skirt Archives - Page 16 of 34 - Handmade by Carolyn

Ultramarine corduroy skirt; 6 different ways

26/08/2012 2:44 am \ 24 Comments \ Carolyn

Y’know, sometimes you add something to your wardrobe purely on a crazy whim and you have a teeny niggling doubt about how well it is actually going to work? This ultramarine corduroy skirt, made using Vogue 1170 and first posted here; is one of those things. I grabbed the fabric without thinking about it very much during a mad Spotlight sale.. you know, one of those instinctive “ooh, pretty colour” moments when you are rushing past a table of fabrics on your way to the cutting counter and your brain is on autopilot, really focused on getting in the queue before it builds up too much.
I think one of the reasons I really like doing these 6 different ways posts for myself is because of that old old wardrobe rule of thumb taught to me when I was growing up… every new thing you add to your wardrobe must go with at least six other things. I am a very whimsical seamster, but once I’ve got something I do still like to mix and match and make sure a thing has several good options to partner up with; not just one other thing. One must be practical (sigh)
Luckily bright blue has slotted in very well after all, and I’ve grown to love its punchy shock of colour against my traditional pale and/or sludgy neutrals! I have worn each of these outfits over the past month or so, and taken each photo on the day that I wore it. With the exception of the first very summery one; I just put that outfit in there to show a bit of seasonal variety so to speak. The weather is still coldish here… well it is for me anyway. I am such a wuss in that regard. But things are warming up very nicely lately. Spring is in the air!

Below: at left; the skirt worn with the pretty knotted blouse that is from that very same Vogue pattern. They are designed to go together and I do think they look very nice together. I like the textural clash of decadent glossy silk against the homely corduroy. I will wear this outfit on a much warmer day 🙂 At right; the blue holds its own when worn as part of a trio of bright colours. Colourblocking! Still a trendy concept, yes? According to the shop windows here-abouts it sure is anyway. Brights are gonna be “in” for the down-under spring.

Below: at left; these muddy mossy shades of green against bright bright blue felt “wrong” at first but then I really loved them and was pleased I had forced them together. Such an unexpected combination, it worked beautifully! I felt sorta “art student” or “urban hipster” in this ensemble. I felt cool. In my book that is a very good thing. At right; on a colder rainy day I wore a warm and cosy, all-charcoal-grey outfit with just one slice of bright blue corduroy showing to add a peep of colour.

Below: at left; playing it safe, letting the brilliant blue colour take centre stage and be the prima donna against neutrals of black and cream. A nice outfit, I liked it. It is plain, but then again maybe this is very me. I am plain! At right; worn along with all the other bright blue garments in my collection, and with just wine-red leggings to break up the colour scheme and add another shade to the mix.

What am I wearing today? well, actually yesterday I wore the last all-ultramine-blue-with-the-red-leggings outfit, just above. I meant to post this yesterday, but got distracted with writing my review for shape shape, hehe. Today I am still wearing the skirt, but with something completely different!

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, skirt, Vogue 1170

Sludgy little skirt; 6 different ways

19/07/2012 3:58 am \ 27 Comments \ Carolyn

I haven’t done one of these for a while! but that’s OK since I thought May and June came with somewhat of an overload of “daily outfits” posts, no? 😉
I am so thrilled with this little sludgy skirt, made using Vogue 1247 and originally posted about here, along with my review of this fab pattern. In fact dressing it up in 6 different outfits felt a bit like cheating. It is the perfect basic for my tastes… a plain little skirt is my favoured skirt silhouette, and this deep purple-y brown shade I achieved through over-dyeing is a favoured neutral in my palette that goes with just about everything I own. The only reservation I have is the length! it is just a touch on the short side even though my version is 5cm longer than the designer intended. I wore it several times during the warmer months but always felt a tad self-conscious about bending over, which with my doggy, household-y lifestyle is pretty ridiculous. However, in the winter months with tights, it has really come into its own!
These are all outfits I have worn over the past few weeks and I took each photo on the day I wore it. With the exception of this first very summery one, natch. I just put that one in for some seasonal variety…

Below: at left; the top and the skirt from Vogue 1247 worn both together, how the designer intended. I just love the silhouette of this outfit, the oversized block-y top is perfectly balanced out by the form-fitting, plain little mini underneath. There is no doubt in my mind I will make this skirt and this top up again in different fabrics, too! I am totally not surprised that Pattern Review named this pattern one of the patterns of the year! At right; with my crazy patterned tights, and my twisty Pattern magic top, the skirt is a solid and unobtrusive little block of plainness to separate and balance out each of these eye-catching garments.

Below: at left; during a recent discussion with friends, someone remarked that the only two colours that did not go together were brown and grey. I immediately became slightly obsessed with the thought of wearing those two colours together successfully. I really love this outfit. I found it interesting that the other greys in my outfit really brought out the purple in the skirt. At right; the warm chocolate is nice and cosy-looking when worn with a warm all reddy-purple-y-raspberry palette.

Below: at left; The skirt blends in with an all-chocolate ensemble with just an expected touch of bright colour in a shocking pink pair of tights. Random fact: I actually garnered a wolf-whistle from a passing truck in this outfit… ha! 😀 And at right; I saw a similar outfit to this in Australian Vogue magazine and tried to emulate it with my own wardrobe. I really liked this, the combination of a casual chambray shirt with the mini and lace-up heels has a hip, comfy and pretty cool vibe, I thought. The skirt’s plain shape means it looks equally good with shirts tucked in, or left hanging out. I love this versatility in a skirt.

Which outfit here do you like the best? Just for interest’s sake I am wearing the all raspberry hued outfit today. Except it was pretty nippy earlier this morning, so gloves were on!

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, skirt, Vogue 1247

Ombre dyed velveteen skirt

08/05/2012 10:05 am \ 39 Comments \ Carolyn

So, this is the little dyeing experiment I was referring to; I finished it last night and just couldn’t wait to wear it today!
My new skirt!
I made the skirt using Vogue 1247, of bright lipstick-red cotton velveteen from Spotlight. I lengthened the lower skirt pieces of the pattern by …er, lots… 😀 and made a separate full lining of rusty red polyacetate from Fabulous Fabrics, by splicing the upper and lower skirt pattern pieces together.

The waistband is made less bulky, by joining a long strip of the interfaced fashion fabric, cotton velveteen, to a long strip of lightweight cotton for the waistband facing. I used Rowan shot cotton in Ginger, a small piece of the leftovers from the shirt I made for my Dad here.

After construction of the skirt was complete, I dip dyed it from the top in a dye bath of 1/4 tsp iDye Brown. I did not take any pictures of the dyeing process this time, but this is what I did; I stood holding the hem of the skirt and dipped it up and down slowly and consistently in the boiling dye bath, sometimes dipping deeply, sometimes shallowly, different depths each time, constantly checking to see how the ombre was taking effect; for as long as my arms could take it. In this case, approximately 25 mins before my muscles were screaming “OMG; STOOOOP!” Then I took it over to the laundry trough for a thorough rinsing. I laid the skirt flat on a towel and gently pulled it into shape to dry completely overnight.
I am completely and utterly thrilled with how it turned out!
To my mind, the colour transformation of that deep purple-y rustiness in the top section fading to a rich ruby crimson lends the skirt a classiness that it did not have as a plain lipstick-red skirt.
below; the front view of the skirt, before dyeing. Not so interesting…? compare this to the above photo; the back view of the skirt after dyeing. Much more interesting, yes 🙂

I chose to dip-dye the skirt upside down because I wanted to have the darker section at the waistline fading down to the lighter shade. I know this is the opposite to most dip-dyeing seen around about but I really like it like this. I think it is a more slimming effect than if the waist band was bright red deepening down in colour to a darker hemline.
If you’re interested in dip dyeing, I once did a rough kind of tutorial here, which is a good method for if you don’t think your arms have the stamina for 25 minutes of dipping. And I wouldn’t blame you one bit, my arms are aching something awful today! A sopping wet lined velveteen skirt is hea-e-evy!

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1247, red cotton velveteen dip-dyed in 1/2 tsp iDye in Brown (my review of this skirt pattern here)
Tshirt; self-drafted, white cotton dyed with iDye in both Red and Brown, details here
Scarf; basically a very long piece of raspberry knit jersey, seen first here
Cardigan; knitted by me, Jo Sharp’s Knitted Cardigan with the addition of knitted lace edging on the sleeve hems, using Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton in Sapote (col 216), details here
Shoes; Betts & Betts Brazilian Collection (seriously; these are older than my children!)

Pockets, in action. Gotta love that…

Picture taken around 12.30pm; Temperature at the time 21C.
Overnight low: 14C; Today’s high: 21C
Had a rainy storm overnight, but has been fine all day

Today is another me-made bonus day! my husband is again wearing a shirt that I made for him! and btw, I promise that I am not putting in any requests that my family wears my stuff this month. They probably wouldn’t pay attention even if I did 🙂 The “bonus days” I am showing here are actually normal for my family; and their clothes are, as they always are, being spontaneously chosen by them to wear. I am just including them here for fun

Craig’s shirt; Burda 7767 modified, blue linen, details here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dyeing, MMM12, skirt, Vogue 1247

Ultramarine corduroy skirt

22/04/2012 5:17 am \ 42 Comments \ Carolyn

Remember in my review of the Vogue 1170 skirt I mentioned I had already made a second version? Well I finally got my act together and took some photos…
This ultramarine cotton corduroy caught my eye; (hardly surprising really 😉 ) and I just grabbed the bolt on a whim during Spotlight’s 40% off sale. I had a sudden urge to add a touch more blue to my life. Part of my on-going campaign to maintain some colour in my wardrobe. I cleaned out and re-assessed my wardrobe recently and realised I still didn’t have very many fun and colourful options there. I also realised I didn’t have as many “bottoms” as I thought too, thus the appearance on my blog here of a little flock of new skirts recently.
And, speaking of colour; just wait ’til you see my new jeans too… hola!! I’m dying to show them off here … soon… 😉
I made my skirt with a few minor adjustments to the pattern; I added lining, using the spliced pieces of Vogue 1247 as my pattern. (I bought the acetate lining from Fabulous Fabrics, since the lining fabrics in Spotlight are the most hideous on the face of this earth….)

I overlocked all the raw edges inside; didn’t go with the HongKong seaming this time because of the lining. Plus it is just corduroy…
My pockets are approx 5cm deeper (each pocket piece cut approx 10cm longer). I added 10cm in length to the lower skirt pieces, as I did on my first version. Can you imagine how short this skirt would be without that extra length? Yowza!!

As stipulated in the pattern, I hemmed the lower edge with a facing. Since I had added 10cm in length to the skirt pieces, this made my facing pieces different from the pattern, but it was a simple process to use my new longer skirt pieces as the template for the facing. I managed to cut the facing out of the leftovers from the shirt I made for Craig here; a perfect colour match! and just saying; it took some cutting and piecing magic to get those facing pieces cut out all along the correct grain from my scraps…! I was chuffed that I got it out successfully!

The shaped facing method is a nice way to hem a long curved hemline; one that I have used a few times before off my own bat, but this is the first time I have seen for it to be a recommended method of hemming in a commercial pattern, with a pattern piece provided and all. This is something I really like about the Vogue designer patterns; they often come with those nice little extra finishing touches to push you in the right direction; methods which are not the fast and simple methods that we have become accustomed to from modern commercial patterns. Sometimes I wonder if the big pattern companies “dumb it down” for the home seamster; assuming he/she is not capable or willing to go the extra mile for those professional finishes, that interesting seaming, or an otherwise complex garment. Vogue designer patterns are rarely guilty of flipping out quick, slap-it-together, do-it-the-easy-way patterns, and for that I loooove them!
(Please don’t think me elitist here; I like the quick-and-easy patterns for basics too; but it is nice to have the option, y’know? )
And; of course this is not what I am actually wearing today, not the heels nor the gloves!, but I just wanted to have a bit of fun with my photos. You just have to mentally add the red carpet, the velvet ropes, the minder and the little dog in a bag. I briefly considered having an actual dog but the reality is that she is way too big and hairy for any of my bags… 😀

This is one of those times when taking one’s own photo turns out to be very useful… looking at this one above is when I noticed that that hem at the centre back seam inexplicably dipped in situ, something that was not apparent looking at it flat. I’ve fixed this problem now, but didn’t bother with setting up for a new photo… 😀

The lovely stamped pewter buttons were kept from off an old shirt.

Conclusion; a casual version of this interesting skirt pattern, and a fun and colourful addition to my wardrobe!
LATER EDIT: got bored with the ultramarine colour and dyed it, this skirt now looks like this

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1170 with minor modifications, ultramarine cotton corduroy, my review of this pattern here
Top; top “a” from the Japanese pattern book Unique Clothes Any Way You Like by Natsuno Hiraiwa, white cotton, details here
Shoes; Raymond Castles, had for yonks, nearly 30 years
Gloves; Vogue 7949, red cotton jersey, details and my review of this pattern here

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: skirt, Vogue 1170

A Genuine Leather (ette) skirt

11/04/2012 3:33 pm \ 39 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made another winter skirt. From the tanned hide of that elusive and rare wild beast; the leatherette. Classy, non?

Hehe, so I’ve made bags and tablecloths using PVC before, pretty simple beginner’s type stuff; but this is the first wearable garment I’ve attempted from this sort of stuff. Phwoar! A first! (self high five)

I spotted this fab leatherette at Fabulous Fabrics, and practically pounced on it. The colour is a pretty awesome colour for winter, no? Sorta grey, sorta brown. Very moi. There was also a marvellous dirty pumpkin colour, which was pretty divine. That one was darn tempting as well. I’ll be honest with you, I dithered. But eventually I had to choose a colour, just one colour, although it was like having to choose between two of my children.

Oh, it also came in black, but that caused no dithering on my part. I was dither-less in the face of black.

I used the skirt pattern from Vogue 1170. I have made the top from this pattern already, reviewed here, but this is the first time I have made the skirt.

I bound all the raw edges with HongKong binding, as stipulated, and although I did buy lining fabric I opted not to use it. The built-in body and stiffness inherent in this type of coated fabric along with the frictionless texture of the backing stuff means that sticking to tights is not going to be a problem here. The leatherette is surprisingly soft and pliable to wear, although I can tell it is going to take some getting used to. I feel almost Barbarella in this. Modern. A bit suave and sophisticated; a little bit “cool”. Very unlike me 🙂

above right; those funny fat seam allowances in the small of the back? That, my friends, is my sway back adjustment 🙂

The pattern stipulates a hemline facing, which I did, but it was utterly disastrous in this fabric. With the facing in place the hemline went from previously smooth and free flowing to stiff and awkward and pokey-outy horrible. Finally I decided that the best finish was to have the curved edge trimmed as smoothly as I was capable of, and left raw and un-hemmed. Which is what I did after unpicking the hem stitching, and the under-stitching, and I even rescued the HongKong seaming off the facing also to use for a future project (waste not want not, and all that….) That was a whole heap of painstaking unpicking, I tell you.

What else… oh, I made the pockets deeper. The pocket was pieced for reduced bulk., so that the pocket facings on the outer edges of the pocket are leatherette and lightweight polycotton forms the bulk of the pocket piece. This polycotton was harvested from one of my old Pattern Magic muslins and was also used for the HongKong seaming. Unfortunately the placement of the pockets is right on the hipbone, which means that one cannot really use them for anything bulkier than a tissue or a credit card anyway. Just saying. But at least the pockets are there!

Details:

Skirt; Vogue 1170, “leatherette”

Shirt; my own design, using several patterns, of black cotton mix, details here

Shoes; Perrini (I’ve had these for donkey’s years)

Pattern Description:

Flared skirt has front and back seam details, back invisible zip closing and wide waistband

Pattern Sizing:

4-10. I made mine a straight size 10.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?

Well, mine resembles the line drawing on the envelope. The photo on the envelope is completely featureless. Black… really?? You can’t make out any details on the skirt at all!

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

Pretty, flirty and feminine, resembling a straight A-line from the front view, and then frilly and twirly from the back view. The angular seaming between the skirt and the front yoke is a nice feature. I also like that lovely wide high waistband, and the instruction to bind all the internal raw edges with HongKong seaming is a nice finishing touch. I really like to see patterns encouraging people to extend themselves to use high quality internal finishes like this.

A small gripe, the pockets are situated right high on the hip, so they not really very useful. Also, in my opinion, the more “twirly” a short skirt is the more difficult it can be to wear. I added 10cm in length to the lower edge of my lower skirt pieces.

Fabric Used:

PU laminate or “leatherette”, lightweight polycotton for the HongKong seaming

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I thought it looked quite short on the envelope photograph so I lengthened the skirt by 10cm. This meant the skirt facing pieces were completely different to the pattern piece; but that was no biggie, I just used my new longer skirt pieces themselves to cut the facings. However, I ended up not using them because this method of hemming turned out to be disastrously bulky with my PU. I went with a clean-cut raw edge.

I made my pocket pieces longer for a deeper pocket, and pieced them to be PU for the facings on the edges, and lightweight polycotton for the central main part of the pocket piece; for lesser bulk.

I removed width in the back/side back seams for a sway back adjustment.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes, I would sew it up again … and already have! 😉 And yes!

Conclusion:

A very nice skirt pattern, with interesting seaming and a pretty yet modern silhouette. However I do think the skirt length as it is in the pattern presents an unbalanced and slightly unflattering silhouette, and adding just 10cm to the length substantially improved the proportions of the skirt. I think it is visually important that the lower flounce at the back of the skirt be at least as long as the fitted yoke sections above it. Shorter; the effect is slightly “top heavy”.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, pattern review, skirt, Vogue 1170

Curtaining skirt

09/04/2012 7:27 am \ 29 Comments \ Carolyn

It looks plain, but my new skirt has one fun and unusual little fact about its origins.
The fabric was part of the bundle of fabrics given to me by my friend C from her late mother’s stash. That’s not the unusual little fact, btw… actually, it seems like a lot of my new item posts start out with that statement, and yes, I fully appreciate my very lovely friend to give to me such a marvellous gift of fabric, and I am roaring through it at a most satisfying rate! Since using up this little bit I still have about four or five choice pieces left…
But about this piece; it is curtaining fabric. Complete with the rubber black-out backing and all… I know, right?! cue images of sister Maria ripping down the nursery curtains in the Sound of Music… but waste not want not, hmm? There was only quite a small piece of it, which along with the heavy texture dictated a skirt.
I decided to use my latest favourite skirt pattern, the one from Vogue 1247. Every version of this skirt I have seen on the internet is extremely cute, and I can sense this is going to become another staple pattern for me too… I love the way it is just like an ordinary little skirt, but has those fabulously unexpected pockets in the front. Who would have thought pockets in such an unlikely place could be so successful?!
A commenter noted that one couldn’t put anything bulky in the pockets, and I agree, but really you couldn’t put pockets anywhere on a little skirt like this and expect them to carry very much. They are just about the best pockets one could even think of for a silhouette like this, imo. I reckon this was a stroke of genius on the part of the designer. They are perfectly fine for a hanky, a credit card, a mobile phone, and a house key, and really; what more does a lady need?
I added about 10cm to the length of the lower skirt pieces, and flared them just very slightly towards the hemline (approx 1.5cm each side?); and still managed to get all the main pieces of the skirt out of the piece of fabric, but I had to cut the waistband out of other fabric. For this I used heavy and stiff delustred satin (leftover from my trench coat), and I also had to piece together the pocket lining with some of this same fabric. The skirt is lined with the leftover poly satin that was also used to line my ivory trench coat… so really, the skirt is like part of a matching set with that trench coat!
Because the curtain fabric is really quite heavy, I hemmed with a strip of bias cut cotton; meaning less bulk because I didn’t have to turn the fabric under twice, plus a longer skirt. Given how tiny this skirt is already, I was aiming to get as much length as possible here!
Given my mad passion for ivory and other neutrals, methinks this is going to become a much worn little thing this winter… bring it on!

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1247 lengthened and lined, heavy cream curtaining fabric, ivory delustred satin waistband, ivory satin lining, my review of this pattern here
Shirt; Burda 7767 modified, khaki linen, details here
Sandals; akiel, from an op shop

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, skirt, Vogue 1247

Dusky pink ‘bustle” skirt; 6 different ways

22/03/2012 7:16 am \ 16 Comments \ Carolyn

This dusky pink skirt of a very simple and yet at the same time very unusual shape has been one of my favourites since I made it and it has appeared multiple times here on the blog already. It is made using the pattern for skirt “m” from the Japanese pattern book Unique Clothes Any Way You Like (also sometimes referred to variously as Clever Co-Ordinates to Wear, Shape shape, and also Sewing Clothing Patterns to Wear Multiple Ways) by Natsuno Hiraiwa. The lack of structure and form in the design has been the key to its versatility, enabling the wearer to flip the skirt around any which way on the body without being limited to the one-way-only nature of most conventional western-style skirt designs; and its style embraces both the minimalist and the heavily draped, depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
I made it from a lovely linen/cotton mix from Tessuti’s in Melbourne, and it is lined with a soft, thin almost fluffy beige cotton from Fabulous Fabrics. The outer fabric is a greyish pink that is so subtle as to be almost a neutral. So accordingly, I tend to wear it mostly with some sort of little white shirt, to show off that pretty colour to its best, or with a blue chambray shirt. Otherwise, I do like it best mixed up with quietly subtle beige or ivory neutrals which do not overpower that soft soft colour.

When I first made it, I wore it mostly like it is pictured at the left, with that modernist bustle situated over the hip. Probably because this how it was styled for the book. And obviously, you can wear it over either hip, take your pick… and colourwise, I must say I do like the pink and turquoise together, too… 🙂
Then at right; I discovered one day that you could push the bustle in on itself, creating a kind of big pocket at the side of the skirt. This is also became a favourite “way” for a while for me! Incidentally, the little necklace I am wearing here is a souvenir from our trip to Japan, a miniature leather-bound book on a leather thong. It is pretty cute, no…?

Then I tried wearing it with the whole bustle swivelled to the back, and this might be my currently preferred way of wearing it now… although I do still tend to flip it around any which way on random whim…. staves off boredom y’know.
At left; worn with a longer shirt belted over the top, the bustle is covered up and it looks pretty much like a conventional Aline skirt; and at right, paired with more winter-y accessories; long boots and a dip-dyed stole that is short enough to put that bustle on display at the back. Incidentally, this asymmetric stole is also from the same book, posted here.

Below; at left; a cool and chic-ly featureless front is presented when worn with a summery little beige sleeveless top tucked in, and with black summer sandals to provide a foil to those pretty colours.
And at right; well I’m always partial to the flattering longline layers of a little dress worn over a longer skirt, as in this last ensemble. And these sugared almond colours are particularly nice I think, too!

Which of these “looks” here do you like the best?
And would you like to know which one am I wearing today? well, it is still pretty warm around these parts so I am wearing the summeriest of these outfits just above, with the little sleeveless top the colour of milky latte. I just love these soft coffee and pink shades together!

Posted in: fashion, Uncategorized \ Tagged: 6 different ways, shape shape, skirt, Unique Clothes Any Way You Like

A sludgy little skirt

28/01/2012 3:02 am \ 46 Comments \ Carolyn

Hooo boy. We are having an insane heatwave right now… been 37C or above for over a week now. Australia Day was 42C, phew… We all spent the entire day in bathers, in and out of the pool. The fireworks teetered on being cancelled because of the fire risk, but luckily at the last minute some clouds rolled in, the temps dropped and we even got a few fat raindrops! And then the fireworks competed with an amazing lightning display (pictured below) Today is supposed to be another 42C-er, so I am in my bathers … again!
But unable to resist a smidge of sewing, as can be seen. And dyeing.
I’ve made a skirt. Now, it probably doesn’t look very exciting, but I know this will be a wardrobe staple that I will wear into the ground…. You see, part of building up a wardrobe that is well-suited to each individual woman, that you enjoy wearing and is versatile and comfortable, is recognising items of clothing that are indispensable for you and your own particular style. For a while now I’ve been wanting to replace an item that I determined long ago is one of my own indispensables; a short straight sludgy coloured skirt. I was pretty sad when my old khaki corduroy one finally died, it got all stretched out around the waist in an ill-fitting and ugly way, and for the last six months of its life I could only wear it with long shirts hanging out over the top, which was an utterly ridiculous state of affairs, so I finally said goodbye to it. I tried to move on, do without it, but eventually conceded I really wanted another skirt just about exactly like that old one, and soon!
That skirt was thisclose to perfect, but of course a skirt does not qualify as actually perfect in my opinion unless it has pockets. When I checked out the line drawing of the skirt in Vogue 1247; I was pretty excited … Little skirt; check! Plain and basic; check! Pockets; check AND check!!!! These are all the features adding up to the perfect little skirt in my book… and it also has a waistband, something I am currently into in my skirts…. WIN!
I made the skirt from purple stretchy denim, the leftovers from my plum jeans here. The waistband is black corduroy, with its wrong non-fluffy side out, leftovers from these jeans, and instead of folding the waistband in half so it is self-faced as suggested in the pattern, I pieced the waistband in half horizontally with a lightweight cotton (shot cotton in Ice, also a leftover) to reduce bulk around the waist… just a personal preference. The pockets are lined with the same lightweight cotton.

The waistband is a contrasting black; for the following reason…. usually I add a bit of length to my pattern pieces, but I was working with scraps here and could only cut all my purple skirt pieces to their pattern-stipulated length… and this skirt is short! Now, I like my skirts short it is true, but this one was going to be really short… even by my standards. So I didn’t hem, but instead enclosed the lower raw edge of the skirt in the same black bias binding used for the HongKong finishes on all the other raw edges inside the skirt. And cut a new black waistband, so as to have the colour of that black edge picked up somewhere else in the garment.

The HongKong seaming does constitute part of the pattern instructions and there is a pattern piece to aid you in constructing your binding. I dutifully cut this out and make up the continuous bias binding as instructed. However it was too skinny to work effectively on my thick denim fabric, so I ended up cutting a whole new new lot of 50% wider bias binding in black quilting cotton. Which means I have 6.5m of skinny off-white bias binding now, to use in some other project 🙂

I dyed the finished skirt using 1/4 tsp of iDye in Brown. I’m very happy with this final colour. It is very satisfyingly muddy and richly sludge-y, wouldn’t you say? I would describe it as eggplant, rather than either brown or purple. A sort of deep n’ dirty purple, that reads as a strong chocolate brown on first sight, but still recognisably has that warm purple-y base underneath when you look at it more closely.
(at left: front, before dyeing, at right; the back after dyeing)

Inside the skirt: at left; the front, before dyeing, and see the pale blue waistband facing? and at right, the back view after dyeing the skirt… that 100% cotton waistband really picked up the brown dye beautifully compared to the denim, which having some synthetic elastane in it didn’t pick up the colour quite as vividly….

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1247, purple stretch denim and black corduroy waistband; dyed with iDye in Brown
Top; top “a” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like by Natsuno Hiraiwa, of white cotton, details here
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, from Hobbs shoes, details here

Pattern Description:

Short straight skirt with deep front pockets set in a horizontal seam.

Pattern Sizing:

6-12; I cut the size 10

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?

Yes, except that mine is 5cm longer because I did not hem, but finished the raw lower edge with black bias binding.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I just love this skirt pattern; the slight A-line shape with a minimal flare, and the pockets most of all. The smaller pattern pieces also enable you to make use of smaller leftover pieces of fabric, which is a big plus…
I like the HongKong seaming in the skirt and the French seaming in the top; that the instructions are encouraging users to finish their garment to high standards.

The skirt is very short as it is, but that is the easiest thing to alter in a skirt pattern…

Fabric Used:

Medium-weight stretch denim, corduroy waistband, lightweight cotton for the waistband and pocket facings, quilting cotton for the bias binding.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I finished the lower raw edge with bias binding instead of hemming; this skirt is short! In stead of the self-faced waistband, I pieced the waistband horizontally in two halves; the outer half is the fashion fabric and the facing half a thin lightweight cotton. I thought this a better choice to face the thicker denim I chose for the skirt fabric. Likewise the pockets are lined in lightweight cotton.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I will definitely sew this again sometime! Probably lengthened… 🙂

Conclusion:

A short straight fitted skirt, AND with deep pockets? it doesn’t get much better than that!

For interest: the lightning vs. fireworks over Perth on Australia Day…