Back to school skirt!
Hi again
I’m back refreshed after the summer break and head full of sewing plans for the coming months. Okay, my head works faster than my sewing I admit but hey who cares, you have to plan right??
My September make is actually a selfless sew as it’s for my youngest daughter, Mia. Completely inspired on a shopping trip prior to her going back to school in the 6th Form as she is now able to wear her own clothes so, you know, obviously everything has to be bang “on trend” (rolls eyes!!). I’d actually been eyeing up this fabric on Sammy’s website but there was only a metre left and I wasn’t sure if that would be enough for a skirt for myself so I put it to the back of my mind. Then, on said shopping trip, Mia picked up a skirt in almost identical colour but they didn’t have her size! Cue mum to the rescue me thinks!!
I pitched the idea of the Tilly and the Buttons Ness Skirt which was almost exactly the same as what she was looking at and even though the pattern needed more than a metre I was pretty confident I’d manage with a metre for Mia’s skirt as she’s happy to wear them a lot shorter than I am!. I opted to make the mini version.
She seemed totally on board with my idea so I quickly messaged Sam and asked for 1m of the Rose Cord (now out of stock but available in Green, brown and yellow) and also ½ metre of the Figo Rolleken Sketch Squares for the pocket bags. I also chose the “match my thread” option and I’m not sure how many people have used this option but wow it’s a game changer. No more thinking it might match…. it blooming well does….perfectly! That perfect in fact that it was hard to see the thread when I inevitably needed to use my best friend, the unpicker!
When the fabric arrived oh my word it was just so soft and lovely. I couldn’t wait to get started on it. It actually comes together quite quickly and is a pleasant make. Both the cord and cotton fabrics pre washed and pressed beautifully although I was careful when pressing on the front of the cord. I didn’t want any marks and I’m happy to report pressing didn’t leave any! I struggled to find a zip in the exact same colour as the cord but fortunately due to the fly it’s not visible so I settled for as near as I could get which is just a shade lighter but as it matches the pocket bags, I’m not too upset with it.
I had toyed with the idea of using poppers instead of the button and buttonhole (don’t ask me why but I always hold my breath when doing buttonholes! Unjustified too as I’ve never had any problems doing buttonholes on my Pfaff!) but decided after doing a couple of test buttonholes on a scrap of fabric that I would bite the bullet and put a proper jeans button on them. I knew in my stash I had some with a cute little rose gold star in the middle and Mia being a fan of almost anything rose gold, knew she’d love it! As I usually do, I put fray check on the buttonhole and once this had dried I opened it up using my Clover buttonhole chisel. This makes life so much easier than trying to do it with the unpicker and scissors. Definitely worth investing in if you don’t already own one!.
I made a size 8 and it fit her perfectly without any alterations. I would have loved to have gone to town on the pockets doing a bit of embroidery or fancy top stitching but, you know, kids eh!! Maybe I’ll make another one for me where I can go a little bit more wild.
Whilst sewing up this skirt, I was dreaming up a pair of trousers a bit like maybe the Closet Case Ginger Jeans or Megan Nielson Ash/Dawn in some of this gorgeous cord fabric. I reckon whatever you make in this cord will look absolutely fab. Gorgeous colour and fab quality. I’d highly recommend getting your little mitts on some to wear this autumn/winter!
It’s safe to say that Mia loves her new skirt as its on trend with what’s in the shops at the minute right down to the fabric and style and even better that unlike the shop bought ones, it fits perfectly everywhere rather than hips or waist not both! I can see more cord purchases coming on!.
Thanks for reading!
Happy stitching
Lisa x
@sewlastminuteLisa
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