Funny how things work out with patterns. I bought Vogue 1195 a while ago in a fit of misguided enthusiasm. It’s a pattern for a very simple dress and a big flappy top; I bought it in order to make the top even though it’s really not my style. I never found suitable fabric for it, and then other patterns came along and it slipped off the must-sew list.

Regular readers of this blog will know I am mildly obsessed with the 70s/80s BBC TV series Blake’s 7. Recently I realised that one of the more wearable costumes from season two was vaguely similar to Vogue 1195. Here are a couple of shots from http://www.framecaplib.com/b7lib.htm.

So I started half heartedly looking for black and white prints but didn’t find anything, and forgot about it again. And then on my last trip to London, I found some black and white chiffon in a lovely space-age print that I inexplicably seem to have not uploaded a picture of. Edited to add: here it is! This shot is taken from a distance; I’d guess the short side is about a metre.

I think it’s inspired by the work of Eduardo Paolozzi – a sort of mix of organic and machine-like shapes.

So clearly the right fabric will come along if you just wait long enough.

Pictures of the finished top at the weekend, I hope! I have to get my high-heeled boots fixed first for the full late 1970s lady space pilot look.