing - especially for my delicate constitution ;)

Why Zagreb you ask? I may have mentioned previously that I am an ice skating judge and there is a big competition in Zagreb that I am going to judge.  I have a few days free first so I will spend them in London, no doubt doing a bit of fabric shopping! I don't think any trip to London for a sewer would be complete without a trip to the famous Walthamstow Fabric Market and hopefully I will have time to go to the V&A and to Goldhawk Road. 

I have made a bit of a plan, see my Pinterest board, and have worked out to complete my winter travel wardrobe I need a couple more warm tops, a black basic skirt to go with boots, a Tiramisu, a couple of cardis for layering and hopefully a more dressy jacket to wear to any functions etc.  I also need all these colours to work with one another so that they can be mixed and matched.  That way I don't have to take so much, and therefore will have more room for fabric purchases! HA!

First on my plan BurdaStyle Skirt 119A from 10/2011. 



Source Pinterest

The skirt went together really quickly and fitted first try.  I cut a size 44 and used a black cotton twill with some lycra.  I can also see this made up in denim with contrast topstitching, it would have a cool almost 70s vibe.  It is a great little skirt that only needs about 1 metre of fabric - love that!

The skirt has large topstitched patch pockets that are tricky to photograph being black, and a side invisible zipper. I promise it is not as wrinkly as this photo would suggest:

The top is also newly made for my travel wardrobe.  It is a light merino knit with a very fine black and white stripe giving a charcoal appearance and is a little darker in person than the pictures. I used a RTW top I already own as a pattern for the shape, but added the neck tie detailing.  I like the RTW top, but the quality of the fabric isn't good so it is all pilled and in need of replacing.

I love how comfy the merino is - so nice to wear and not at all scratchy like some wool can be and it is sooo warm!

My plan is to wear this with tights and boots, but with the heat we are experiencing right now, do you have any idea how hot I was just taking these pics?! 

I am pretty excited about heading overseas so if anyone has any suggestions on any "must sees", please let me know.