Ora Pinafore with Black Corduroy
Hi friends, how have you been?
We have a senior pup, Momiji, who is 16 years old; if you’ve been following this blog for a while you might know that she deals with some health issues (mostly due to her age.)
April was a bit hard as she struggled with a sickness, but May turned out to be even harder. For a couple of weeks, she’d wake us up 3-4 times every night. After seeing a vet, she got the meds which seemed to help her greatly.
Because her sickness was mostly due to her age, any invasive exams, treatments, or surgeries aren’t really recommended to senior dogs as the chance of them not being able to survive the procedure is higher. So all we can give her at this point is symptomatic treatment. For now it’s under control, but it might come back again.
While she’s physically doing better now, she still has hard time falling asleep at night because of her dementia.
We’re still lacking some sleep which is preventing me from reading my book at night, but that’s ok. It’s not always easy, but it’s a privilege to be able to care for a senior pup.
All in all, she’s still somehow calm and happy! She never cease to amaze us.
May was also a busy month for my volunteer work which involves translating and editing articles. Which explains why I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like.
But, I’m finally writing about my last fall/winter make today!
The idea of making a pinafore out of black corduroy has been living inside of my brain since 2021 fall. I’m happy to say I finally made one!
Pattern: Ora Pinafore by Soften Studio
Fabric: Cotton corduroy
What I wanted was:
Simple design without complicated feature like hardwares, minimal number of pattern pieces
Flared skirt (not pencil)
V shaped neck opening
Loose fitting
At first I thought of drafting the pattern by myself, but I found a perfect pattern from Soften Studio, so I decided to purchase it. (And I’m so glad I did!)
Last year I read that Soften Studio was planning on focusing on selling hand-made (or ready-made?) clothing instead of selling the patterns. I think they did stop selling their patterns at some point, but they had a lot of requests for their beautiful patterns that they’ve decided to keep the patterns available, it seems.
Ora pinafore pattern was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. It’s simple, but I’m sure a lot of thoughts went into drafting this pattern. The fit is wonderful and the neck/armhole openings are on point!
Originally this pattern doesn’t come with a lining, however, because it’s finished with facings it’s not hard to add a lining on your own. Which is exactly what I did, and it worked nicely!
The front and the back of this dress looks almost identical; to make it easier to distinguish (when I’m trying to put it on), I added a little machine embroidery on the inside. Other people won’t see it, of course, but it looks cute and makes me happy.
I don’t usually wear animal prints… but I thought leopard print and the black corduroy would look cute together; so I made a top.
Pattern: Liberty Thorpe: Bow Neck Dress
Fabric: EcoVero Twill Viscose
This is just a shorter length version of the Liberty Thorpe: Bow Neck Dress, with elastic sleeve cuffs (instead of buttoned cuffs.)
I think this top is a little too wild for me to wear as a regular top, but…
When it’s worn underneath the pinafore, I love it!
The back definitely tone down the animal print and I think this look is really cute.
Can you see the armhole of the pinafore in this photo?
It’s pretty wide (deep) so that it’s really easy to wear something underneath and move comfortably, but it’s not too wide either. It’s just perfect.
The neck bow design is inspired by the posts by moipon’s articles such as:
I love how the tips of the tie are pointy. I think it makes the whole look more sophisticated! I really like how the tips are showcased against the black pinafore.
I think this is my first time sewing a pinafore, and loved sewing and wearing it. Since I liked this one a lot, I’ve made another one with more year-round appropriate fabric. I can’t wait to show you that one as well.
Lastly… let me share a recent cute picture of Momiji!
May 23, 2023
