Enough said!
Well actually, I guess I can say a little more… so I bought this turquoise denim in New York City during my holiday in the United States with Yoshimi last year…. and who could have guessed how much the world would change during this short short time?? Crazy… I’m still reeling to be honest! Anyway, I did have such a wonderful time and am very happy to have made up my first thing from some of the fabric that I bought. Don’t worry, there’s lots more! I got this in a little shop whose name now escapes me, sadly; though I’m forgiving myself for forgetting since it was kind of an overwhelming day. Honestly I’ve never seen as much fabric in my entire life as I did on that day of fabric-shopping in NYC!
have a squizz at those pockets!!!
The fabric was cut wildly off-grain, which meant I had a bit less than I thought, but fortunately I had enough to make this skirt using mostly Burda 2/2015; 109. This is a pattern I’ve attempted once before; I made it up using yellow linen which was quickly deemed a giant fail and converted into a top, and I must say it’s been a great little top! Anyway, I still had faith the pattern had great skirt bones. And I’m glad I gave it another chance since this little skirt is fantastic and I love it!
I did make a few mods though… namely, the wrap nature of the skirt is gone, because I felt the denim would be too stiff to make a nice wrap and tie belt; also I didn’t have enough of the denim for something like that anyway. Instead I made the skirt to have a fixed waistband and a centre back zip closure; a pretty straightforward mod. I also stitched down some of the pleats to make it a little more fitted. I wondered if I’d have a matching zip in my stash, and you know what? I did! Miraculous!! It was from a large bag of colourful zips that Mum had tossed my way, once upon a time. I’ve used up quite a lot of them over the years! This one is really very “vintage”, so much so that I zip it up and down quite carefully.
I used white thread for all the topstitching; I really love how subtle this looks. And I cut the contrasting inside waistband and bias to finish the hemline from an old shirt of Craig’s. I’ve harvested from this very same shirt previously, to bind the quilt that his Mum made for Arthur, here.
That shirt still has quite a bit of fabric leftover still to use for other things, which is fabulous; because it’s beautiful quality stuff!
This is thing 6, from the collection of 12 I tasked for myself at the beginning of the year. Yay, I’m halfway through!!
Details:
Skirt; Burda 02/2015; 109, turquoise denim
Top; Burda 04/2014; 111, in a slightly stretchy bobbly stuff, details here
Tights, made by me to my own design
Boots; Roberto del Carlo, from Zomp boutique
(below)
Jumper; hand knit by me, my own design
Raincoat; made by me, new and not yet blogged! eeep! I’m so behind!
… nothing to do with sewing, but lately I feel like I have so few good hair days I reckon it’s worth documenting when I do have one, even if it’s courtesy of the salon and not my own doing at all! I’ve been trying to grow my hair out all natural, a whole year later and I think I almost like my hair again. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel!
That is my kind of skirt. I love the bias hemming, what a great save. Jo xxx
I found fabric shopping in NYC completely overwhelming and probably would have walked away with nothing had it not been for my very supportive friend.
Your denim skirt looks lovely. I am sure you will treasure the memories associated with it for years to come.
I love your beach outfit, your handknit sweater looks super impressive even from a distance. So I read that post. I’ve never wanted to knit before and your sweater is the first thing I’ve seen that makes me want to! The color combos on your sweater and your whole outfit are fun and whimsical, love it.
This skirt turned out so cute! I love nailing down a pleat like that with some hearty top stitching. I don’t know why more skirt patterns don’t call for it. I recently sewed a denim skirt with pleats (M7906) and resisted the urge to stitch them down. I should have just gone for it. (Haven’t posted that one yet to Instagram. I’ll tag you when I do 😉
Can’t wait to read your raincoat post… I’ve been starting to get a strong raincoat sewing bug. I live in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon where raincoats are required.
And that’s so adorable you had to capture a good hair day, I can totally relate <3
Sewing Hugs,
duchessofcloth
Such lovely fabric, and you’ll remember New York every time you wear it. You do rock skirts!
One question on the top stitching – you seem to have used normal thread. I’ve tried top-stitching thread but always have trouble with tension, is there any reason you didn’t use top-stiching thread?
I despair of the fabric shops in Australia these days, they don’t have much range in cottons and linens. Yet another reason to go to New York (one day, in the hopefully not too distant future).
I love that bias binding too, husband shirt material is excellent for things like pockets and waistbands.
And hair – such a pretty strawberry! This bloody virus has certainly been an excuse to let mine grow although it’s nowhere near as long as yours.
Oh I like that crispy pleat in denim! The color is great too! I call the era between a good short haircut and an acceptable longer hair length “hair puberty”. Much like regular puberty, it can’t last forever.
Love your new skirt and the top from your next post. Also love your hair, it does look good this way and I like the colour as well. I have now gone to my natural grey, having stopped dyeing it to my former lightish brown colour. All the best Anita from Basel