Grey Clouds

I was very much on the fence about this skirt pattern to begin with, I loved how it looked on others, just wasn't sure if it was very me. I don't ever wear this shape or length. But the pattern called me, and so did the lovely Marilla Walker (she designed the Maya dress I blogged recently), and I thought what the heck...pattern queue be gone..and off I went into cloud land.

Marilla's new pattern is called the Evan skirt. It has a very 70's look if you choose the short version and 90's if you choose the longer grungier look! There are various cute little details which you can add. I went with the short length, front split and plain pocket details. I made it up in a size 5, which is pretty good. I have quite a thick waist in comparison to the rest of my measurements, the result of a jelly-belly post babies and a short torso. From my sizing, I ummed and ahhed about doing a size 6 but ultimately decided I didn't want much ease and went with a 5. If I was using a thicker fabric, I might have regretted that decision ;)

The fabric is a photorealism printed cotton drill that I bought at Spotlight in Hobart at Christmas. I have a real thing for clouds, clouds and trees. I do put a lot of cloud photos on instagram, sorry, but they are just so magical. So I am always on the look out for cloud fabric. This one is really lovely. Its actually quite thin, but really easy to work with. I used my new/old 1950's Singer machine for the seams and my old/new 2000's machine for the top-stitching. The old singer machine is so beautiful, it purrs, and I am addicted to sewing on it now. It just feels more real and homely and special, sorry, terrible wanky, but it does I SWEAR! Doesn't help that the newer machine needs a service, it carries on sewing for atleast 3stitches when my foot is off the peddle sometime...gives me and my fingers the hee-bee-jee-bee's!!

And yes I went with the pattern matching on the back pockets. Can you spot?

You can't see the pockets from a distance, but here is a close up! I only had a metre and a half of this fabric, and it wasn't very wide. The patterns calls for 1.5metres but that is without pattern matching! I literally had a handful of scraps by the end, which does warm my tree-hugging heart but was a bit brain-taxing! I knew that I couldn't match everything, so I went with the centre front seam, the centre back seam and the back pockets. These would have been the most obvious if I hadn't matched. The waistband and yoke make my eyes twitch a bit, but I suspect they will mostly be covered. Still pretty happy I managed to get whole clouds where I wanted!!

The skirt has these funky shaped pockets. Really love the angle, it's a little detail but it's rather cool. If you look at the technical drawing, there is an option for a pleat detail for both the front and back pockets. I didn't bother with this skirt because it would get lost in the pattern, but would definitely do it on a plain version. It's all sorts of fancy pants.

There is a very cute front slit. I really like the effect and it was pretty easy to do. I might add random slits to other seams on outfits from now on, just cos I know how! The fly zip and button went in pretty easily. I actually don't mind doing this jeans style zip anymore. Anyways I need some practise as I really want to make some jeans soon. 

The pattern is great. I really have been converted to this length/shape! Sometimes I need to be pushed out of my box I think!

I did struggle at times with getting my head around the instructions. I think this is because a) I am only a beginner and this is an intermediate pattern, and b) I am a very visual person so I do MUCH better if there is lots of pictures and sewalongs and stuff. Still, I figured it all out and therefore it can't be that hard, cos honestly I have no idea where I lost my brain, but it is long gone...

 

It's been pretty cool here the last few days. It's definitely Autumn, with a hint of Winter. The length of this skirt makes it great for layers with tights and socks and ankle-warmers (yep 80's child) and I reckon I will wear it lots and lots over the next few months. Hope the days are a little sunnier than the fabric mind you...