Firetruck proof skirt

It's been a busy few weeks! Last time I wrote was 3 weeks ago (which I'm not going to apologise for :)), life just got in the way. For those who missed it: we are about to move into our firetruck/campervan and travel Europe. We've got three weeks left in our house, during which we have to get rid of most of our stuff, pack the things we absolutely do not want to part with and oh yeah, we're also still in the process of releasing our first pattern, the Jade Skirt. As if that wasn't enough, I heard a couple of weeks ago that before we leave, I had to have a surgery. Luckily they were able to schedule me very fast, so I could get it this monday. So here I am in the midst of all this, lying on the couch unable to do anything :) But I'm recovering, and at least there's time to blog now! I did have time to photograph some projects last weekend, and first up is a skirt that I think is perfect for our trucklife.




It's the Megan Nielsen Cascade with some alterations. I'm sorry I couldn't get such a stunning location as SewBusyLizzy with hers. The busy pattern does not go well with the busy wallpaper and the busy carpet. The pattern might also be too small for a big skirt like this, I don't know. But it's a wonderful skirt to wear, so soft and swishy. It's a 100% viscose rayon like Liz' Cascade, and I think it's the best type of fabric for this skirt.



My only problem with the pattern was that it has SO MANY 'cascades'. It's basically a huge circle skirt. I don't remember what the original circumference was, but I took out half a yard, equally distributed along the skirt front and back. Not at the waist, just pie-pieces tapered towards the top. And it doesnt even show that much, except that maybe it doesn't hang quite the same at the sides. It was also the only way I could use this fabric because I only had 1,5 metres, while the pattern calls for 2.7 metres. I also had to make the button band option because of this, but I was going to anyway. I used two black snaps, I figured that would hold better than buttons.



I cut XS for the waist and XL for the hem, because I wanted it to be as long as possible and I'm 5 foot 10. This skirt is where I first noticed (AFTER cutting ofcourse) that I've gained some in my waist. The overlap is a few cm's short. It's still decent but I'd have to cut an S next time. Oh, and why it's perfect for truck life - it's a pretty high step up to get into the truck. I've tried with maxi skirts, and it's hard not to step on them. There's no chance of this happening with this skirt! Now let's hope we'll encounter some summery weather on our way. I say this is a 'south of Spain' kind of skirt :)

Update: Final Sample!

Just wanted to show you the final sample of the folded mini I just finished. I keep calling it the folded mini, but this one is actually the longer version. I need to think of an appropriate name! I made it up in a plain black interlock knit, the perfect fabric if you ask me. It holds its zipper well and it shows off the folds very nicely. I've styled it in three different ways to give you some ideas of how to wear it.



I've tried out two different methods for securing the folds, and you can see the difference in the skirt. The bottom three folds are method 1, the upper three are method 2. I'll tell you more about that when we release the pattern. I've also made some adjustments to the waistband again. I joined the back and front waistband pieces to eliminate the seams at the sides, which makes it more simple and less bulky. I also used a shorter zipper, 16 cm instead of 18. Don't worry, all the instructions will be in both metric and imperial :) I also made up this last one to check and adjust my instructions, and draft the basis of the illustrations that go with the instructions. It's going slow but there's progress! Tilly told me her first pattern cost her 6 months to complete, which is probably realistic since she has a job on the side too.



We'll soon be ready to get this out to pattern testers. When we are there'll be an opportunity to test this if you like, I'll get back to you on that. Stef has started on the branding, so I also hope to be able to reveal our name and logo soon! I already have ideas for three other patterns so I hope that after this first one, everything will go a whole lot faster. Starting my own pattern company is still the best decision I have ever made. I have never before so conciously chosen the path that I get most excited about. I can recommend it!

Sample Sewing: Folded (Not So) Mini

I'm hoping you'll be pleased to see this one! It's Sample nr. 2, the longer version of the folded mini. A lot of people requested a longer version, and now that I've made one I'm convinced that this is a really good option too! Due to the nature of the folds I had to draft a completely new pattern for it. It was a good opportunity to test my adjustments and choose a technique for the zipper. The silhouette hasn't changed, it's still a fitted skirt that accentuates your feminine curves.





The fabric is a medium weight knit, lined with a navy interlock knit. This was much easier to work with than the slinky knit. Again there are no exposed seams on the inside dus to the way it is put together. Yay for not having to finish seams :) I basicaly added one extra fold to get the length. These horizontal stripes do make me look a bit big, but that's also due to the way I'm wearing it. Normally I wear a cardigan on top which balances it out a bit more.





I chose to do an exposed zip at the cb, because a side one would be messy with all that fabric. I really like it, it feels like it fits the style of the skirt. Only maybe it could be 1 or 2 cm's shorter, no? And I'm also thinking this would be really good paired with a navy blazer. I need one more sample to check if my instructions are correct. It'll probably be a long version again, this skirt is so warm and cozy! And I can wear it on more occasions than the short version. I'm already thinking of putting up an Etsy shop to sell some samples. There must me someone else with an off the scale hip/waist ratio, right? After that, it's time to digitalize it and find some pattern testers! So tell me, is this what you had in mind?

Sample Sewing - Folded Mini 1

I promised to keep you involved in the process of starting this business, so this time I'll show you my first Folded Mini sample. It doesn't look very different from the first two (here and here), but the big difference is that this skirt is made off an actual pattern. The first ones I just draped, roughly based on measurements. I drafted the pattern in my class, based on a basic skirt block. It will make the folding part a whole lot easier! The whole point of making a sample is to find out if your pattern works, and I'm glad to say that it does! There are some adjustments I had to make, but these will be tested again in the second sample.





It's made out of the slinkiest of slinky knits, a 50% cotton, 50% rayon jersey. It has a lot of stretch, so there's really no need for a zipper here. The polkadots are fun but hide the folds a bit. I wanted to check out what would happen with a print like this. I'm thinking plain or striped knits would be best. I only used my regular sewing machine, to try out the best techniques for putting this together. It worked out fine, although my machine still has some trouble with super stretchy stuff like this. My triple stretch stitch did wonders for the waistband, the seam still has a lot of stretch and I'm sure it won't snap.



Your responses on my Folded Mini Survey are not used in this version, but they will be in the second one! 46% wanted to see a longer version, 20% wanted a zipper, and 20% wanted a folded back option. The folded back would really add too much bulk at the side seams, and it's harder to incorporate darts and a closure in the folded part. I didn't want this pattern to get overly complicated, so there will be no folded back option. Whether you use a zipper will not be dependent on the length, but rather on the weight and stretch of your knit fabric. Other inprovements are raising the back and using darts for a better fit. So in case you were worried after seeing my (erm, quite horrible) tutorial, I promise you'll get a good pattern, with two length options and clear instructions!

Thrift Store Treasures #7

I bought this skirt for 3 euros last month in Antwerp, Belgium. There was a matching shirt, but although I like the print, that would have been a bit too much. The thing that fascinates me about this skirt is the split in the middle. Why on earth would you want a split there? That center front seam made the refashion process a bit more difficult.
I had a different skirt in mind, based on a RTW skirt I owned. I loved that skirt, but unfortunatey the mice that we have in our walls tend come out at night. And I happened to have left the skirt lying on the ground, withdog treats in the pockets. Instead of just looking for an easy way to get to the treats the mice just ate right through the fabric. They did the same to two pairs of jeans, including the mustard one. (In case you are reading this, mice, WAR IS ON. Please leave my house or I'll gently catch you in animal friendly traps and put you outside in the cold.) The skirt couldn't be saved, which was sad, but also a good opportunity to take it apart to see how it was constructed. Thank you Sewing for providing a silver lining!


I ripped every seam to get the most out of the fabric. And although it looks as not much has been altered, I barely had enough fabric for the design I wanted. My mom thought I should make the skirt really short, but with winter coming, I went with knee length again.



The original skirt already had in-seam pockets, but I wanted big pockets that stand out from the skirt. The colours of the lining and the ribbed waistband matched perfectly so I recycled them. There's no zipper, the back of the skirt is sewn to a stretched waistband. The front of the skirt is smooth, but the back looks gathered and has the elasticity so you can get it over your hips.



Above pic shows my hip and a pocket. I really like the finish of this skirt. You sew the waistband and skirt together with the seams on the outside, and then sew a horizontal strip over the seam. This way you don't have to finish any seams. There's a lot more to show and tell on this skirt actually, but I'll wait with that for later. It's enough to say I'm happy with this refashion, and it made me discover the joy of wearing fluttery skirts in cold weather!

Take 2: Circle skirt

After taking apart the failed maxi skirt I figured the colour wasn't really my thing either. So I dyed it Ocean Blue (Dylon machine wash), with an interesting result. It turns out the threads on the grain are synthetic, and the threads on the cross grain are natural. The natural ones make up the colour, but the synthetic ones underneath give the skirt a bit of a shine. Plus the synthetic fibers makes the fabric less prone to crease. And I figured out how to use this fabric: in a circle skirt!

I have no idea why I never made one before. It's so easy, the overall fit is great and it's truly the best summer skirt; light and breezy. It's actually a half circle skirt. I used the SnugBugs circle skirt calculator to draw the pattern, and the Vivat Veritas' Scallop Waist Skirt Tutorial on how to put it together. I actually started this because I'm going to make a circle skirt for a friend and I wanted to try it out on myself first.



The obligatory twirling photo shows the light white cotton I used as lining. I installed an invisible zipper which had to be truly invisible because it's cream coloured. A good way to force yourself to be precise :) But it worked out well, I think this is the best one I've done so far. Except that I now forgot to check if the waistband lines up at the zipper. Ah well. To close the top I used a hook and eye (which have apparently come loose again, I discovered through this photo). I inserted them between the waistband layers, like Karen I used to just sew them on the inside until she mentioned inserting them. I took no shortcuts and finished every seam. A nice finish is a big part of what constitutes the feeling you have about something you just made. So no, past me, you can't just do whatever you like, following professional sewing rules is a good thing. They're not there to take the fun out of sewing, they make your garment better and more durable.



I absolutely love the outcome! All in all I made this in an afternoon, including drawing and cutting. The thing I love most about this skirt: it fits seamlessly (hehe) in my wardrobe! There's so many pieces I can combine it with because it's plain and basic. Below are the cool top, a thrifted H&M shirt, the basic floral top and the batwings with buttons sweater. I bet it looks great with the perfect shirt, too. I think I like the first one the most, but I also like the third one because I've made that top a long time ago.



Unfortunately it has fallen victim to my best trait twice already. This time it was mayonnaise and banana milkshake. Sigh.

(15:60 #9)

Wear More Pencil Skirts

After all of your incredibly nice comments on the refashioned pencil skirt I never wear, I'm also feeling more comfortable wearing this one. Stef had some wise words about that as well. He said that I have a potentially great style, but I sometimes lack the courage to actually take it on. This applies to the pencil skirts: they look great on me, it makes me stand out in a good way, if only I could become comfortable with wearing them. The solution to this would be to just put them on and get used to it. Because I really do see that it looks good, standing out just makes me self conscious. But wouldn't it be great to look good and feel good about that at the same time? To put this into practice I'm wearing the dressed-down version on the right today!



This time it's made out of a heavy double knit jersey. Which is already a lot more comfortable than stiff cotton. Another geometric print, in black and white so it can be easily combined with coloured tops. I didn't use a pattern, but started with two squares of fabric. I pinched them at the sides starting at the top, and then noticed that if you take in all the fabric at the sides, the skirt will hang down straight from the widest part of your butt. Which is not what you want: you want it to move towards your legs again so it curves around your butt. I figured out that you need to start pinning bottom up instead of top down to achieve this. And if you do, you notice that you get excess fabric at the top. Which is what darts in the back are for. MAJOR AHA-ERLEBNIS. I used to think that these darts were for people with bigger butts. Seriously. It's okay, you can laugh now.



For those who didn't know this either (probably no-one), I've illustrated the pin-direction and the way the fabric will fall when seen from the side with arrows, red being the wrong one, green the right one. Instead of darts I inserted an exposed zipper and took fabric in this way. Which is not a very good idea because then you get this extra fabric at the end of the zipper. But the damage was already done so I fiddled a bit with some thread to minimize the bulgeing. Another lesson learned. See, this is why I like to design stuff myself, patterns never explain why certain features are used.

Anyway, I'm happy with the skirt because the fabric is awesome and comfortable and although it's not perfect, it's good enough!

P.S. Last chance to enter the Giveaway, it ends tonight!

(15:60 #8)

Thrift Store Treasures #6

I must have promised you the results of this refashion a dozen times already. It's the crazy maxi skirt, that some of you didn't even find that crazy! I bought it in Bergen back in November. A small reminder of what it looked like:

Oh foggy Norway, how I miss thee!

I made it into a pencil skirt by cutting it in half (almost) and tapering the sides. I also adjusted the front seam and the gaping waistband. I did this already in Norway, but I haven't worn it since. I didn't know what to pair it with. I guess my white shirt is an option, but maybe something a bit tighter would be better. I'm also short of occasions to wear it. At work I already stand out by having put some thought in what I wear :) Maybe I should go work in a proper office just to be able to wear it.


























I sure don't look like I enjoy wearing this skirt, but in fact I do :) It makes me feel very adult and businessladylike. I think it turned out pretty well. There's a slit in the back as well, I couldn't walk without it. I also like the V shape of the waistband. I am not sure about the length though, shouldn't it reach just above the knee? And I also think it would be best to make a pencil skirt in a fabric with a little bit of stretch. There's a bit of horizontal wrinkling going on at the front that might get worse should I actually wear it.



So, what do you think? Better than the crazy maxi skirt? Or would you rather wear that one? I have to say, when I see it from a distance like this, it doesn't look all that crazy. What do you think? Enlighten me you fashionista readers! :)

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Giveaway!

This Is Not It

What I wanted was a soft, flowy maxi skirt. What I got was a stiff sack that got stuck between my legs when I walk.

What I wanted

What I got

I had a feeling the fabric was too stiff for this purpose, but I was stubborn and went with it anyway. I obviously did not have this Burdastyle pattern at hand at the time. The pattern is basically one big piece of fabric with a seam at the back, gathered heavily at the front and back, and gathered more lightly around the hips. I serged it to a jersey waistband so I woulnd't have to make a closure. After seeing the pictures I did some modifications to see if I could fix it.



What do you mean, you can't see the difference? I obviously tried to fix the bulkyness by eliminating the small gathers at the hips. OK I know, it's still a sack. I did try to wear it out to dinner but Stef wouldn't let me. OK that's enough about this failure. Next, please!
P.S. I do like what I did to the top. It's a stretched out spaghetti strap top that I bound together at the starting point of the straps. 
P.P.S. I also like the blues together. Might try this combo again. Just the colour, not the outfit.

Giveaway Winner

So, out of the 200+ followers, an astonishing amount of two people wanted my skirt :) Was it the measurements? Or the fact that I admitted that this was not the best skirt I've made? Anyway, I'm glad there were actually two people because that means it'll make someone else happy. Besides the one comment I got, someone else entered the competition through facebook. I assigned her the nr. 2 because she commented after Alice, and then used the random generator. Tada! Congratulations Judith! She commented that the skirt would be a gift for her niece. I hope she'll give it a ton of wear!

Refashioned Summer Skirt Giveaway

Remember the Summer Green Skirt I made exactly one year ago? Well, I never wore it. This was due to a couple of issues: 1) I did not like the length 2) I did not like the shape 3) I had nothing to combine it with. The first two problems were fixed last summer. I detached the waistband, cut about 10 cm off the top of the skirt, unpicked the pleats and used shirring elastic to make gathers. And this also gave me an opportunity to redo the not so blind zipper. I found the magic word to do this: blind zipper foot. Major aha-erlebnis! I kept wondering why other people seemed to get such a good result with their zipper foot, until I saw that I had just read it too quickly and it actually said blind zipper foot. So I got myself one, and can make invisible zippers now too! I have to be honest though: it is not the best skirt I ever made. The lining is a bit short and not very neatly hemmed. But I did use french seams, and the outside is fine. I should have ironed it before taking a picture though, it looks a bit messy.

The third problem with this skirt was combining it. I thought I was going to make something to go with it, but when I was sorting out my closet yesterday I thought: No. It's a nice skirt, but it's just not my style. So I'm wondering: is it yours? If it is, leave a comment and I'll send it to you! If you're the only one, you're lucky, but if not I'll randomly select a winner on thursday at 00:00 +1 GMT. Oh, and it measures 52 cm total length, the waistband 38 cm. The fabric is cotton and poplin, and has little green dots. I hope I can make someone happy with it!

Mustard With Eyes

Heyhey, I'm back! Last month was all about graduating, so no time for sewing. But now things have settled, I am stress free and I've started planning a mini wardrobe to sew. The first piece of my new wardrobe: a mustard skirt. I know, but I promise this will be the last mustard piece I make. Well, at least for a while.

I made this with the remnants of my yellow hoodie, I had half a yard left. This sweater fabric is thick, and soft on the inside so perfect for winter. I used my serger for the first time, and it went great! It came threaded with four colours and I used those on my skirt. These colours help with figuring out which thread needs adjusting. I just watched the Project Runway episode where they're all stressed out because the serger broke, and they're all like 'it's impossible to sew jersey without a serger!' I can now see why, it works absolutely wonderful! I again made no closure because there was no need to with these stretch seams. There's two things in this skirt I have been wanting to do for a long time: piping and the combination of black and yellow. I made my own piping from black bias tape and used it on the pockets. The black buttons are just decoration, I found the skirt looked a bit empty without them. I like it, but Stef thinks it makes it look like the skirt has eyes. What do you think?

Another thing that looks very cool is the waistband lining. To prevent the waistband from becoming too bulky I needed a thin stretch fabric. I found an old T-shirt of Stef with a cool black print and decided to use that. I think it adds to the boldness of this skirt, even though you can't see it from the outside. I also used a yellow T-shirt for the insides of the pockets. Now let's start working on something that goes with this skirt!