Six Skirts for Summer

When Julie at Fabric Mart shared that Fabric Mart would host a skirt challenge month in May I knew I wanted to participate but an honest evaluation of my closet revealed a gaping hole- and it wasn't skirts.  

I have PLENTY of skirts, and most of them handmade!  What I was lacking were suitable tops that looked great with my skirts.    

This is where I turned to the Closet Case Nettie, a full bodysuit.  I blogged mostly about the Nettie pattern on the Fabric Mart blog and promised that I would speak to all the skirts I paired with it on this blog.  So here ya go.

Skirt #1

This skirt was a Christmas present from my Mom some years ago.  It is an awesome wrap skirt that ties at the back, the skirt portion is all one printed piece.  I love this skirt, so comfortable and the design is so fun.  I have tried to find a similar pattern and the closest I have come is in the book Shape Shape 2. Its a pattern for a seamless wrap skirt that has a waistband and ties.  

Its possible to get a similar look from McCall's 7129 but it looks a little more full to my eye than the skirt I am wearing.   

Just a side note, aren't these huge whimsical flowers awesome!  I happened to notice them when I went to sign up for a quilting class and convinced my husband to snap a few pictures with them.  

Skirt #2

I made this skirt a couple of years ago for work purposes.  It is sooo hot here in the summers and I though this rayon challis maxi would be great for summer work days.  Its McCall's 7096 and I just never got around to blogging it.  I remember being so proud of my stripe matching when I made it, especially at the back since I had to piece the fabric together to get enough length.  Those stripes match all the way around!

This skirt is a good pattern, I made it in a gorgeous blue and you can that one here.  The fabric is a rayon challis from Hancock Fabrics, I still miss you Hancocks!  It has a good weight to it, a little more substantial than some rayon challis. 

Skirt #3

I posted this skirt last August and wrote about it here.  It is a really luxurious skirt, charmeuse feels so good and knowing that my Mom and Grandmother both wore this pattern elevates everything about it to me.  I loved the way it paired so perfectly with this bodysuit.  Since charmeuse can show every little lump and bump the bodysuit worked great to smooth things out in the caboose area. Just sayin. 

The pattern is a paneled, gathered wrap skirt.  McCall's 5430 might achieve something similar, plus it has a ruffle option and I am seeing ruffles everywhere these days!   

If you are new to working with charmeuse, I will say it again, get yourself some Sullivans fabric stabilizer and stabilize that shifty fabric.  It can be real pain to sew charmeuse without some form of stabilizer.  

Skirt #4

I made this Hollyburn skirt by Sewaholic about two years ago and rarely wear it. I don't think I was really very happy with the tops I paired it with and the top in the original blog post is long gone, a mishap with a jumping dog and his untrimmed claws.  Now with a great top to pair it with it will see more outings!  Yippee!   

As far as the Hollyburn skirt pattern goes, I remember it being a really enjoyable sew and I don't know why I haven't tried my hand at one of the longer versions, need to do that.  The pockets are great and I love the fullness of the skirt, its just enough not to be too vintage looking.  Not that there's anything wrong with vintage its just not my strong preference.

Skirt #5

I can't recall that I ever blogged this skirt.  It is from the Built By Wendy Sewing book.  I really love that little book, I bought it at the beginning of my sewing journey and its a great little introduction to sewing and making your projects your own.  The denim used here was thrifted and has no stretch.  I drafted the pockets and added the belt loops.  Its a great skirt. It does have the tendency to cling to this bodysuit, not sure why but, meh, it doesn't keep me from wearing them together.  

I love a good A-line skirt pattern and have used this one several times.  I looked over a few sewing pattern company's offerings and I didn't spot a simple A-line off the bat.  I am sure there has to be one out there, but if you like the idea of a denim skirt with similar styling to mine I suggest McCall's 7475.  It has some of the features that I added to mine, pockets, belt loops and a yoke (which I didn't add).  Do note that its a little fuller than mine.    

Skirt # 6

I love so many things about this Simplicity pattern Cynthia Rowley skirt (2215).  It is so sad that its out of print (oop) because it has so many cute features that I haven't seen elsewhere.  The pleats are not uniform, which makes them fun to sew and the side pockets are so well explained and placed.  The invisible zipper is magically incorporated in the side pocket and the included instructions were wonderful.  

I blogged about this skirt along with a lot of other spring separates in this post. As you can see its a pretty full skirt but the style is so fun to wear that I can overlook the excessive fluff. 

I used a cotton eyelet from Fabric Mart and jimmied my own lining out of yellow linen. 

There you have it, six skirts for summer...and the Nettie bodysuit works so well with all of them.  I have to hand it to my husband for taking all these pictures, there were a lot of wardrobe changes but I was so excited to see how well the bodysuit paired with my skirts that I kept saying "just one more, let me see how it looks!"  

I hope you feel inspired to try your hand at either a bodysuit or a summer skirt and make your significant other take lots of pictures of you too! :)

Thanks for reading and happy sewing!

Elizabeth

Mini Spring Wardrobe

Every time Pattern Review has a Wardrobe contest, I love perusing the storyboards of the participants and dreaming up my own mini wardrobe. It's so inspiring to see how other sewers interpret a pattern and fabric choice. And for me, there is something so fun about taking all of my patterns, spreading them out and then taking my fabrics and laying them alongside the patterns and matching them all up. I consider it the sewing person's version of Sudoku- at least that's how I try to explain it to my husband. 

I tried making my own storyboard this time by pasting the line drawings from the patterns to a Word document, it worked so-so and I'm sure there is a better way to do it, but its fun to see all the shapes in one spot. 

For this months Fabric Mart Fabricista project I chose four fabrics to mix and match and make a mini wardrobe. I noticed a lot of yellows on the Fabric Mart site and was enamored with a couple of prints that I found intriguing.  As I was choosing my fabrics I double checked with Julie at Fabric Mart to make sure that they coordinated as I envisioned they would and she was able to steer me toward some combinations that worked better than others, that's always soooo helpful when choosing fabrics online. I know that they would be happy to help you coordinate should you have the same questions!

Look Number One:

I am kind of an eyelet nut, I love, love, love anything eyelet so when I started planning my mini wardrobe I chose this yellow eyelet as the foundation of my collection. The eyelet is a Maggy London fabric and is available here. This a beautiful eyelet, great quality, and not only am I an eyelet nut I am also an eyelet snob, I will not sew with cheap eyelet. I made that mistake once with an Easter dress for my daughter and I was so perturbed when the eyelet pattern snagged on everything and began to unravel from the fabric. Therefore, if I detect a cheaply made eyelet I will just do without rather than spend my time lovingly crafting something only to have it poop out after one wear. This eyelet is the good stuff, no worries about snagging the pattern.

The pattern for the skirt is a Simplicity Cynthia Rowley, number 2215. This pattern doesn't include a lining piece so I jimmied one myself, can't say that I recommend my method, but it worked for me this time! Next time I need to properly reference a book on constructing a lining but for this one I folded out all the pleats and cut a front and back shape roughly the size of the skirt minus some of the pleat volume. It gets the job done and still looks decent on the inside. The pockets on this pattern are a great addition and the construction for the invisible side zip with the pocket are great.

The top for this look is McCalls 7285. The fabric is a really beautiful J. Crew cotton/linen voile. It is very sheer so lining it is a must- that is unless you make an awesome kimono from it or a shell top and pair it with a silk camisole! It is a very light and airy fabric- it floats like a voile, rather than puddling like a challis. I lined the bodice with a poly lining and left the sleeves without lining. I love the abstract botanical motif on this fabric and the print works great with this skirt. 

Look Number Two:

The fabric for this top is a poly/cotton Maggy London Jacquard print.  I picked some of this up awhile back for apparel and when it arrived I immediately ordered a bunch more for curtains! I love a floral jacquard and the coral color is one of my favorite colors. The beige is sheer so I used a lining for the bodice but left the sleeves without. The pattern is Butterick 6175.  I used the view with the bell sleeve and I love the way this top turned out.  

Does your photographer ever say "hey you have a long string on you" and then snap your picture?  Mine does, but its a great way to show off the shape of your sleeves!!

Look Number Three:

This is my husbands vote for favorite look. The fabric for this top is another Maggy London print, and is found here. It's a poly twill, which I wasn't quite sure what that would mean when I chose it, but it's a thicker fabric than the others used here and has good drape as well as a slight stretch. The cut edges do fray a bit so you will need to serge, zig zag or use pinking shears to finish them I did a little of it all when making two garments from it.

The pattern here is Vogue 9109. I've used this pattern before and was excited to envision this fabric as this tank. 

 

Look Number Four:

Now this is where I need the most help from all of you...I am not sure if this outfit is a success or a big old pattern fest...help!? Can I wear this out or is it just way too much for the eye? My husband says, "ummmm its nice." Which is sweet, supportive husband speak really means "oh dear me, please don't let her wear that on our next date, please God please." After looking at these pictures I like the look, I do think it might be a bit much for a small town- I'm not sure the twinset trend has made it down here yet, but I'm ok with looking a little different.  

On a side note I am teaching my dog, Buster, to talk when I say "speak" and I asked him for his opinion since he was so determined to photo bomb my pictures (and he's usually so camera shy!). The first time I asked he smiled at me, the second time I asked he refused to look me in the eyes....not sure how to take it.    

 

The culottes are McCall 7133 and I like them pretty well, I turned the box pleat into a single pleat, just a personal preference. I suspect they need a little more back crotch length because they pull weirdly to the front a smidge when I walk.  I am still working out how to make pants that fit, its definitely a longggggg and winding path.  But culottes are a safe place to start since the fit is more forgiving.  As far as a culotte pant, this pattern is a very easy pattern to sew and has center princess seams down the middle back of each leg. I also added pockets.         

I know when you're avoiding my gaze Buster! Are you pouting because you haven't been to the groomer's lately?  I guess thats a possibility!

Look Number Five:

There's not much to say here that I haven't already said but I love to print mix and although these two might not be a perfect match I'm good with them!

Look Number Six:

Again not much to say here except, I hope this culotte trend hangs around for a few years because they are really comfortable and easy to sew.

One thing to note, I'm planning to sew so many pieces in a short amount of time I purposely chose patterns that I felt were very easy to sew. So if you are a beginner I'd recommend each of these patterns. There aren't many pieces involved, probably the culotte had the most pieces and the shapes are pretty forgiving. 



 
Well that's my Mini Spring Print Mixin' Wardrobe and I hope I've inspired you to try your own! I am thrilled with the results. The fabrics were beautiful to work with and now I am all set for the Spring! Yippee!