The Facts
Fabric: Roughly a metre of brown stripy wool-ish mix, picked up at GS Scampoli when I was there with Mum last month. She kindly paid for my fabric haul as a birthday present, so free!
Pattern: Pencil skirt based on Winifred Aldrich’s Metric Pattern Cutting. I have had the book a few months, got an old edition for cheap and use it all the time, so free as well.
Year: I am a big fan of these. They are timeless.
Notions: Interfacing for waistband, from stash. Brown invisible zipper from stash. Brown and yellow thread, also from stash.
And the insides? I decided to pick up good habits again and zigzagged all the raw edges. Then I took in the side seams and re-zigzagged the edges. That is a lot of good habits when you are me, but then again this fabric doesn’t as much fray as it stages its own version of high-speed nuclear fission.
Hours: Longer than it should because of waistband overkill, the fact that I was ill, and taking in the side seams. In the time it took me to put this together I watched three series of 30 Rock So worth it though!
First worn: 12th Nov for work. Then again 19th Nov after sorting out the size.
Wear again? Oh yes! This is in heavy rotation.
Make again? You can never have enough skirts.
Total cost: Free!
Two weeks ago I tried to go back to work after the marathon and was sent straight home by the doctor after an x-ray and some blood tests. I spent most of that day and the day after day in bed, but I did try to get some sewing done. This is some brown wool mix I picked up in Italy last year. It doesn’t photograph well, but it’s really cool. The stripes have orange and yellow-y flecks:
I traced the pencil skirt version of the pattern I drafted back in September, and decided to do a 5cm/2in curved waistband. Then I decided it had to be cut on the bias, be interfaced and look the same front and back:
I am pretty sure this would have taken forever anyway, but what with temperature and headache of whatever viral thing I was down with, I am amazed I worked all out that out, and that it only took forever!
Granted, it looks lovely. But it is overkill and I am not entirely sure it fits particularly well.
I wore this when I went back to work, and quickly realised it was huge! I know I drafted the pattern without any seam allowances and I was very careful adding them, so something must have shifted in my shape from September to now.
I ended up taking it the side seams half an inch each side, which was horrendous on the waistband! Much hand-cranking of the wheel, but now it does fit. This is why I only did a side zipper once and I will never do one again! Centre back makes for much easier alterations.
And here it is, styled with my African print V9200 and a blue sweater I turned into a cardigan a few months ago.
In the rest of this picture I am wearing brown tights and brown court shoes. I love this outfit because it is the right mix of print and solids, and it does not feature a single black thread. Or pixel.
I am a big fan of black but I always find it difficult when it’s not on its own or mixed with neutrals.
Lots of things to do and people to see this weekend, but I am working on a dress! With sleeves! All will be revealed very soon…
Well done with the diamond shape at the top. Sorry to hear of your health issues.. XS
Love how this skirt came out.
I hope you get better soon.