Magic Roundabout and the Pink Panther

I'm currently stalled on all of my customer sewing projects (waiting for mock-ups, measurements and returns from Foreign Climes), so I decided I could afford to take a second day to do a bit of sewing for myself. I've hemmed three pairs of trousers which have been trailing on the floor since September, and I've made some alterations to the Magic Roundabout tunic. I've also made a new one, from the Pink Panther fabric that I bought on Ebay last year.

You've seen the Magic Roundabout tunic before - it started life as Simplicity 3835. Since then it's had the neckband replaced with piping, but that was still too tight. Today I removed the piping, took out the back zip which wasn't really needed, and changed the neckline. I didn't want to make the neck lower, as that would have cut into the roundabout print. Instead I changed the gathering, to make the neckline wider. It's edged with white bias binding.

I've been looking forward to making the Pink Panther tunic for ages, and I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out. I think it will look fabulous with my black silk trousers and fluorescent pink Doc Martens! Unfortunately there are some problems with the fabric, so I'm not certain that I'll be able to wear it more than once.

When I bought the fabric on Ebay, it was described as "100% cotton". I was expecting a woven fabric, but it turned out instead to be a jersey, and definitely not 100% cotton. This wasn't a problem - this style of dress works well in a jersey fabric, and I simply adapted the pattern so that both the front and back were cut on a fold.

Unfortunately, when I came to iron the fabric, I discovered two problems. One - it smells! It's definitely come from a house where somebody smokes. I wasn't too worried, as I knew that the smell would come out when the fabric was washed. That was until I sprayed the fabric with water as I ironed it, and discovered that parts of the fabric aren't colourfast! The black background doesn't seem to have been fixed properly, and the colour has already started to bleed very slightly into some of the pink spots.

I'm planning on running it through the washing machine with some kind of colour-run-removing product, and keeping my fingers crossed that the whole thing doesn't come out grey. It would be a real shame if this dress was ruined in its first wash - I really love the Pink Panther print!