Tauko Magazine number 17 is out today with the theme of “Happiness” and it certainly made me happy as it’s full of some really lovely patterns.

I chose the Vibes pattern by Lauren Merceris as I felt it would fit perfectly into my wardrobe. It has two styes – a sleeveless version with a double layer, and a sleeved shirt with a single layer and ties at the wrists. Both versions have a high/low wavy hem which provides a lot of movement. The back has a yoke and an inverted pleat.

Styling suggestions are to add vertical ribbon waves on one side, The opportunities to play with colour blocking, different fabrics and ribbons, buttons, sequins, etc, are endless. I am keen to make the layered style with some swiss dot cotton lawn.

I made a hot pink version from some really fine wool donated to my stash. There’s quite a lot of it and I think I have enough to make a pair of matching trousers. I made the sleeved version and chose the longer length, although I may reduce this at some point as it’s giving me dress vibes, especially at the back. The bust darts were too high, so I dropped them, perhaps by a little too much! I haven’t managed a photo since I did this.

I’m not a massive fan of the ties at the wrists, and will probably be changing these out at some point. I didn’t like them really long as per the pattern, so reduced the length and now they keep coming undone.

I didn’t do the pleat correctly on the back, so I stitched it down with a tiny satin stitch triangle. To be honest, I don’t think it really matters which way the pleat is folded.

Having ironed out the kinks with the wool version, I got out my very precious silk damask tablecloth. My friend Yvonne gave me three of these in different sizes. I’ve already made up the medium, this is the large, and I have a small one left.

I can’t tell you how much I love this fabric. The flowers are delicate and the silk is quite thick with a lot of body. I managed to wash out most of the stains, and cut round the rest.

I used elastic in the wrists instead of the ties and feel that this works a lot better. I dropped the bust darts before I began so they are correctly integrated into the pattern.

I did the back pleat correctly for this version and am completely obsessed with the way the back looks. I made the shorter length, although it’s still fairly long. Not sure why I’ve used so many photos here except that I’m really pleased with my pattern placement/stain dodging!

As I wandered around the neighbourhood I managed to find flowers and backdrops that complemented the flowers on this beautiful piece of fabric, although I did have a bit of trouble with the sun!

I found small blue and purple flowered buttons in my stash and decided to alternate them. I think they are fairly old, maybe 1960s?

I spent a long time trying to place a heart on the shirt somewhere. In the end I’ve hidden it inside on the back yoke, but am quite pleased with where it sits as I see it when I put this shirt on. The blanket stitch is not as neat as usual as I was trying to sew through only one layer so it wasn’t visible from the outside, the perils of not thinking things through at the beginning!

I also made the Tauko Adele, which is a flower designed by Stefanie Kroth. There are three sizes in the pattern: large, medium and small. My first one didn’t work too well but I still really like it. It’s made from a thrifted ombre dyed pillow case and is the smallest size. The large one is huge but I will make a bouquet of these at some point.

I then made a denim one to wear to Fibres West with it’s Double Down Denim theme. I made it from the leg of a pair of jeans and chose not to line it as I like the contrasting colours of the inside and outside. I pinked the edges for a bit of interest. I sized the small down by 25% but it’s still quite large.

I attached a brooch piin and wore it a lot during the Fibres West week, although it’s hard to see here, all the denim tends to blend.

I loved wearing it on the denim jacket given to me by my friend Hélène when I visited her in Montreal, which was much admired during the week.

I thought you might enjoy this little video of Pepper. She loves to collect things in her mouth and often has distended cheeks from holding a spool of thread or other contraband. She contrives to look innocent, but sometimes the objects conspire against her…

This was a light that my son attached to her collar so we could see her in the bush at night. She managed to break it off and then swipe it off a table. She was clearly trying to hide it from me! By the way, that stick on the floor was a “gift” to me.