For many years, Penny and I co-directed the Gaelic music program for Slighe nan Gaidheal. A couple of years ago I decided to retire and she took over on her own. This last year, they took on the project of assembling a four-part choir to compete in Scotland at the Royal National Mòd.
Penny came to me about six months ago and asked for an outfit to wear while conducting the choir. I had an immediate vision of a knee-length tartan jacket over a black silk blouse and flowing black skirt.
She gave me a list of the tartan designs that would be acceptable in descending order, and very luckily, I was able to find the second choice in sufficient supply of poly-viscose fabric at Fabricana in Richmond for a fraction of what wool tartan would cost in Scotland.After producing several unsuccessful muslins, I finally got enough of the geometry right to proceed in fabric. The original design had just one button in front and functioned as a jacket, but I wasn't entirely pleased with the overall silhouette, so I gave it a serious think.
The solution that presented itself to me was to button all the way down the front, lose the skirt, and treat the jacket as a dress.
The only aspect of the original vision that I question is insisting on doing all the contour shaping at the side seams to avoid disruption to the tartan pattern in the front. I think I could have made it slightly more flattering if I had let myself add contour seams to the front at least.
Anyway, she got lots of compliments, so I feel good about the final product.
