My mother tried in many ways to make me like sewing. One year, I must have been 15, she bought me a 2 hour dress pattern and some green velvet so I would make myself a dress for Christmas. It took me a year and a half to finish it and I never really liked the dress. So when I needed something medieval for a scout camp, I reused the dress and made it into a surcot by taking off the zipper, opening the sides all the way under the arms and  lacing them, and cutting open the top of the sleeves and adding clasps. I wear it with my Off-White Laced Shirt underneath. Fabric        The entire surcot is Deep green strech velvet.        I’ve used tiny black cord to lace the sides and thick black satin cord as a belt.        Each sleeve is held closed by two ornemental clasps. Pattern        The pattern used here is McCall’s 9083 view B. After making the dress according to the pattern, I modified it (a couple of years later) by taking off the zipper, opening the sides all the way under the arms and the lacing it and cutting open the top of the sleeves and adding clasps. Advice        Ok this is going to sound crazy, but cut to your shape. My biggest bad sewing habit is I always cut 2-3 sizes bigger than I need because I’m afraid it might not fit and you can always take fabric out, but it’s hard to add some. The original dress was too big for me and I looked even bigger in it so I hated it.

Ok, so the sun was in my eyes for the picture. Still, look at the sleeves: I love the way they clip over the shirt.