I was keen to make a pattern from both Liz Hayward and Pattern Union as both these pattern companies gave us a pattern as a prize for our Perth Stitchers Picnic in the Park. I also wanted to recycle some fabric and this began life as a Gorman doona cover and pillowcases – I loved the print and mix of fabrics.

I began with the Cora blouse . I was determined to use the pillow cases for this. Goodness knows why as I had a mountain of fabric in the doona cover, but there you are. In order to get the blouse out of the pillow cases I had to do some piecing. I decided to play with the stripes, but am a bit sad it’s not so obvious.

I’m hoping the deep creases wash out. I was pleased to use my home made #SewOver50 Label. I think I even got it on straight!

I had three Gorman labels that I removed from the set and added the word “recycled” to them and stitched them back on. The Cora has one on the sleeve. I love that people say they didn’t know that Gorman has a recycled section of their business!

I added a drawstring to the Cora as I did in my last post, I’ve decided that it works well. I also added faux cuffs following the tutorial from @sewandrew over on Instagram.

I then made the Liz Hayward Clair Skirt, which is a zero waste pattern. I’ve made two before (here and here), and I love the shape. Each one is slightly different.

Here it is with the Cora blouse.

I do feel like a giant iced lolly, but I have to say that I adore the colours (I spotted some of these in Diane’s latest post on the season’s trends), and I find the combination of large flowers and stripes strangely appealing.

As my fabric was so light, I lined the bottom part of the skirt with the striped fabric. This means that I have a nice inside on show when I sit down.

The skirt has a quarter circle removed from the hem which can be used for a hat, apron or bag. I used this one for a bag.

Once again I used the Gorman Recycled label on the pocket. I had the twill tape in my stash which was lucky as I wasn’t buying any!

I lined the bag with the cut out from the striped lining for the skirt. I also used some padded interfacing to give the bag a bit more heft.

I felt very pulled together and adore the bag with it. It won’t go with anything else in my wardrobe though!

I wasn’t sure how this would go at the picnic: would I trip over the skirt as it’s probably a bit long? Would I be cold as the weather has turned windy? Would I ruin it by spilling food all over myself?

The event is now in the past and I scored 2/3 – I did trip over the skirt and I did spill a delicious strudel down the front, but it seemed to blend in, so I think I got away with it.

Here are the obligatory event photos. Can I just say how much I enjoyed myself and we’ve all decided that this could become an annual event.

With my co-organisers, Megan and Katherine. Thanks to Megan’s sister Sophie for the photos

I teamed my outfit with my yellow sandals, they seem to be a match made in heaven and meant that I was 100% me made. My hat is the Liz Haywood free bucket hat pattern.

The very excellent Sew Over 50 group. I’m next to Sarah, who is sadly a bit hidden, but it seems appropriate as she designed the pattern for my Cora blouse.

Some photos of the day. I get so carried away that I forget to take photos. How good was the spread?

I took these photos from Sarah’s instagram. I hope she doesn’t mind, but I do love them both.

A couple of photos that I took before the event, and I’m using them because I quite like them. This outfit is going to be worn a lot, in combination or separately with other garments. I’m entering it into The Refebulous challenge as it’s from a doona cover set. This will be make number 7 this month for that challenge.