OWOP 2017: The Jennifer Lauren Gable Top/Dress

If you're part of the sewing community on Instagram, then you're probably well aware that One Week One Pattern, or OWOP, has been happening over the last week, this time hosted by Sheona of Sewisfaction.

Day 1 - Anchor print dress with a knitted cardi (blogged here)

For the uninitiated, it's a fairly simple challenge - you just pick a pattern and wear a version of it every day for a week. It could be all different versions or the same garment styled differently for 7 days (if you're better at not spilling things on yourself than I am!).

Day 2 - Gable top in Art Gallery jersey with my corduroy Winslow culottes, and my Turin cardigan

I had fun taking part in the OWOP a couple of years ago (when my hair was much shorter!), so I decided to sign up again. The obvious pattern for me to pick would have been the Emery dress; even discounting very summery versions, I've got enough that I could have worn a different one every day so the challenge would have been fairly easy. However, I decided that it would be more interesting to pick something different so I went with the Jennifer Lauren Gable top and dress.

Blue ponte Gable dress with beads, brooch and very red tights!

I really love the Gable top/dress at this time of year - as it's a knit pattern it's super comfy to wear, and, while I know some people aren't fans of the fairly high slash neckline, I find that it helps to make me feel cosier than patterns with lower necks. Plus it also gave me the benefit of having both tops and dresses to play with over the week.

Pink Gable top, with a denim Veronika skirt and teal cardigan

Gable is also a simple pattern to sew, which meant that I had time to squeeze in a new version (the navy anchor print dress I wore on days 1 and 6) to add to my collection before OWOP started. If you're interested in more of my thoughts on the pattern itself, I blogged about my first Gable top here, and my blue ponte Gable dress here.

Gable top with my Freja dress

I had four Gables at my disposal - 2 dresses and 2 tops - and I found it really easy to wear one of them every day for the week. That's definitely helped by the fact that 3 of them are shades of blue, which is pretty much a neutral colour in my wardrobe so there were plenty of options for me when it came to putting an outfit together every morning.

Anchor print dress with my Toaster sweater

As it's been on the chilly side (by the standards of southern England anyway!) this week, so I was glad to be wearing knit garments (they just always seem warmer to me), and to be able to combine them with my knitted cardigans, or my crochet shawl on the last day.

Blue ponte Gable dress with my crochet flowers shawl

I really enjoyed participating in OWOP again this year. Putting on one of my Gables every morning didn't feel like too much of a constraint, and it didn't get boring - in some ways it actually make getting dressed easier because I couldn't be indecisive! I definitely don't think these four versions of the Gable are the last ones you'll see from me either - there's room for more of both the top and dress versions in my wardrobe. It's also been really interesting to take part in the challenge on Instagram and to see how other people have styled the various patterns that they chose. Thanks to all the sponsors, and of course an even bigger thank you to Sheona of Sewisfaction for hosting OWOP this year.

OWOP: My Week With Lilou

I had a good think about what pattern to choose for OWOP (One Week, One Pattern) - my Emery dresses and Hollyburn skirts were both strong candidates, but in the end I opted for my Lilou dresses from Love At First Stitch because I thought they might provide more different styling options so be a little more interesting to look at together. Here's what I've been wearing for the last week....

Day 1: Berry print Lilou with soon-to-be-blogged Cria cardigan (carefully not showing you the trainers I'm wearing at this point - a bit ugly but much better for walking through a muddy wood than pretty shoes!). This was meant to be my outfit for the Outfit Along this summer but I didn't get my knitting finished in time. I got there in the end though, and I'm really pleased with how the two of them look together.

Day 2: Floral Lilou with RTW cardigan (which I didn't need for a large part of the day because it was so lovely and sunny!) and pretty beads. I love this dress - just putting it on makes me feel good! It features some of my favourite colours, so it's no surprise that when I made it I already had a couple of things in my wardrobe that look like they were made to go with it. I wore this for a day out with a friend, and it felt great all day.

Day 3: Denim Lilou with RTW t-shirt and me-made belt (tutorial here). Today was a work day, but I don't need to be smart for work and comfort it much more important! This outfit is so comfy, but still looks nice and presentable. I've worn my denim Lilou a couple of times already, and I like the fact that it's a bit of a blank canvas for combining with different colours and accessories.

Day 4: Berry print Lilou with RTW cardigan. I've had this cardi for ages but don't wear it very much. I dug it out of the back of my wardrobe because I thought it would work well with this Lilou and I'm really like how they look together so the cardigan might be getting more wear now!

Day 5: Denim Lilou worn under my Capital Chic Bellini Blouse in a (not very) cunning attempt to mix things up a bit and make it look like I'm actually wearing a top and skirt instead of variations on the same dress all week.

Day 6: Floral Lilou with RTW cardigan and leggings. As I said above, the number of cardigans in my wardrobe that I could wear with this Lilou is probably a good indication of how much I like all the colours in this fabric! This outfit felt a bit dressy for a day sat in front of the computer, but it's still really comfy and it's nice to be a bit smarter every now and then so it's all good!

Day 7 (today!): Denim Lilou with RTW t-shirt & leggings and me-made belt. Possibly my favourite outfit of the week! The more I wear my denim Lilou, the more I love it - the weight of the denim gives the skirt a lovely swish when I walk, which is always fun. I also really like wearing my fabric belts with this dress, and the t-shirt was a charity shop bargain the other week - it looks like it's never been worn, is great quality material and was only £1. So this outfit is a bit of a winner as far as I'm concerned.

I've really enjoyed wearing my different Lilou dresses this week for OWOP, so a big thank you to Jane for organising it! Although I won't miss taking the daily photos - I usually take blog photos in places where there aren't many people around, but I can't really do that on a daily basis and I've been getting some very odd looks from my neighbours as I've been prancing around the car park this week! Has anyone else had the same problem?!