Black Silk Radiance Cleo

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

The Cleo skirt pattern is HERE!

This week, we’re putting the finishing touches on the layout, getting the yardage charts ready to share, working on the shop listing, and formatting the copy shop files. I’m hoping to have it ready to launch next week.

update: get the Cleo Skirt pattern in my shop

Black silk Cleo Skirt

Black silk Cleo Skirt

One of my points of inspiration for this particular Cleo skirt was this image of a colorblocked black and grey skirt that I stumbled upon via Pinterest a few years back, though I really need a black henley to complete the look. Mental note: sew self black henley.

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

However, with this bow blouse from Target and my new 90’s-style glasses I think this look (which I sported for Christmas 2016) is still pretty great slash hilarious. I feel like a fancy librarian. And I mean that with much love, as my mom and littlest sister are both librarians. Mental note: take photo shushing the camera.

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

The silky fabric is a silk-cotton blend (read: machine washable, yay!!) by Robert Kaufman called “Radiance.” I bought some last year from Fiddlehead Artisan Supply, who have a fantastic selection of Radiance in numerous colors (disclaimer: Fiddlehead is a former sponsor of this blog) and I absolutely loved the fabric. Nichole at Robert Kaufman was kind enough to send us even more of it last spring when we started developing Cleo (and then subsequently put it on hold for other projects. Ahem). So, I’m excited to finally be able to show it off in my (almost-here-coming-soon) new pattern, as well as alert you to its existence, in case you’ve not stumbled across it before. Personally I find solid apparel fabrics really difficult to sift through online, so I always appreciate knowing what other people recommend. It’s light, super soft, drapey, and the reverse side is a more matte silk, which could also be really fun to sew for something with a less fancy effect.

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

Black and Grey Silk Cleo

Here it is in a more summery ensemble. Also slightly less wrinkly. It works best to steam rather than iron this fabric and I probably should have done more before taking these photos.

Black silk Cleo Skirt

Black silk Cleo Skirt

This version of the Cleo pattern is “View A” and features cut-out pockets (sewn in with what I feel is a rather clever construction technique) and a contrast hem band. View B is longer, has inseam pockets, and was first introduced in this post.

Black silk Cleo Skirt

Black silk Cleo Skirt