Melbourne Frocktails 2025

Holy smokes, it's almost a year since my last blog post. I've been making things like crazy, of course, but even snapping a quick picture seems to elude me these days.

Melbourne Frocktails has to be documented on the blog and this year I decided to knit!

photo by Penny Stephens

I liked the idea of a close fitted lace blouse with a simple skirt and I already had just the pattern: The Barbroe Blouse in the Knitting For Olive book.

Ruth (Rootaberger, long time blog reader, I'm the fan ) and I went to the Bendigo Wool Show in July and amazingly had shopping lists and a plan. Of course we came home with more than we'd planned for!

On my shopping list was some very dark colour of fingering silk to make the Barbroe Blouse. I spotted the Green Tea Yarns silk and when I asked about a sombre, dark shade (what is it with yarn people and all those bright colours?!) I was pointed to some dyed-just-for-the-show navy which apparently nobody else was yet to show any interest in. Perfect! 

The knitting was a journey and the full notes with all the tweaking to fit adjustments is finally up on Ravelry

For the skirt I wanted something with a flat waistband and hip area, knowing that the top would lay over it, then an A-line or wider skirt.

Turns out the Vogue 1486 pattern that was a free giveaway from Simplicity McCalls Australia in last year's Melbourne Frocktails stash bag was just the thing.

The skirt pattern is intended to be made in scuba knit and left un-hemmed. I wanted to use silk to match my blouse, definitely needed hemming and lining and only had a too small pattern, but the style was right so I made it work. Oh, and I wanted a curved waistband so it would lay flatter under my blouse than the high rectangle of the pattern. Not much to change, right?

The silk fabric was a very cheap shantung out of India from an Etsy seller. It feels crisp like paper which is what I wanted, but I could have done without the fraying!

I used the waistband from the Grasser wide leg jeans that I'm loving wearing (but still haven't documented here) and then slashed and spread the too small skirt pattern pieces to fit the waistband. I used an invisible zip instead of the pattern's exposed zipper.

The skirt has come out to be worn again since Frocktails and I really like the shape. It's fancy fabric but can easily be dressed down with T-shirt and sandals.

Frocktails came around and the weather turned awful! We had sideways rain all day long and it barely got to 12degC. At least that meant I could wear a camisole under my almost see through lace top and not be too hot.

We do so much planning together for Melbourne Frocktails, but Lisa and I never share what we're going to wear - it's good to have a surprise. Yet this year we looked almost co-ordinated...

Photo by Penny Stephens

Here's Rooty and I in the photobooth! Cheers.