Sewn from Stash: Denim Skirt

Lately I have been trying to use up fabrics that are in my stash, so recently I noticed this remnant of dark denim that I bought at Stone Mountain Fabrics. They have a small remnant shelf and I often find something interesting there so I check first when I arrive at the store. This is a dark denim with gold sparkles, a 1 yard remnant, so initially I bought it with the thought to make a tank style dress.  But I don't need any more summer dresses so a denim skirt is way more useful in my wardrobe.

By the way - putting it here at the top of this post. I have a new online class starting next week, on Tues. July 9,  Fitted Dress Techniques. You can register at that link or see more details. I'll be talking about some bodice pattern adjustments, linings, invisible zippers, lots of ways that I sew in a different order than the pattern instructions, fitting as you sew, facings, necklines, sewing a clean finished sleeveless dress, and whatever else occurs to me as the weeks go. 

OK back to denim skirts.

I saw this pattern in a recent Burda Magazine and thought it looked familiar. So on a different quest through some old issues I noticed the twin pattern - or basically the same pattern, with different pockets. 

They are both the same style. Faced waistband, front buttons, no center back seam, 3 darts in back. The difference is in the pocket options. I liked the pockets on the 2009 version which are actually large pockets and not just decorative. So I traced that one out. But you could use the one in the 2024 version and add whatever patch pocket you wanted. 

I didn't do the sew-on front button band but instead used a foldover button band which is another option in that magazine issue. 

This skirt lends itself to one of my favorite sewing features, which is fit as you sew. (note I mentioned that above in talking about the new class. I do adjust patterns but I like to give myself some extra room and then fit as needed when the item is partially sewn together.) 

For this skirt I am about a Burda 42 in waist and 44 at hip. Since the pattern was up to size 44 I just cut out that size when I made the red version and then made some adjustments as I sewed it up. Then I noted those on my paper pattern pieces. However in the blue version I wanted it even slimmer so I took away a bit more of the ease and it still has plenty of room.  Below you can see the final stitching which is about 3/8" in from the original size 44 at the hip. 

I like this red version although it lends itself to white tops - or maybe a navy blue? anyway I will have to look around and see if I have anything else I can wear it with or perhaps make something new.  The fabric in the red skirt is a remnant that has been hanging around a while, here are the 2 posts where I originally used it. Jacket  and Jacket Express Class.  2013! I still wear that jacket and still think that is one of the very best patterns I have ever seen, in terms of instructions and construction. 

A better look at the skirts, with the photo lightened up a bit as it was too dark to see the details. I'm not so thrilled with the buttons but they were in my stash and will do for now. Perhaps some more interesting buttons to match the stitching? 

A look at the details on the red one, which shows there is no waistband, it just has a smooth waist with a facing, and 3 darts across the back. I think I will make this pattern again changing the center front button to a zipper fly but otherwise with the same details. That will save on making all those buttonholes and I am always ever so slightly fearful about a button front skirt - if you lose a button when you are out and about then what? a long jacket :)  

Hiding in the shrubbery. Not really, just wanted to show off the hydrangeas. That was the beginning and a week later they are absolutely covered in blooms. and then two more days later wilting in this heat. How hot is it?   See below.   That is under my patio cover so the hot air is trapped under there. Out in the real world it's only 106ºF today. ONLY!  And across the bay at the ocean it's about 70ºF right now. 

SF Bay area - every climate you could ever want :) 

Other classes with Hello Stitch Studio on my calendar. Check the links for details and to sign up. 

Sat. July 20      10am-3pm    Make a Knit Wrap Dress. A few spots left. 

Sun. Aug. 11   10am-3pm    Sew with Knits, Make a basic T-shirt. (2 spots left)

Up next, thinking about what to wear to Bay Area Frocktails at the end of this month. A new dress or not?

And I have some fall travel plans which might need a few capsule wardrobe additions. 

Stay cool and Happy 4th!

Beth

Last fall I pulled all the dahlia tubers from their pots and put them in the back half of the big vegetable planter. So evidently that was the right move as they are really blooming.

Simplicity 8606 wrap skirt and New Look 6107 top

The following photo illustrates my glee at the fact that I have squeezed this skirt from what was left of the rayon print fabric shown a couple of weeks ago. Recall that fabric? which I used to make my faux jumpsuit, seen here in this post.  By the way, speaking of previous posts, thank you for all the sweet comments on my last dress, the purple one, which was quite popular here and on IG. Now I think I might need a purple coat! But it was over 100 F today here so not even thinking about coats!

And yes, I did take this picture in front of Stone Mountain Fabrics in Berkeley where they have helpfully painted this doorway to the delight of all shoppers.



Let's get to the details of that skirt. I love it!! and you can expect to see this pattern make a repeat performance.



I know I started off making the short version, but for some reason I think I cut off 1 inch from the hem ruffle, as it seemed just a bit too long. Well I will check and see when I make another version.
This rayon fabric is the ideal choice for this skirt, although I think it would work in a lot of other fabrics - now for my constant suggestion - a lightweight denim :)



I made version D, which is the short version with the flounce. It is cleverly designed, quite similar to the purple dress in my previous post, in that the part that is underneath has less ruffle since it doesn't show. Which means that you cut the two front ruffle pieces on the single layer. Now I will tell you a tip for cutting out - ignore the grain lines on the ruffle pieces! There is a grain line but when you make this type of ruffle (which I actually call a flounce or a circular ruffle) the grain is only straight on one section of the piece and the rest is different bias angles, so it makes no difference where you cut it out. And that helped me squeeze this onto the fabric I had remaining.
By the way - all the articles I wrote on the old Craftsy blog are on the new Bluprint website, here is the link to the one I wrote on designing this type of circular ruffle.

This is supposed to be a true wrap skirt, where the long tie goes through the waistband and encircles the waist. But I had no fabric for that, so I cut one layer of waistband, made a facing of solid black cotton, and please don't tell anyone but I put velcro for closures which leaves plenty of adjustment room for ice cream after dinner, smart huh?






And with the remaining scraps I made a couple of shorter ties to make a bow.

I even had to piece the skirt body at one of the side seams. I always find piecing fabric weirdly satisfying, and have done it 3 times lately. Which may indicate I'm habitually skating on the edge of not having enough fabric but that's what makes it fun.



This past Saturday was our Bay Area Sewists Meetup and I saw Meg of Made by Meg  wearing her fantastic Sirocco jumpsuit. She needs to make another one, it looks great on her.
My top is the Bondi top that I made to go with the Emerson Pants which made up my faux jumpsuit.



Once I finished the skirt I felt like it needed a different top so I rummaged through my fabric and came up with a pink eyelet for a sleeveless top.

This is New Look 6107, a pattern from a few years ago that I also got at a Bay Area Sewists pattern swap. I can't say that it is much like the pattern as designed, I used the basic shape but then I changed the button front area, the pattern has a placket behind the center front and loops for the buttons. That would be too bulky in eyelet so I extended the center fronts so it buttoned like a regular shirt. Then I made some self bias and just kind of winged it around the neckline. I think it shows but it was hot and I just wanted to finish it so it's not my best design but it works. I do love the color.





I am a fan of blouses with shoulder gathers so I might make this one again with sleeves in the fall in a silk or something else.



I really like the skirt with a pink top - black is not my favorite so I prefer some other color on my top half. Do you crack up when you look at your outfit photos? I seem to often be looking at something in the distance or perhaps it's the beginning of that phrase "hurry up and take the picture people are looking at me."



And if one version of this skirt pattern is good that two is even better!
My friend Halyna (Instagram: zigzagstitching) saw my version on the dress form and immediately got the pattern.



So that's the latest on my new wrap skirt. Also I can report that this skirt seems to cleverly stay overlapped when walking, sitting etc. So it is a winner of a pattern!




Up next in my sewing, I'm making another New Look pattern, in gingham as I have to join in on this summer's trend. And then it's head down with a lot of serious sewing, prep for my upcoming classes.

Speaking of classes - just today we added a new class in October - the Jean Jacket. Here's the link. I think that will be a fun item to sew and it's an ideal garment for our weather. Well it's an ideal garment for every wardrobe. You can use any jean jacket pattern you would like.
There are a couple of spots still open for the September sessions of the Garment Copy class and the Zadie jumpsuit class. We'll be adding some classes for November soon as well.
Also there is one spot that opened up in my Jacket Tailoring class in September so if you wanted to do that here's the link. 

Happy Summer sewing and stay cool! It's supposed to be in the 100's F this weekend here but we are used to it, plus it means grilling outside, plenty of ice cream and lots of dips in the pool. I hope the weather improves for everyone else.

Beth

today's garden photo - more hydrangeas, which you can just see in the photo above, on the left side.
This is two bushes next to each other, one is a white and the other the purple version of these shooting star hydrangeas. I didn't even remember getting the purple one so it was a pleasant surprise this year with so many blooms. When the breeze passes by they are just magical.

BurdaStyle 04-2019-113: Another contender the for best ever skirt pattern

Many of us have sewn multiple versions of what I have always called the best ever skirt pattern, which was Vogue 1247 that I recently sewed in faux suede.  I think that was my fifth version of that pattern, but now I think there is a new contender for champion. Jumping right to my conclusion, I love this skirt!

This is from the April 2019 Burda Magazine, #113 which is called Skirt with Belt Bag, as you will see below. Although mine doesn't have a belt bag.



While I might like to have made the belt bag - I was down to small scraps since I found this nice denim remnant in my stash and it was JUST enough to make this skirt. I started with Burda size 42 which matches my hip measurement with a little extra wiggle room, but it turned out to be a lot of extra room, so I took in the skirt after stitching it up.




And let's take a minute to appreciate that clever detail, which has the belt going through the seaming of the front panel instead of belt loops, just on the one side. I think it add something interesting to an otherwise simple skirt.



It has a facing around the waist edge, and the belt loops are sewn into that seam. I used white topstitching (regular thread, not topstitch thread) and navy blue in the bobbin, which I think sometimes gives the white thread a chance to really show. I had the D-rings in my stash, as well as a navy blue invisible zipper so all in all this was such a rewarding project - you know the feeling when it all comes together so nicely!




Even the length was just right, I turned up the hem 1.5" and stitched it in blue.

Better look at the right side where the seam openings take the place of 2 belt loops. This fabric is a slightly stretch denim, it may be a leftover piece from these Ash jeans.






So once I sewed it up, including topstitching everywhere, but before I put on the waistband I tried it on and decided it was way too big, so I took out about 3 inches total from the two seams either side of the zipper. Which meant I had to remove the topstitching. That only took a quick minute as I had used 4.0 stitch length and it was worthwhile to get the fit right. Plus now I have adjusted the paper pattern pieces so hopefully next version will be even quicker.

Note the white t-shirt - I never wear white tops :) I know they are popular but I always feel so blah in a white t-shirt, however when going through my closet for something to pair with this I realized it looked nice with the white - so I might even wear this outfit as is, a surprise to me!

I brightened this photo so you can see the details better.



And oh yeah, a requisite for any good skirt pattern, pockets, right? This is where paying attention to the Burda instructions did pay off, as it's necessary to sew in a particular order to get the pockets topstitched and not sewed shut.




Here's the magazine view, including the belt bag. I have some almost matching but not quite the same denim and I might give it a go just for fun. It won't matter if it doesn't match exactly, probably I'm the only one that could even distinguish the fabric difference.







This skirt could be worn with a different belt. I made the belt according to the specs in the pattern and its a bit long for me, I might go back and shorten it about 4 inches.

That white t-shirt is something I bought maybe 5 years ago, I needed a white t-shirt for something. It has cotton eyelet over knit in the front and then the rest is knit. An idea I might have to copy as I have eyelet in turquoise and bright pink in my stash right now.




This might just be my new summer outfit! Now I want one in other colors.




Up next, I'm deciding between two different dress patterns. I will make both but not sure which will be first. One is Vogue 9357 . I just got some nice gingham so that might get made in that as shown on the pattern envelope. The other dress is a Burda with a ruffle hem, as I have to join in with the ruffle trend.

Sewing classes at Hello Stitch Studio : most of my summer classes are filling up. Some just have 1 or 2 spots available so sign up if you are interested. I think there is 1 spot left in the Zadie jumpsuit class - I knew that would be popular :) and I plan to make one for myself soon.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be beautiful and sunny, so it's an outside day (not a sewing room day). The garden needs something this time of year.

Happy Sewing, Beth

This yellow snapdragon survived the winter and it loved all that rain. It's now done with it's first bloom but I've trimmed it and hope for a few more flowers in the next month.

Burda 01-2019-109 button front shirt and ultra suede skirt Vogue 1247

It's not often I find fabrics at one of my rummage sale treasure troves which are so well coordinated as these two. I bought these at a sewing guild sale for about $ 8 total and figured they went together so well that I had to give them a try, despite being a bit out of my usual color choices. The green ultra suede was a no-brainer. The minute I touched it I could envision some type of slim fit skirt, and Vogue 1247 leapt to mind. The best skirt pattern ever! Perhaps some exaggeration but it is a really good pattern that looks good in almost any fabric.

The shirt fabric was another story. I had a pattern in a recent Burda in mind and it seemed a good option. While this pattern doesn't have many details the ones that are there are obscured by the print. More photos below on the dress form so you can see the seaming.







If you look very closely at the shoulders you can see that it's a raglan shirt, with a dart at the top of the shoulder for shaping, and the raglan creates a yoke across the back.

I washed and dried the shirt fabric and decided that it might be a wool challis. A fabric I've not sewn with in ages, it's not something you come across in stores very often (ever). Slight editorial comment/rant here - the selection of wools at all stores other than Britex or Mood is really diminished. I suppose people don't as often wear the type of clothes that are usually made of wool and they are quite expensive so if you are making a coat or jacket in a nice wool the investment is pretty high. And then if you are not sure if it's going to turn out as a wearable, well-fitting item...I can see the hesitation. But I love wool in all forms, particularly wool crepe. It's an ideal fabric for dresses although I guess the wash and wear-ness of ponte knits has surpassed wool crepe.

Anyway, back to this pattern



The colors in this print were enough to sell me even thought it's not as bright as things I usually like. There's a border print along one selvedge, which I didn't really know what to do with, not suitable for this pattern so I used it on the sleeves. You can just see the white stripes on each sleeve near the cuff.  I cut the whole thing out on the crossgrain both to use the border and for consistency of the print, which accidentally sort-of matches or at least flows across the front.



Here's the tech drawing so you can see the rounded yoke and raglan sleeve. This shirt has a cut-on facing which made it really quick to sew. And a 💖 for the fact that it was the black pattern lines to trace. I always like a pattern more when I see that it's not the red lines which I find the most difficult to trace.

One more look at the shirt, I'm not sure what the pattern said to do with the sleeve, I think it was elastic at the bottom but I just put in a bias strip cuff slit opening and then button cuffs. I pleated the extra into the cuff as would be on any shirt.




Onto the skirt - this fabric was really a lucky find. It was a big piece so I used about 1.25 yards on this skirt and then gave the rest to my friend who is @zigzagstitching on IG.



This is maybe the 4th or 5th version of this skirt, I have one in denim which I wear all the time in the summer, and then a white version plus a couple more. On some of them I have omitted the waistband and changed that to a waist facing, but for this one I went back to a waistband as I thought it looked good with the shirt tucked in.




I think this is real ultra suede - or at least a very nice version of faux suede, as it sewed up beautifully and it doesn't have the plastic-y feeling of some faux suedes or leathers. I feels like real suede. Treating it like real suede I didn't sew a hem, just cut it off at the length that I wanted. Which is about 5 inches longer than the Vogue pattern as originally designed. (everyone makes some adjustment on the length!)
Here's the skirt pattern, it's maybe from about 7 years ago? And it calls for you to put bias binding around the inner pocket bags, which I have never done :) and I generally piece them so they are mostly made from lining fabric which means I can cut the skirt out with much less fabric. I made the top once and hated it!





Back view on me, the seaming of the front pockets is continued on the back.  Here's the dress from view. I decided to use a regular (not invisible) zipper and put a skirt hook at the waistband for a closure.



For the waistband I cut out a piece about 3 inches wide and then the skirt top measurement plus a few inches for overlap and then just sewed it on. I decided about 1" wide looked nice so I turned it under and then stitched in the ditch to finish it, and trimmed off the excess.



Here's a news flash - I actually used my walking foot on this one. This fabric was very pinnable, no problems there. But it was a tiny bit sticky as I sewed and I had the walking foot out since I was making a Tamarack quilted jacket as preparation for teaching the class at Hello Stitch. So I tried it and it was helpful. But I am NOT a walking foot convert at all - only use in very select circumstances. It seems so clunky to me, I can't understand when people say they sew everything with it. and extra noise as compared to the regular foot. But it has some uses.




So that's the scoop on this project. It's kind of nice to make a whole outfit for a change, i.e. a top that goes with a skirt and looks intentional. I have a bad habit of making any separate that strikes my interest, a top, a jacket, a skirt, etc and then figuring out what the heck I will wear with it. I guess that's what makes sewing dresses rather satisfying. In that case you only have to figure out which shoes to wear with it, right?

Up next at Hello Stitch - the month of April is going to be a marathon, we have a LOT of classes scheduled and there are a few spots open in the next session of the Bondi dress class (April 7) and the Lander pants class (April 28). The first 3 Saturdays in April are our Level 1 Sewing (which is full) and then Level 2 Sewing which I think has a couple of spots open. Check the link for all the classes and register soon as they are filling up. I think we will be doing a culottes class sometime in the summer - have to figure out some pattern suggestions for that one. And I'm just about to start another pair of Ash jeans for myself (Jeans making class is June 1 and 8). This version will be the wide leg crop version in a black shimmer denim. It's a risk but I think they will be cute!

Up next on the blog, I have sewn two versions of the Grainline Tamarack jacket, one was a sample for the class and then another version for my mom in a lovely color combo. Currently I'm finished a wool jacket from a Burda magazine pattern that called to me, it needs to get done soon so I can wear it before our hot weather arrives. And then it will be summer dress time !!!

But we have more chilly rain forecast this week so perhaps I'll wear my suede skirt and shirt again soon.



Happy spring sewing, Beth

Today's garden photo - a lovely tulip. And suddenly they are all blooming, this morning I took so many photos. Even some striped ones which I forgot all about planting last fall. That's the fun thing about bulbs - they are the nicest surprise just when you need some garden cheer.