The last in my alphabet series, thank goodness! This post is so named because of the zebra patterned fabric – lucky huh? I was hoping to make this my last post of 2013, but it wasn’t to be.

I made this top whilst camping at Margaret River. We hadn’t planned on going camping but my Dad went off to hospital and we took the opportunity to get a quick trip down south. I’m still not sure he wasn’t faking illness to let us get away for our traditional camping break!

The little dog is Asher who we are dogsitting for Mark’s daughter Tessa. I’m not sure that she was totally thrilled to be out in the paddock, and hung about hoping that I would throw the ball for her.

This is the first time I have taken my sewing machine camping and I just didn’t think about a pin cushion and have discovered that I can’t sew without one. Mark fashioned me one out of some cloth and electrical tape (the blue roll in the photo below). Worked a treat, but I will be making one before our next trip.

It was the first time my “new” Elna Lotus was tested in the field, as it were, hehe. It was brilliant!

Whilst I sewed, Mark baked scones which we had with our friend G’s homemade (and grown) mulberry and plum jam – yum all round!
I probably should not take photos when I have my mouth full of scone, but what’s a girl to do?

The thing about sewing when camping is all the extra things one needs. Do you like my baby steam iron? I bought this at the Perth Quilt and Craft fair and it presses beautifully. So perfect for glamping…
So what am I making? Well it’s a vintage pattern – Simplicity 6945 version 2.

I am using a piece of silk chiffon from Spotlight which is very zebra like, lined with some white t-shirt material, both of which have come out of my stash.

Next time I go camping, I am going to take something to sew that is not silk! I had a bit of aggravation with the fraying and the slipping, and the fact that the pattern was a tad big for me. However, some strategically placed elastic solved the sizing problem, but I hadn’t realised that this is not something one wears to the shops – the cleavage is quite low and the floaty nature of the fabric screams evening wear. I can work with that, however, not sure about the midriff showing (which isn’t evident in the pattern picture). To hide the cleavage I added a fabric flower magnet and feel much more comfortable.

I wore this for our anniversary dinner, which is why this post has had to wait. We are well back from our glamping trip, which is now fading into a distant memory…

The details:

Pattern is Simplicity 6945

Fabric is  silk chiffon from Spotlight lined with white t-shirt material from Potter’s

The trousers are vintage silk Laura Ashley bought on a trip to NZ

Bag is vintage Chanel bought on my first adult trip to Paris

Necklace is zebra rock from Bali

Shoes are A Botega from My Muse, Claremont (now long gone)