Neckline confusion

I'm making a muslin type thing of Jalie 2566, the t-shirt. I'm using the turtleneck's body, as I want to make a turtleneck out of some lilac silk-blend jersey I have, but I'm actually rather liking the muslin (which is made of some remnant of jersey which I'm assuming is viscose as it's lovely and soft). It's a rather bright and busy print, though, so I don't think a turtleneck will work at all (I'm not sure that the lilac will work as a turtleneck, as I have a fairly round face and not especially long neck) and am not sure what to do with the neckline.

Here's another really high quality picture (*cough*) - excuse both the weird colour loss and the fact that the picture was taken by me holding the phone at arm's length (which is why the top is all crumpledy, it fits nicely in real life):



I think that the pattern seems to let the much-higher-than-I-would-normally-wear-a-neckline aspect work, but I'd probably scoop it out a bit more if I were going to do a bound neckline. I'd like to do something a bit less plain, but then that would probably be a bad idea with the print - it probably needs a very simple neckline really.

Incidentally, I love this pattern - it went together really easily, in spite of me having used 7 different sizes (from a Z shoulder at the back to a FF sleeve) and deciding to experiment with a half-cut-on sleeve, which actually worked quite well. The muslin is really comfy and I don't like to take it off! I'll do a proper review when it's all finished, though.

Here is a very rubbish picture of my dress:



In real life I am not bright orange, honest. Also the dress is less unflattering (though really I should wear a belt with it...) particularly as I was actually wearing it with a cardi over the top, but DD made me take off the cardi to show the dress properly. She also made me do a superhero pose (by day I am bad-tempered cripple Anwen, but by night I am... FASHION QUEEN!!! Apparently.) but you aren't seeing that.

I'm pretty pleased with the dress, it's comfy and warm but still fairly smart. I mentioned to my line manager (when I went for a meeting to discuss timescale for going back to work after being off sick for months) that I'd made it and she was rather impressed *grin*

Next thing I want to make is McCall's 5466 (view C) in the navy wool crepe I bought on Tuesday - I was thinking of a simple sheath dress at first, but I suspect it might veer too close to boring/frumpy... The McCall's dress is different enough to be interesting, and the pleated neckline seems reasonably current - I am not much of a trendspotter, but I went 'snoop shopping' (nowhere particularly fancy - I'd be scared to try things on in case I somehow ripped them) today and saw a few dresses with a similar neckline. I tried one on and it looked nice, but it had princess seams which looked a bit odd with the pleats, so I had to squint and try not to see the superfluous seaming...

I'm also planning to make a beige/camel Burda 8407 after trying on a similar skirt and finding it ridiculously flattering and glamorous, particularly when worn with a slightly darker caramelly beige top. It also looked really nice with a dark teal ribbed short sleeve jumper with a short turtleneck.

I absolutely have to make some sort of skirt that fits properly ASAP, because I really didn't want to have to put my brown cords trousers back on in the changing room, they are strangely baggy around the tummy and have to be kept up with a belt, except I only have a pretty but cheap plasticky feeling one. I haven't lost a vast amount of weight or anything, just enough to make these trousers look horrible. I have a petrol blue cord skirt which still looks mostly OK but also needs the belt to hoik it up.

Wardrobe planning

I've been reading a bit about wardrobe planning (and related things) recently, because I am basically a bit rubbish at clothes. I've been on sick leave since August and am hopefully going to go back to work this month, so I will need to actually look like a proper sensible person three days a week. More or less.

One thing these articles/books always recommend is to go through your clothes and see what you already have. I was a bit cynical, feeling fairly sure I have nothing decent, but it turns out I have the following good things for work purposes:

Monsoon suit (from ebay) in a nice burgundy-and-cream smallish houndstooth check. The skirt's a bit small but the jacket's fine and will go with other things.

Burgundy wool skirt (ebay again - Betty Jackson Studio seems to be the brand, no idea who that is) made from interesting felted knit stuff, with unfinished edges and visible seaming detail. Nice a-line shape, with an elasticated waist that doesn't look elasticated. This is handy, as it actually fits without having to be held up with a belt.

Navy short sleeved jumper with white narrow stripe around neckline and sleeve edges. Not sure if this will go with the burgundy, but I'm planning to make at least one more skirt, possibly beige if I can find some substantial beige wool fabric...

Acid green cardi with 3/4 sleeves and nice buttons. I really want a vibrant blue skirt or dress and a good white tshirt to go with this, though it will also go nicely with the navy dress I've just bought fabric for.

Dusky pink top from Bravissimo - bit low cut, and I may need to consider wearing something underneath it, but it goes nicely with the burgundy things.

Navy-based print top with cream and red flowers and tiny amounts of a green which nearly matches the cardi (but is a bit more subdued) which makes them look fab together.

I think I need to figure out what colour would be best for a skirt to go with the two navyish tops, navy is probably a bad choice as it's v hard to match one navy to another, beige would be nice but a bit impractical. Does burgundy work with navy?

Went to Goldhawk Road today and got 2m of navy wool crepe for £6 total, yay! Will be making a sheath dress or possibly a slightly flared skirted dress. Luckily I found the navy zip I bought last year and had lost in Stuff Soup. I haven't had a chance to sew up my dress from last week, but I've cut it out in a fairly simple pullover style and have the sewing machine all set up to sew, now all I have to do is Get Brave and actually start stitching...

ETA I have sewn up the dress. The hem is a bit rough and ready, but this is mostly because I am planning to shorten it when the weather gets a little less yucky, as mid-calf isn't really an ideal length, but I'll take any extra insulation I can get at this time of year... Went with a slightly cowlish necklinewhich I *think* looks ok, and because it's only slight it shouldn't interfere with wearing the dress over tops and such.