I’d be curious to know how most sewists source their fabric. My knowledge of online sites and resources has grown quite a bit over the years but there’s nothing like feeling fabric before you purchase it. I started this journey trying to find fabrics that fit a vision I had but after an abundance of frustration when trying to find a fabric that fit my vision I switched to finding fabrics that inspired me or that felt amazing to the touch. I prefer to wander fabric stores, feeling the fabric and seeing if any inspire me.
The fabric for this skirt was on the clearance table at Joann Fabrics and when I saw it I knew it needed to be a skirt for date night and I knew I had some knits that would match it. Many of my fabrics have been hanging out in my stash for anywhere from a year to even four years but this one never even made it to the closet. It was immediately transformed.
The top is the Simplicity crop top that I’m pretty much obsessed with right now and even wearing in green as I type this. Simplicity s8609. I searched all my pattern but ended up going with Simplicity s1110 but I modified it. The original pattern is a tiered skirt. Here’s what it looks like without modifications since I’ve made it before.
I really like how it fits through the waist and hips but I didn’t love that it doesn’t have pockets. There isn’t a great way to add pockets because the first tier ends where the pockets would go and the next tier’s seams aren’t along the sides.
I decided to use this pattern but grade the top tier down to the ankle and omit using tiers. The fabric I selected is scuba knit and it’s rather heavy so I needed to be careful that I didn’t make the skirt too heavy, the tiers would have done that.
I added pockets because the top tier does line up with the sides and pockets can easily be added. I used the same technique I learned from this make to do the side pockets.
The side seam assembly is slightly different with adding top stitching to the front side before fully assembling the interior pockets. This method keeps knit pockets looking neat and tidy and not floppy and frankly gross looking.
I hadn’t learned this technique when I was making this robe and the pockets were down right scary so I removed them. Now I always utilize this method when added pockets to knit projects.
Here is the finished skirt! I think it’s very cute.
If I use this pattern modified in this way again, I’ll lengthen the skirt just a bit but otherwise I’m really happy with the result.
I’m working on my next Minerva project at the moment and it’s the first piece in my newest capsule wardrobe. I never really finished the last one, in my defense it was huge. I got very out of control on the number of pieces in the capsule. Actually it wasn’t a capsule, it just was a wardrobe.
Sew Sanity 