Lindy from Stokx Pattern has been promoting Rotes Kleid, which means Red Dress to wear on International Women’s Day as red symbolises strength and power and demands attention. I have always celebrated IWD, especially as it’s my husband’s birthday, so I decided I would make a new, red outfit. This outfit ticks the Sew Over Ageism challenge run by Sew Over 50, and the Mondial March challenge hosted by Magamsewalong, as it consists of a skirt from an Australian designer based in Germany, and a Swedish designed top made from Aboriginal designed and manufactured fabric.

Let me talk about the fabric first; it is designed by an Aboriginal artist, Kathleen Pitjara and is called Plum Seeds. I need to point out that these aren’t the European plums we are used to but the Bush Plum Seeds. I bought this fabric from Paper Bark Woman in Darwin when we were there in 2021. Here is the information which accompanied the fabric, which I thought would be of interest.

I initially thought I’d make the Stokx Rock skirt, a bit of a favourite, but when I’d cut it out I could see that with some pattern tetris I might be able to get a top out of it too. I played around with the Lotta Jansdotter Esme top and decided I’d put some sleeves in. The fabric wasn’t very wide so I couldn’t do too much with the pattern matching and the front is a bit asymmetrical but I did manage to match the pockets, although it took some doing and I had to unpick one of the pockets to adjust it so it matched up with the fabric. In the course of doing this I roughed up the fabric, requiring a label to “hide the crime”

I added a back pocket to the skirt and was quite pleased with my pattern matching, given this pocket was fashioned from scraps. I created a label from the selvedge for the sleeve. It says Plum Seeds. I couldn’t waste it, even though I feel as though I’ve overdone the labels a bit.

As well as the Sew Over Ageism label on the top, I added a Sew Over 50 label to the skirt pocket and added the selvedge information about the fabric to the inside of the skirt.

I had to cut quite a lot off my invisible zipper and I secured the end by sewing a piece of the zipper tape over it. This makes it comfortable to wear as well as making the end neat and, most importantly, secure!

All that was left was for me to wear the outfit!

I am really happy with the way it turned out. The fit of the skirt is perfect and it’s so comfortable.

I was particularly pleased with the pattern matching at the back. I can’t take any credit, it was a happy accident.

The front, however, is a different matter. No matter what I did I couldn’t get the pattern in the middle. Luckily the front of the skirt is cut on the bias and I think this makes it a little less obvious.

A seated shot for you

I wore the two pieces out for a family dinner and it was the perfect thing to wear. We had a wonderful celebration and all four of Mark’s children were able to come, which was truly lovely. First time we’ve all been together for years!

And a couple of photos of when cousins meet for the first time. It was so sweet.