Tag Archives: Skirt

Denimen. Ineminem.


First garment for the year!

The credit for the cute pocket and the funky piecing and top-stitching goes to Mum of course  😉  Yes, remember this Vogue 8561 skirt that she made, and
passed on to me because she didn’t like it?  Unfortunately that particular combo of pattern and fabric was kinda unforgivably frumpy.  I think the older you get, the far less
you can get away with anything remotely frumpy.  When she saw it on me even Mum said “oh just toss it out Carolyn,
it does nothing for you either”
But it was of lovely, new fabric; slightly stretchy denim from
KnitWit? I think? and waaaaay too nice to ditch so hastily; and I liked the idea
of a little blue denim skirt in my wardrobe.  Key word there: “little”.  And blue denim; always a favourite!
So the unfrumpy Vogue 1247 came to the rescue… I
spliced the upper and lower skirt pattern pieces together and managed to cut a
front and back from the very lowest portion of the skirt, keeping most of the
original hemline intact.  
Interesting, huh? that the hemline circumference of that long long original is almost exactly the same as it is in this much much shorter skirt.  Explains a lot, in retrospect it was pretty constrictive and difficult to stride briskly along in….  and I’m a strider.
I cut out
that adorable little pocket from the top and re-attached it to the skirt;
because imo it was the hands-down highlight of the original skirt and I just had to keep it!  The original dress zip was unpicked and
re-used in the CB seam, and I found a piece of non-stretchy denim in my stash
with a wrong side having an excellent colour match, leftover from a skirt
Cassie had made for herself.  From this, I cut
a new waistband, and to reduce bulk and avoid that quintuple layer of fabric
you get in the joining seam of a traditional waistband, I edged the inside raw facing
edge with pale blue bias binding (leftovers from this shirt) and stitched them
together in-the-ditch.  I re-used
the same heavy-duty hook and eye closure.
Voila!  I think
this is a far more flattering and usable skirt in our climate, and there is no
doubt it is going to get a heck of a lot more wear now!
Details:
Skirt; a refashion of a Vogue 8561 denim skirt, using a
modified version of Vogue 1247, my review of this pattern here
Top; the top portion of a dress from Pattern Magic 3 by
Tomoko Nakamichi, of white cotton jersey, details here
Thongs; Havaiana
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LBS

The amount of Christmas “creating” going on around here has been insane lately!  I have been sewing like an absolute madwoman… ! 
but this Little Black Skirt is not a part of that.  This is a sorta urgent extra!       aiyiyi…
My daughter has completed her undergraduate degree and successfully secured her first “real” job. She will be returning to uni next year to do her Masters, but will probably continue to work concurrently in the firm she has just joined… 
So, just prior to her interview we attended to a detail of paramount importance: her wardrobe.
For the past few years she’s been a university student, with an appropriately fun and funky colourful casual wardrobe and lots of crazy shoes… hmmm.    We assessed everything and came up with one or two smart and stylish little separates that she can wear in the office, but identified a few holes that I will have the pleasure of addressing over the next few weeks… the biggest of which is the ubiquitous LBS.
So I made one for her.  It may not look very earth shattering, but I wanted this skirt to be a long-term goodie, a wardrobe builder; a simple, streamlined and smart basic, high quality enough to last for years and years; and also sturdy and practical enough to cope with being tossed in the washing machine.
I used Vogue 8363, and a very nice quality washable wool-mix suiting fabric from Fabulous Fabrics.  The skirt is fully lined with black polyacetate lining fabric, also from Fabulous Fabrics, and I juggled the various views of the pattern to give the skirt a one piece darted front, to have those satisfyingly deep, slanted hip pockets, and to have a central back invisible zip opening.  I shortened the skirt to hit at a very workable just-above-knee-length.  This is both mine and Cassie’s favourite skirt length; suitable for both summer and winter wear.
An easier-to-see view of the pockets can be seen on another version of this pattern I made previously; here.

The hem is finished with a black bias-cut cotton strip.

I adjusted the lining pieces to incorporate an extra few inches of width at the widest part of the hips: since in my experience this is the first part of a pencil skirt to show strain, particularly in a skirt that one is seated in for long periods of time.  The darts in the lining are not stitched, but simply folded in position and stitched along the top, for that little bit of extra wearing ease.

Below; the inside view of the lining, skirt back.
The skirt has one shaping dart at the front, two at the back; all the better for that slight sway back adjustment
I worked a bound buttonhole (seen above) for the single waist button.

She owned literally one pair of suitable shoes for the office, so we also bought a new pair of Misano ballet flats in beige and caramel, with black feature strips.  These are exactly the same as my own ballet flats, just in a different colourway.  These neutral shades are going to be the backbone of her new working wardrobe.  
Cassie made her charcoal jersey jacket herself, and blogged about it on her own blog here.
I’m actually rather excited about helping to add to Cassie’s working girl apparel!  what to make next, what to make next?  but any new pieces may have to wait until the seasonal mayhem has subsided…..  😉

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 8363 modified, black wool-mix suiting; my review of this pattern here
Camisole; supre
Jacket; made by Cassie, and blogged here
Shoes; Misano, from Hobbs

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Red velveteen skirt; 6 different ways

 

A big
fashion trend around about these parts currently is the red jeans trend.
It is HUGE-o-rama!  I do like it too..  however since my
husband bought a pair of bright red jeans for himself while in Milan and my daughter
has since bought a pair for herself too; so now I cannot possibly
follow along literally myself without us running the risk of
bobbing about the house looking like a little flock of Santa’s
helpers… but luckily I already have my ombre-dyed red velveteen skirt in the wardrobe; mwahaha.   Trend box ticked!  Well sorta.  It is to my
satisfaction, anyway.
In
Milan I noticed the most successful red jeans combos were with a very neutral,
or at least a very conservative top; the better to tone down the woa!-ness of
those eye-catching legs and avoid clown territory, and I think mixing and
matching an in-your-face colour or print skirt follows the same principles.  I tend to pair the red skirt with very
bland or classic garments, or just very occasionally with a colourful top if
I’m in that sort of mood.
Below:
at left; a classic boat-neck navy and white striped Tshirt is without a doubt
the most popular pairing with red jeans I have seen here in Perth.  That combo is sooooo hot right
now.  Rather French I think with little white
sand shoes, and fortunately I happen to have red leggings too… At right;
a men’s styled denim shirt is another perennial classic, which works well with the red skirt peeping out under, and smartened up with chunky high-heeled caramel wedges.
redskirt1
Below:
at left; a flash of crimson from under a long-line cardigan adds a spot
of cheer to an all-charcoal winter-y outfit, and at right; on a day when one is
feeling particularly bubbly, a bright tunic top and ballet flats matches the strength of primary colour in the skirt
redskirt2
Below: at
left; the freshness of white, the rumpled crispness of linen and unusual
styling of this shirt is a total counterpoint to the rich colour, plush velveteen
texture and very simple silhouette of the skirt.  I really love all the contrasts in this outfit here… and at
right; I hope you’re not bored with this orange top, since I do tend to wear it a lot!!  I guess maybe it deserves its own 6-way post one of these days… except it’s been seen a tonne of times already, maybe I’ve run out of fresh combos!  Obviously it is another very versatile player in my wardrobe!
redskirt3

Traditionally I’ve considered red to be a primadonna colour that is quite difficult to mix and match, but I have enjoyed playing with this little red skirt.  Which way would you be wearing it?

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Keeping the lace pure and undarted in a fitted skirt

My lace design has regular repeating rows of curlicues, scrolls and flower motifs that I felt would have been spoiled by waist shaping darts; also the lace fabric is quite thick and darts would not have sat nice and flat on the inside.  Plus, they would have been visible through the wide holes in the lace.  
SO, I aimed to eliminate the darts from my skirt and maintain the integrity of the rows of repeating motifs in the design.

Thank you so much to Robyn and Sharon who asked  🙂
And I should mention straight off that I learnt this process from using Tomoko Nakamichi’s Pattern Magic books of course…the point of which is to learn how to manipulate a sloper and fabrics in order to achieve a desired effect.  I probably say that each and every time I mention the books, so please forgive me for repeating myself.  I guess I just love this sort of thing since I am a bonafide maths and fashion and sewing nerd; three, not-irreconcilable passions that are wrapped up together and catered to in one neat package.  Working through the exercises has taught me loads about pattern manipulation.
Anyhow, without further ado…

I chose the skirt pattern Vogue 1247 as a starting point because:
a.  I have used it a few times already and am happy with the fit.
b.  It has only one shaping dart on each side of the front and the back, and obviously one dart is way easier to eliminate than two.
c.  It has a high straight waistband that I could transform into a yoke fairly easily.  A waistband or yoke was an essential component to stabilise the lace at the top of the skirt.
d.  It is a reasonably straight little skirt, enabling me to easily match up the lace motifs down each side seam as well.

I am showing the process using the front pattern piece only… exactly the same process applies to the back piece.
I usually use old newspaper to make up my pattern modifications, but just in honour of taking photos today I have used some nice plain brown paper instead.  Yah I know, so classy  😉

Draw the pattern piece with the dart marked.

Mark a horizontal line from the point of the dart extending out to the side edge.

Cut along the outside edge of the dart.

Cut along the horizontal line from the side edge to the point of the dart.

Rotate the top side edge into the centre to close the dart, and tape it closed.

Just to visually simplify the next step I’ve traced off a new paper piece from this new, dartless skirt front piece….

Now, my lace had straight, horizontal straight rows of motifs.. to indicate how this appears on my paper pattern piece I have marked some horizontal straight rows in red…. Now, see how the sides of the skirt curve up quite dramatically from the centre front?    The visual effect of the curving row of lace, even though it is apparent curving and not actual curving; is rather unflattering imo and would look messy and chaotic.  So, I wanted the top of the skirt to be cut in a straight horizontal line, to preserve the straight line of the lace design.

Cut off that top side curve.

The lower skirt piece remaining is your new skirt front piece.  The curved piece cut off the top is used to create the waistband/yoke section as below…

The waistband of Vogue 1247 is a straight waistband; trace a new waistband including seam allowances.  

Transfer the top side curve markings to it.. this will be the new curved side seam of the waistband/yoke.

Extend the curve up to the top of the desired yoke/waistband height; then freehand draw it a bit higher and then curve it down to join onto the waistband top, to square off that top corner.

This process results in a dartless skirt with a straight top edge that preserves the horizontal rows in the lace… and with a straight waistband shaped into the side edges.
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All laced up with nowhere to go

I’m joking… of course I’ve got lots of nice places to go  🙂
I’ve made a lace skirt.
My very luvverly, very perceptive friends again gave me a Fabulous Fabrics voucher for my birthday.  Ohhh, they know me so well  😀
I try to do justice to their annual awesomeness by adding something appropriately beautiful and worthy to my wardrobe… last year’s voucher became the red dress, my favourite cocktail number; and then the spiral leggings.  Ok, the leggings were not-so classic but nonetheless a very designer-y perennial and something I am still pretty pleased with.
Anyhoo, I’m returning to the classics with this year’s birthday voucher … ta da.
I used my voucher for this pale latte coloured, heavily configured lace and a length of caramel coloured silk charmeuse for the lining/underlining.  For the waistband I used a piece of grey/beige handkerchief linen leftover from a little something else I have made very recently; that has not appeared here on my blog yet … it’s kind of a secret for the moment.  To be appearing in due course  😉
The shapes of the pieces in this skirt are kind of based on those of a beautiful Chanel skirt I checked out while we were in Milan.  I saw a skirt of heavily configured lace like mine, fitted but with no waist shaping darts, all the shaping in the side seams so as to minimally disturb the lace design, and a shaped, narrow yoke/waistband.  I saw and I liked.  I took note.

I used Vogue 1247… !  yah, you’d never have guessed, right?  🙂  The pattern has been fairly drastically altered: with the pieces spliced together, minus the pockets and re-configured to eliminate the waist shaping darts.  The dart allowance has instead been removed from the side edges so as to not spoil the lace design; also the pattern normally features a high straight waistband, and I have lowered this a touch and shaped it into the waist also, so it is more like a narrow yoke than a waistband.  

This is a great solution to the dilemma of fitting a lace skirt with minimal marring of the lace design.
The top of the skirt sits lower, at my natural waist.  The centre back seam has the invisible zip closure, and is a straight seam with perfectly matched lace motifs.  I hand-basted the zip in place, and the seam before machine stitching, in order to match up the lace motifs as well as I could.

The silk charmeuse underlining/lining skirt has all French seams.  Instead of sewing the darts in place I folded the dart allowances into pleats which are just folded at the top and stitched in the seam allowance.  This is a better way of treating the darts in a skirt lining; less strain on the fabric.  This is another feature I’ve seen in high-end skirts.

I wore it for its maiden voyage here in a formal ensemble to go to a Christmas function; showing it off, tizzying it up y’know  😉   but I will also treat this as an everyday little thing, grunge-ing it down with casual loose tops.  I’m picturing it with my khaki army shirt, or my billow-y white shirt.  I’m very partial to that high/low look y’know.  Very me.  🙂
Toodles, friends!

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1247 heavily modified, latte lace with caramel silk charmeuse lining and linen waistband, my review of this pattern here
Blouse; Vogue 1170, ivory silk charmeuse, details and my review of this pattern here
Shoes; Misano

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Cut me a little Black

In my recent, gloriously ruthless, spring clean-out of my wardrobe, I culled an evening gown, originally made using Burda 8046 and first posted here.  I’ve worn it about seven times in total; none in the past three years; and have now decided it is too young for me.  Cassie didn’t want it either… so rather than toss it the Salvo’s way where someone might snap it up only to butcher it for something else, I decided I wanted to have that wicked pleasure for myself… mwahaha   🙂
The fabric of the lower skirt section is an almost translucent, lightweight, black silk taffeta, and it has a combined lining/crinoline of soft black tulle.  And please don’t worry about that beautiful heavily sequinned and beaded fabric on the bodice section, it will not be wasted and will be put to good use, I absolutely promise!

I was pretty pleased to get the skirt pieces of Vogue 1170 from the lower skirt section, and I also fashioned a new attached crinoline from the old one too.  This has a lot of extra gathering in the very back region, creating a really frothy bit to help that flounce flounce.  Hopefully in a feminine and attractive way  🙂

I even re-used the zip! hehe, of course it was too long but I left it long.  It is no bother; sandwiched unobtrusively between the skirt and those tulle gathers it cannot be seen or felt!
I eliminated the centre front seam and cut the skirt front/back section as one big massive piece.  I was able to do this by incorporating part of the ballgown side seams, and at the centre front and halfway around towards the back some of the original hem has also been left intact.   Instead of cutting a hemline facing as stipulated in the pattern, I hand-stitched a narrow hem to mimic the remains of the original on my ballgown.  My skirt is about 10cm longer than the pattern.

I also cut the centre back and side back pieces to incorporate my slight sway back alterations to the pattern, illustrated in my first version of this pattern here.
The waistband has a central vertical joining seam, and is about half the width, necessary adaptions due to the lack of fabric.  I think I do actually prefer it this narrower width too!

OK (deep breath, confession time)…. er, I left off the pockets too.
:O  
Hehe; normally I am such a rabid pocket-lover I wouldn’t dream of leaving off something so inherently marvellous, buuut…  (here we go) I sorta had to mostly through lack of fabric, but also, while wearing my previous two versions of this skirt pattern (here and here) I have found that I pretty much never use the pockets.  They are situated very high, and have a very narrow opening that is almost impossible to widen without disrupting the structural integrity of the skirt/waistband junction.  Furthermore: they are actually kind of a nuisance.  Since they are true “bags” that just hang there with nothing to tether them, they have a tendency to bunch up a bit when you’re putting the skirt on; and need to be manually smoothed down flat to avoid obvious bulges on one’s hips.  When the skirt is lined like this one; that is even more annoying to sort out: since you have to either do it from inside the pockets themselves (see previous note about laughably small pocket openings) or lift up the skirt and pull them down straight from underneath.   In short: I have to concede that this particular design is better off without them!   Shock!
And please admire my rather fantabulous new shoes for summer too.  They are from Misano, like my ballet flats.  This warm rich shade of caramel leather is definitely my kind of shade, and will liven up and enrich all of my favoured neutrals.  I like that practical wedge heel too, safer and a lot easier to get about in than a stiletto.  I am really looking forward to wearing them and wearing them.  These are going to be long term players in my shoe collection!

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1170 with minor modifications, a refashion of an old ballgown; black silk taffeta with a black tulle crinoline, see my review of this pattern here
Shirt; my own design, of black polycotton, details here
Sandals; a gift from Misano

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Full Moon, from Pattern Magic 3

I have made a new …. er, thing.  A top?  Yup, I think I have made a new top.  Maybe it’s more of an experiment than a top really.  One of the drafting exercises exploring how the placement of apertures governs the drape of the circular pattern piece…  from p12 of Pattern Magic 3 by Tomoko Nakamichi; Full Moon.  The companion piece in the same vein is the Crescent Moon top, posted here.

I made it using some more of the fabric stash given to me by my friend C from her late mother’s stash.  Two different black fleeces; slightly different shades of black and slightly different degrees of fluffiness, and I joined smaller pieces together in unobtrusive places to get pieces big enough to make the top.  One of the pieces I used wrong side out since it closely mimicked the right side of the other fabric.

Here is the thing… it may not get worn a whole bunch.  I have prepared myself for no one reading my blog to like it.  It has suffered some knock-backs already: no one in my family likes it.  Actually, everyone loathes it  😀  I put this on the first time a few mornings ago and wandered out into the kitchen… and my mother, staying with us, asked incredulously if I planned to wear this out.  I replied in a small voice, yes… and well, to cut to the chase I have been forbidden to wear this while I am out with my mother!  Yikes!  I can’t believe I’m middle aged and am still wearing stuff that my mother doesn’t approve…  I’m still a fashion rebel, yeah!!

But my feeling is that it is not that bad.   As a top: the pouffiness presents a dressing challenge, true; it is a sihouette that is not particularly figure flattering, which in our body-conscious world translates to not very fashionable, and so is rarely seen.  Except in circles who are really interested in sartorial innovation.  But I think that over-blousiness on a top half can be successfully counteracted by wearing a long and slim-line lower half.
The diagonal drape-lines achieved by skewing the waistband and the neckline is interesting and quite attractive, and I can imagine this concept being incorporated beautifully into a skirt design.
Oh, and btw my skirt is kinda new, to me anyway.  My mother made it for herself but it has shrunk in the wash, so I have inherited it.  I had to take the waistband off and take it in at the side seams to fit me, but I think I can allow myself to wear it since it is handmade by Mum.  The pattern she used is Vogue 8561; the fabric, a stretchy lightweight denim from KnitWit.  Coincidentally, also used inside out!  Cute, yes?  I really like the one lone little asymmetrical, disproportionate shield-of-arms pocket.  That is a very nice detail.
Thank you Mum!

Details:
Top; the Full Moon top, drafted from p12 of Pattern Magic 3 byTomoko Nakamichi, various lightweight black fleeces
Tshirt (under); self-drafted, white cotton jersey
Skirt (made by Mum, altered to fit by me); Vogue 8561, blue stretch denim
Shoes; Perrini, had for yonks and yonks

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Stripe-ly

After I had finished Craig’s hoodie, I had quite a lot of leftover fabric.  I had originally bought 2.5m of this lovely grey-and-black striped cotton jersey from Spotlight.  Turns out that this was stacks.  Loads.  Well ahem, I didn’t want to fall short 🙂  When I am making something self-drafted, for the first time; I worry so much about stuffing up somewhere along the line, and so I think I need way more fabric than I usually do.  And buy accordingly.
So I reckon the hoodie only took something like 1.5m in the end.
Unfortunately the remainder was not quite enough to make a second man’s Tshirt.  Just a man’s shirt sleeves alone take up acres of fabric… don’t they!  I mean, who knew?  It never fails to amaze me how a man’s shirt sleeves are each about as big as the front or back!
Anyhoo a second man’s shirt was out; and I already have a grey-and-black striped Tshirt, so I made one for Cassie.  It is just a plain little Tshirt, but we all need plain Tshirts too.  The plainer the better when it comes to basics!

I used my own self-drafted Tshirt pattern, sewn slightly slimmer in the body.  I cut a wide scoop-neck, and sewed the neckband using this method, and the sleeve and lower hems are sewn in a shallow zig-zag.

Since the back neckband of a Tshirt is a straight-ish line with not very much curve to it; I’ve noticed that it often does not lie up as nice and flat as I would like and sometimes has a tendency to flip out and down.  This does not occur in the neckband front, the sharper curve of the front edge keeps it sitting up properly.  So I have taken to sewing the seam allowance down to the shirt just a few millimetres in from the back/neckband seam, from shoulder seam to shoulder seam.  This seems to do the trick when it comes to helping the neckband sit up and the seam allowance stay down; and the line of stitching is pretty much invisible when the shirt is worn.

Cassie is wearing the new shirt with a skirt she made herself using Burda 7370.  I have made this same pattern up for her previously too, posted along with my review of this pattern here.

Details:
Top; self-drafted, grey and black striped cotton jersey
Skirt (made by Cassie); Burda 7370, beige crinkly cotton

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