the Classics: Simplicity 9825 and McCall's 4922

For the third time now I made up S9825. It has become my go-to pencil skirt pattern, and I love it.

This time I decided to go wild with animal print fabric I ordered from Fabric.com. 

I had previously cut this pattern in a size 10, which is now too small (too many cookies), so using the a-line version which I had previously cut in a 12 as a guide, I kind of winged the resizing from a 10 to a 12, and surprisingly it turned out great. 

And now on to the shirt I'm wearing. I've had McCall's 4922 in my stash for ages, years, centuries. And just now I finally made it.

I was really REALLY excited about the fabric. It is a woven cotton stretch pique in a great white WHITE color. I bought it from fabric.com more than a year ago. It was one of those fabrics that I loved so much I was scared to cut into it. It's not even like it was expensive or irreplaceable or anything like that. I think I just couldn't stand the thought of me wasting such a classic, lovely piece of fabric. 

At any rate, I finally garnered the courage.

I franken-sleeved it using the cap sleeves from Simplicity 2473. It fits great. I had to take it in at the sides by about an inch total (so 1/2 inch on each side). It's a great shirt to tuck in, but untucked it's a bit unfitted and lame. The hip area is kind of baggy. Could I fix it? Sure. But with the tail hem line it was obviously meant for tucking, so I've decided that it's a tuck-in shirt, and I'm not going to bother with the baggy hips.

 Oh, and I didn't even have to lengthen it like I usually do. 

Now on to the shoes: They are Guess Florie in cream. They are "all manmade materials" which I typically try to avoid, but still pretty comfortable. They were discounted at DSW when I bought them last month. I feel just a little bit "real housewives of NJ" in the shoes and the animal print skirt, but overall, I love the outfit. I think the white button-down grounds the whole outfit in reality? I don't know.