Copy of my favourite skirt

We shall skip over my absence of several months with a slightly embarrassed and apologetic cough and get right on to a sew'n'show.....

My favourite summer skirt for the last couple of years has been one my mam bought me from an unidentified high street shop (i.e. she couldn't remember and I don't recognise the label). It's made from natural coloured linen and has six identical flouncy gores with an invisible zipper in the side seam. I had been wanting to copy it for ages and finally gave it a go this summer. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and came out just perfectly the first time round. I ironed the original skirt, laid it out so one whole gore was flat on my table and just traced the shape of the gore onto my Fabribaste paper. Seam allowances were added when I cut it out and about an hour later, Ta-Da!!



One new summer skirt which is just lovely to wear, it's a very soft, drapey linen/rayon blend that has been ageing in my stash for a few years. The colour goes really well with the rest of the pieces I made for my summer SWAP, I love this and have been wearing it as often as I can. Here's the zipper in the side seam, you can see the top stitching on this panel starts lower down than the others as I couldn't topstitch alongside the zip.



The waistband is finished with petersham ribbon, I stitched in the ditch along the panel seams to hold it in place.



And here's a modelled shot courtesy of Toddler. Please ignore the sweetie tins in the background, they hold notions honest!!

Ottobre Woman 02/07 #12 Skirt

The second skirt of the week is #12 from Ottobre Woman Spring/Summer 2007. This pattern comes in several variations, I've made it before with a bias cut flounce panel (red skirt on this page) and this time I've made the straight version with front pockets. I much prefer the cut of this pattern on me than an A-line shape, I think it suits me much better. The front pockets are great, they do draw a little attention to that area but they're also the perfect size for my phone, small wallet and my car keys which means I don't have to carry a bag or coat on hot days so I can live with it ;) The purple linen is leftover from an Elodie dress I made in the spring and I left out the lining.



The buttons came from the stash I inherited from my sister's mother-in-law and they are probably older than me!



A poor shot of the invisible zip in the side seam, sorry! I actually sewed the hook and eye onto the inside of the waistband this time, I'm still not quite sure why though. I very rarely do that step because I've never seen a real need for it as my zips close within a few millimetres of the top of the garment and I've never had a problem with them coming open while being worn. I must have been in an extreme 'follow the pattern' kind of mood.



Here's a shot of the inside waistband, it's finished with petersham ribbon and you can see there's no lining. After stitching in the ditch across the side seam to hold the petersham in place I found it still flipped up at the front and back so I also stitched in the ditch along the darts and it now behaves itself.



I will definitely use this pattern again, it goes together very quickly and fits nicely.

New Look 6511

Carrying on with my S.W.A.P sewing for myself, a red linen skirt using New Look 6511. I made view B which is a *lot* shorter than I thought it would be. It hits just above my knee and I'm very glad I forgot to shorten the pattern before sewing as I usually do (short legs you see) as I'm definitely past wearing mid thigh skirts! The red linen and buttons came from stash and I used an invisible zip in the side seam instead of messing around with a lapped zipper.



I love the shaped front yoke, that's the detail that originally sold me on this pattern.



The back has two more tabs for the self fabric belt and a straight yoke. The front could really do with three belt carriers, it rides up at the sides. I will no doubt forget I said that when I make it again.

A sweet little skirt

Isn't it just?



My little Monkey came to the fabric shop with me a few weeks ago and disappeared up one of the aisles. She staggered back a few minutes later carrying a huge bolt of hideously pink fabric covered in holographic dots with a huge grin on her face, it was love at first sight. How was I supposed to refuse?? I hate the fabric, it feels horrible and was a complete pain to sew (nylon/poly velour kind of stuff, yuck!) but she absolutely loves her new skirt and I have to admit, it did come out at the end looking very sweet :)

The pattern is from Ottobre 04/2006, #23 and the ribbon came from stash. The pattern was easy enough but the gathering wasn't much fun! The Princess has requested one too, we have to go pick out a colour for her.