Here’s another of my Minerva projects from last year. It was the usual race against time as I sewed frantically to have something new to take on holiday with me.

I’m trying the Minerva Exclusive Linen Viscose Blend. I chose this vibrant eye-poppingly colourful floral print called Beaming Blooms. The tropical flower motif is a combination of different pinks, greens and yellows on a black background.

Using this fabric was another revelation to me as the magic of the Linen Viscose Blend is in the hand. It has all the beautiful texture of linen but the viscose gives it a lovely softness and lightness. It still creases like a typical linen but the wrinkling seems less and it irons slightly more easily.

The colour of Beaming Blooms is very intense so I washed this fabric alone, with a colour catcher to be on the safe side, although I didn’t notice any colour running after washing. As it is a relatively loose woven I’d recommend overlocking the edges before you put it in the washing machine to minimise fraying.

I chose to make a set with this fabric and combined two patterns for a trouser set, not quite a suit as it’s a shirt and trousers, although I ended up wearing the top more as an overshirt. I used Mimi G Style Simplicity pattern S8985 for the trousers, a very wide-legged pair of pants with elastic at the back and a fly front. I modified it slightly by putting the elastic all the way around.

For the top, I used a tried and trusted pattern from my stash, a very old Butterick 6225. I made a short-sleeved shirt with a lapel and collar. It’s quite a classic style so any shirt pattern could be used for a similar look. I’ve used this versatile pattern for another Minerva project, adapted to a shirt dress in Minerva Viscose Challis.

I wore these trousers for the first time in Baños in Ecuador, I was thinking I would save this set for when we had hot sections in the trip – in my imagination that would be frequent and while the weather was warm here, it was quite steamy and misty, rather than sunny, but the happy print still kept the spirits up. I wore them as a set with a white or black tee shirt to offset the bold pattern. I’ve also worn each piece separately. These trousers definitely set off the fabric brilliantly but I would probably say that they are a tad too wide for me as I’ve been close to coming a cropper a few times, getting my feet tangled in the voluminous legs, I definitely can’t wear trousers as long as Mimi does on the packet image.

Still, I love the outfit, it’s definitely a holiday special and it will go in my bag for other warm-weather trips in the future.

Thanks for dropping by,