Tag: Tiger Lilly

Another Cherry Circle Skirt

Cherry circle skirt

The Art Market went really well on Sunday – I sold a few things, and came home with a lovely print of a girl with pink hair!

The skirt above is another cherry print circle skirt for Tiger Lilly in the Harris Arcade, to replace one that was sold a few weeks ago. I’m going to have to put these on hold for a little while, as I seem to have bought every single inch of black broderie anglais trim from my local fabric shop, so I’ll just have to wait until they’ve got some more.

It’s probably about time I wrote a tutorial for these circle skirts. They’re extremely easy to make, along the same principles as my a-line elasticated skirt.

I was also really pleased to discover that the tutorial for the gathered skirts was featured on an Australian site called Frugal and Thriving. They’ve collected a grand total of 48 skirt tutorials, which are well worth a look!

Dresses and skirts for Tiger Lilly

Here you go – these are the eight finished pieces that I’ve made for the Tiger Lilly boutique. I just need to sew in the labels, and then I can take them into town.

Just in case you’re wondering how you might order a circle skirt or a tunic dress for yourself, you can do that here. Bear in mind though that I won’t actually be able to start work on any orders until after I get back from my honeymoon!

Once I get back, I need to put together a fabric chart. That way you can see which fabrics are readily available to order, and which vintage pieces I only have enough of for a single dress or skirt.

I also need to have a big clearout of my fabric stash. (Shocking, I know!) I have loads of pieces that I collected over the years which aren’t suitable for the things that I’m making now, and I need to create a lot more space in my Shed.

For now though, I need to get a move on with some of the pre-wedding preparations – and that includes getting these skirts and dresses out of my Shed and into Tiger Lilly’s shop!

Tulip print circle skirt

Tulip print sircle skirt

Here’s today’s offering – another full circle skirt for Tiger Lilly, this time in a bold cherry print. This one’s a size XL, which covers UK dress sizes 24-28.

I have one more tunic dress to make now, which will also be in this cherry print fabric, and then I can label everything up and take it down to the shop. Hopefully Chloe will sell a few pieces or take a few orders while I’m away, and we can take things from there.

This afternoon I’m taking a break from sewing to go down to a local job fair. I’ve never been to one before, so I don’t quite know what to expect. But anything that might increase my chances of finding a job has got to be worth a look.

Pink spotty circle skirt

Pink spotty circle skirt

This is another skirt for Tiger Lilly in the Harris Arcade, and I think it’s my favourite so far! It’s probably just as well that it’s not my size, otherwise I’d be far too tempted to keep it.

I have one more skirt and another tunic to make, and then I’m going to deliver everything to Tiger Lilly before the middle of next week.

From next Thursday it will all go a little bit quiet for a while – I’m getting married on the 31st, and then I’m off on a nice relaxing honeymoon for the two weeks after that. Expect me to come back with lots and lots of photos to show you!

A Couple of Cupcakes.

Cupcake skirt and tunic dress

In case you’ve been wondering about the sudden flurry of sewing photographs that have been appearing on Flickr and Twitter – I’ve been asked to put together a few things for a local shop.

Tiger Lilly is an independent vintage and retro boutique in Reading’s Harris Arcade. Chloe has a lovely ever-changing collection of vintage clothes from the 40s to the 80s, but a lot of vintage clothing tends only to turn up in smaller sizes. To remedy this, Chloe also stocks a range of complementary vintage-inspired clothing from labels such as Vivien of Holloway and What Katie Did.

I popped in for a browse a couple of weeks ago, and on the spur of the moment asked Chloe whether she’d be interested in seeing some of my skirts. I put a photo gallery together, took some samples in, and Chloe has asked me to produce a small range of circle skirts and tunic dresses for her. We’ll see how they go while I’m away getting married and honeymooned, and then I can get some feedback on my return.

You can see the first few skirts and dresses in their own Flickr set. The tunic dresses will be £40 and the skirts will be £48. Each comes with its own matching sash belt, and the skirts have pockets hidden in the side seams. I’ve drawn up a range of four sizes, each of which will fit a wide range of body shapes. The skirts have an elastic waist, and the loose fitting tunics can be drawn in with the belt.

Chloe’s on a mission to support local designers, so I can only hope that her customers love retro styling and interesting fabric as much as I do!