Now I will fess up, when I first imagined this in my head, I was sipping a cocktail on the deck of a cruise ship. Something about the print, and drape , the whole “kimonoesqueness” screamed resort wear (not that I’ve ever actually brought resort wear, but if I was going to I imagine it looks like this…?). Anyway, as per usual I left it far to late before we we were off to the airport to actually finish my lovely holiday outfit.

The pattern in question, Simplicity 1318, has a couple of variations, I went with View B, a high low jacket (flattering at the front with good butt coverage from the rear, nice…) with longer sleeves and supposedly a contrast band. I ignored the contrast option, and pattern matching was approached with my usual “hope for the best” attitude (to be fair, that’s a pretty but quite busy fabric, who expect my Mum would actually notice the lack of match??)

The fabric is a rayon from Spotlight , happily purchased on sale and just waiting for the right project. If you have been reading PK for a while now you will notice how much rayon I buy….and how much I complain about sewing slippery rayon. I know, I have no idea why I do it to myself either.

Anyway, I finished sewing this last weekend, its a very quick sew (even a relative newbie could make this in a day no problem, complete with time for lunch/doing the laundry/having a moan about what a pain rayon is to sew). I did take a wee shortcut by ignoring the instructions to hand stitch the band to the inner, instead preferring to top stitch. I love me some top stitching!

 

After I finished sewing I hung my new jacket on Diana & spent several days wondering “is this something I would actually wear?”

It seemed very bold, like something that’s a grand idea on holiday, not so brilliant back in the cold , not much light of day (I put Retsina, location tee shirts & Egyptian rings with your name spelled in hieroglyphics into that category also…)*

But after some fun playing around with bits & bobs in my wardrobe, I realized not only was my wee kimono jacket just fine for a sea deck, it would work very well for more mundane activities back in the real world!

Perfect with jeans & sandals for brunch with pals, or gussied up with heels and nice pants for dinner, versatile much?

While I’m still a bit grumpy with myself for not getting it made up before my trip, I’m so glad I bothered  after, its super comfy to wear, and as my girlfriend so helpfully pointed out “the high low hem stops it looking like you’ve just forgotten to take your bathrobe off”…so true.

In lieu of any pic’s of me actually wearing this on our cruise, I thought I’d share a few images of the trip anyway, we spent a lovely 10 nights cruising from Southampton to Copenhagen on-board the Marina, and I’ll admit I was sad to get off (despite missing my cats & my sewing room!)

So much to do , besides all the fabulous shore adventures, on board can be just as busy. I do love a quiz & we went to a few , (Hi Patty & the rest to the Fryday team!), a library on board, lectures, music, games (the Marina Open Paddle Tennis was declared a tie with Mr D & I tied at 4 sets all before high winds & Happy Hour stopped play…), fabulous people watching, but best off all, on this cruise line at least, really excellent food & drink. And only unpacking once. Seriously, whats not to love?

My favorite thing? The balcony, how can you beat waking up to this (just remember to have more than your knickers & bra on when you pull the curtains heh?)

I also wanted to share this fab Bill Skinner necklace I picked up in Bath shopping with my dear pal Tiffany, she brought me the bee necklace I’m wearing with jeans in the top picture. We went back to the shop when we were staying & the first thing I picked up was this cat playing with a ball of wool….crazy cat lady from way back kids! She immediately started laughing as that was the necklace she had picked out with bees & had to decide which to buy!

I’ll leave you with my favorite pic of the trip, my dear husband beer tasting in Antwerp, having a great time despite the airline losing his suitcase & his wife making him carry her bag #keeper

Have a lovely week , thoughts & prayers to all those, human & animal, suffering Irma’s wrath, I hope you find safety, refuge and kindness xxx

Kristina xxx

*I have brought all of those things on hols….sigh.