The Skirt

I finished my skirt a couple of weeks ago now, but failed in uploading it straight to my blog. I think I was so distracted by wearing it and it not falling to pieces, that it completely slipped my mind. Anyway – here it is!

The pattern told me it would take 1 hour to sew the skirt together. From start to finish it took me about a week, but that’s including cutting out the pieces, editing the length and fit, plus inserting the zip and attaching the broderie anglaise trimming. Not bad whilst I was working full time in between?

The photo here shows the zip and hook-and-eye fastening I used on the back of the skirt. The zip was surprisingly easy to sew in. The pattern originally called for a button hole to be made, but everything was going so well that I didn’t dare ruin it at the last minute! I decided to go for the hook-and-eye instead because it was a lot easier.

The only big hurdle I had to jump was regarding the length of the skirt. Due to a little too much editing and a little too much hemming, I managed to take off far too many inches from the bottom and had a bit of a panic! My mum suggested I added some sort of trimming, so I trekked back to the material shop and found a length of broderie anglaise which has done just the trick. I had to use black though, because navy apparently does not exist. It looks alright though, and I doubt you’d notice. Perhaps I need to stop pointing it out!

So far I’ve worn it twice to work. The first time I was a little apprehensive (and worried) that it may just fall off whilst I was walking around! My colleagues think I look like Alice in Wonderland wearing it. I disagree, but I guess that’s almost a compliment? I even put the skirt through the washing machine (a very scary moment) and it came out in one piece. Fantastic – can’t wait to make another now!

Skirt-ing for Girls

After making various cushions I decided to begin something a bit more adventurous. A skirt. I went down to the Remnant House and bought (far too much of) this lovely navy floral cotton. It’s quite thin and so easy to sew with. The photo doesn’t quite do the pattern justice, as the little roses are more red in real life.

I was originally going to trace around an existing skirt to create my own pattern, but decided that this was possibly a little TOO adventurous. Instead I had a flick through various pattern catalogues and came across one by New Look. It’s a pattern for 5 different a-line skirts, some with extra darts, some a bit longer and some with a side split. I cut out the pieces for the simplest design (top left skirt on the photo below), and away I went.

The skirt consists of 4 pieces of mateial: a front piece, 2 back pieces and a waistband. It also requires a 7″ zip and a bit of interfacing for inside the waistband. I cut out the material according to the ‘size 8′ guidelines but soon discovered that it was going to be far too small. And that I’m a secret size 16. It turns out this pattern is made for a skirt to go around the wait. I want a skirt that goes around the hips. This meant re-cutting the back 2 pieces to extend the width a bit. I also chopped off half the length to create a more youthful look.

As a first-time dressmaker, I’m finding the pattern a little difficult to follow and have had to either Google/ask my mum what some of the terminology means. ‘Layering’ seams and ‘line with interfacing’ are not expressions I’ve previously encountered. That out the way, I’ve so far managed to piece my skirt together, machine stitch it all, and have just attached the (interfacing lined) waistband. More to follow.