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Completed: Morgan Pants

I have a well-documented love for the Ginger Jeans pattern. In fact, I love making (and wearing!) this pattern so much, that I just stopped posting about it. After you finish the 10th pair of pants, it just feeling way too fucking redundant to keep posting the same pattern praise over and over again. Needless to say, I have a lot of pairs of these pants, and more in the works for next winter. No shame about that, but also, no blog posts. You are welcome in advance.

With that being said, I loooove making pants and I found myself very intrigued with the Morgan Boyfriend Jeans pattern, which is also from Closet Case Patterns. I loved the idea of being able to make pants with a non-stretch fabric – truly, it opens up an enormous world of pants-possibilities that I hadn’t been able to consider in the past. Plus, I could keep making pants but pretend like they were like, totally different. Mostly, though, I wanted some non-stretch twill pants. I love the Organic Cotton Twill that Mood Fabrics sells (and yes, I’ve made pants with it before! And shorts!) and I know from experience that it’s a great fabric that wears and washes super well. I had about 1.5 yards leftover from my Organic Cotton Twill Kelly Anorak, so I decided to make the pattern as a sort of wearable muslin.

Truth be told, I actually got the Morgan Jeans pattern for Christmas last year. My little brother bought it for me (at my request) and while I was PUMPED to sew it up, it’s been languishing in my sewing room ever since. Every time I pulled it out of the envelope and tried to creep on the size chart, I just got overwhelmed and confused. I don’t know why this particular size chart buggered me out more than any other size chart in the history of ever – but that’s my excuse! See, I’m technically between sizes in Closet Case Patterns (I’m about 1/2″ bigger than the size 2, and a 1/2″ smaller than the 4). In my pants-making experience with this company, the size 2 fits pretty well, and the 4 is waaaay too big. However, this pattern suggests that you size up if you’re between sizes – and I kept having flashbacks of my size 4 Gingers that needed a LOT of tweaking to get a good fit, as they were just too big. I chatted with Heather about it when I saw her in DC, and she suggested going with the 2, so I took her advice and did just that.

Y’all, I’m so glad I had a moment of craziness and decided to trace my pattern – I generally DO NOT trace my patterns, but the sizing question was giving me major pause and I thought I would be pretty sad if I ended up cutting the wrong one. Which is exactly what I did, because the size 2 is definitely too small! Oh well, live and learn!

With that being said – these pants I am modeling are the original size 2 that I made, so I did make them work. I had to let out the leg seams (basically the side seams from as close to the waistband as I could get, all the way to about the knee area) as much as my seam allowances allowed (it’s hard to tell now since they’re all finished, but I didn’t cut any fabric off when I serged as I was anticipating this, so, I’d reckon those seam allowances are probably about 1/4″ now). They were still pretty tight, but fortunately, woven fabrics like this tend to ease and relax throughout the course of the day. TBH, I don’t think I can ever put these pants in the drier because I don’t want them to shrink back up! (A far cry from me in my early 20s – when I’d walk around the house pantsless all day and only put on my pants literally right before I left to party, so they’d be as tight as possible haha!) But with the seam allowances let out, and the fabric all relaxed and happy – the fit on these is pretty much perfect! So no complaints on this pair – and I’m so so happy I was able to salvage them, as shit got a little hairy for a minute there – but I definitely will need to size up to a 4 for my next pair.

Other than the sizing snafu, I am pretty pleased with the overall fit of these pants! I will be the first to admit that they may not be the most flattering thing I could put on my ass – but I think that’s kind of the case with a relaxed fit pant like this, regardless? And they are also a little tight, still, so sizing up on the next pair will probably help with that too.

I did not make any adjustments to the pattern – including not futzing with the rise. I usually shorten the rise as I have a bit of a short crotch, but I wanted to see how these fit out of the envelope. And again, I think it’s pretty good! Since they’re more of a relaxed fit than the tight Gingers, my calves fit in the legs just fine. FYI the inseam of these is pretty long – I think I measured it at about 32″ (I don’t know why that wasn’t included in the finished measurements, but there ya go), which is a good 4″ longer than what my lil’ legs require. Since the legs are straight, though, you can just cut off the excess length – which is what I did! These are hemmed to be a normal full-length, by the way, I just have them rolled for the pictures because that’s how I’ve been wearing them!

And speaking of wearing them – I took these photos on day 3 of wearing these pants, so they are pretty relaxed! And that also explains all the wear wrinkles. Whatever! It’s cotton, it’s gonna wrinkle!

My favorite part about making pants is all the fun detailing you get to play with! Topstitching, contrast bartacks, fun pockets – yes please!

For these, I used a darker olive all-purpose thread with the triple stitch (I think it looks nicer than using topstitching thread – although it is a BITCH to unpick, so be warned if you decide to go that route!), and brown thread for the bartacks. The pocket lining is a batik fat quarter that I bought at Loose Threads, a quilt shop that I stumbled upon at random while in Harriman, TN a few weeks ago for the Barkley Marathons. I was not actively seeking a fabric store (honestly, we were just looking for coffee), but I saw the words “Quilt Shop” and we had to make a quick detour. There isn’t much that I can buy in a quilt shop – still haven’t caught the quilting bug, ha! – but I can stash some fat quarters as they are the perfect size and weight for pocket linings!

I skipped the back pocket topstitching as I wanted to keep these reasonably plain, but added a leather back patch like the instructions suggest. This leather was pulled out of my box of leather scraps – I’m not entirely sure where it originally came from, but it’s fairly thick. I had used this same leather to make luggage tags for my suitcases (yes I am a big dork), and that square was a leftover piece from the center cut-out. Since my machine had no problem going through the 2 layers to make the tags, I knew it would be fine with a single layer + the cotton twill. I didn’t even change the needle for this – just went to town and it turned out fine.

Anyway, that’s all for now! Have you tried this pants pattern yet? What is your take on the boyfriend jeans (whether they are secretly made for females or you actually steal your *real* boyfriend’s jeans… tell me about that too)?

*Note: The main fabric used in this post was provided to me by Mood Fabrics, in exchange for my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.

Tags: closet case patterns, completed, cotton twill, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, Morgan jeans, organic cotton, pants, twill

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Categories completed projects - new, Mood Sewing Network

Completed: A Cardigan, a Skirt, and a Tshirt!

30 Apr

Woohoo y’all get a damn TRIFECTA of garments for today’s post! Lucky you!

For my monthly Mood Sewing Network post, this month I wanted to focus on that amazing striped sweater knit that you’re probably staring at (you should be staring at it, it’s fucking awesome). But I felt really boring just making *a* sweater (a sweater that took maybe 2 hours, tops, to complete), so I overcompensated and made my entire outfit. Yay!

We’ll start with the cardigan because it truly is the star of this outfit. It’s another SBCC Cabernet cardigan, this time with my minor adjustments made to the flat pattern (you can see my leopard Cabernet cardigan here, btw!). Since I’ve already made the pattern once, there’s not really anything new to report in terms of construction.

I bought the navy and white striped fabric while I was at the Mood Fabrics flagship store in NYC in March. I got soooo much good stuff while I was there, but this particular piece really takes the cake. I swear, if the bolt hadn’t been so heavy, it probably would have jumped off the shelf and fallen directly into my arms. We were like star-crossed lovers when we caught sight of one another.

ANYWAY, gushing aside – what we have here is a cotton double knit that works and feels like the perfect sweater knit. It’s wonderfully thick and squishy, and while it does drape a little bit, it also hold it’s shape quite well. It was really the perfect fabric for this pattern, as it responds really nicely to pressing and topstitching. I was careful in my cutting to not only match up the stripes at the side seams, but also the stripes blending into the sleeve cuffs and hem bands. The neckband is actually the same striped fabric – I just positioned the pattern piece so that the widest navy stripe was the only thing that showed when it’s folded in half. I knew I wanted a solid color at that neckband, but I didn’t want to try to color match, because nope.

Because the striped knit is so thick, it was a bit of a beast to manhandle. Cutting it was painful (I REALLY need to get my scissors sharpened, dammit!) and the sewn seams were lumpy and wavy before I pressed them. It’s super important to press if you’re dealing with a fabric like this – the flatness is what makes the finished piece look so polished. Topstitching down the seam allowances also helped. As with my last cardigan, I used the straight stitch on my machine and a walking foot. The rest of the seams are serged.

The skirt is another one of my beloved Hollyburn skirts. I cannot stress this enough, but I LOOVE this pattern. SO MUCH. As soon as I finished the denim polka dot Hollyburn, I started lurking hard for a yellow twill to make another one. I really love this neon delight of a yellow, but it’s hellish looking against my skin – so obviously, the next best thing is a skirt.

I found the fabric also while I was in NYC, also at the Mood Fabrics flagship store (sorryyyyy not sorry). I actually spent a good deal of time looking for this one – I knew I wanted yellow twill, but the stuff in the twill section wasn’t quite up to snuff. Too pale, too lightweight, too much of something. This particular fabric was actually located in the denim section – I imagine there is someone, somewhere, who has made an amazing pair of jeans with this fabric.

This is a stretch cotton twill with lots of lycra in the content, giving it a super heavy stretch. Even though it’s on the lighter side (heavy enough to be considered a bottomweight, however), it has plenty of body that gives this skirt a great structure. The only downside to all that lycra is that it made the fabric really hard to get a good press. I ended up topstitching all the seams to keep them flat, about 1/4″ distance (as opposed to my usual 1/8″). The wider topstitching paired with this fabric really gives it a nice denim-y look, which I like. I thought about topstitching around the pocket bags to give those definition too, and “thought,” I mean I tried it and it looked absolutely terrible so I ripped it out. Don’t do that.

The back closes with a simple lapped zipper, and all the inside seams are serged. Basic stuff!

Finally, the most basic of the basics – my tshirt!

This is SUCH a simple tshirt that it hardly bears a mention, however, we’re here and it’s here so let’s just roll with it. The fabric is this sheer white slubbed rayon jersey, which was WAY more sheer than I was expecting but it’s sort of awesome. It’s suuuuper soft, drapey, and the texture of the fabric makes it a tiny bit more interesting than your average plain white tshirt. I used my always-tweaking-almost-done-tweaking Frankenpattern’d tshirt to make this. The neckline is bound using Megan Nielsen’s bound neckline method, which is hands-down my FAVORITE way to finish a neckline on a slinky knit like this. It just looks really really good, and it’s nice and sturdy. I love the traditional method, of course, but some of the more drapey fabrics don’t do so hot with that method because you have to REALLY stretch them to keep them from being floppy, which ends up with a tight neckline that’s practically gathered.

Speaking of slinky knits, binding that neckline was about the only easy part of sewing this tshirt. Talk about the slinkiest knit ever! It was worth it, though, because I can always use more white tshirts. Even if they are see-through. And yes, the pocket is totally in the wrong place and I’m totally not picking it off because I don’t think the fabric can survive that kind of trama.

Detail shots:

(that’s a Sewn with Mood Fabrics tag, by the way! 🙂 )

PHEW.

Ok, one more picture:

Only including this one because I look like I’m about to eat whatever is in my line of vision haha.

** Note: All fabrics for this project were provided to me in exchange for a review post as per my involvement with the Mood Sewing Network.

Tags: cabernet cardigan, completed, double knit, frankenpattern, hollyburn, knit, knit fabric, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, rayon knit, sewaholic, skinny bitch curvy chick, skirt, stretch twill, stripes, summer sweater, sweater knit, top, tshirt, twill

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Categories completed projects - new, Mood Sewing Network

Sweaters & Skinnies for Fall!

24 Sep

Ok, I’ll admit – when I first started working on this outfit, the air was a LOT more fall-like than it currently is at the moment. Stupid fickle season, ha!

Anyway, I’m totally a trooper so I’m modeling this outfit for y’all nonetheless (photos taken early morning before the temperatures got too high, because, woof.). My first real cold-weather makes – like I said, it’s a little early in the season here, but I like to get a head start so I can actually start wearing this stuff when the weather cools down 🙂 This outfit – or at least the skinnies – is also part of my London wardrobe. I’m officially less than 2 months out, EEEEEP! – so it’s time to really start cranking down and getting my wardrobe act together. Since I’m very limited in suitcase space, I’m trying to capsulate everything to mix and match. So I can bring less clothes, so I can bring home more fabric 🙂 You know – priorities!

ANYWAY, I have a lot of ground to cover with these two pieces, so let’s get started! Sorry in advance for the big photo overload!

Let’s start with the sweater. I bought this fabric last month while I was in NYC. This was my first non-spring trip to the city, which meant my fabric shopping was focused on woolens and winter weights (instead of summer fabrics, which I am usually bee-lining for in March). I immediately found this star printed WOOL sweater knit, and promptly flipped my shit over it. It’s SO fabulous – and soft! Even softer than you can imagine, forreal. At $25 a yard, it wasn’t the cheapest sweater knit – but stars and wool? Totally worth it. Plus, it’s not like a sweater takes a lot of yardage – at least not for me. I bought a yard and a half (and I have some leftover.. hmm, what to make with?).

The pattern I used to make this bad boy was actually suggested by Devra (who also bought some of the prized star wool knit, after I peer pressured her into it 😉 ) – the SJ Tee from Papercut Patterns. I made a wearable mock-up before the real deal – which I will show y’all later this week – so I was able to figure my fitting before cutting into my precious wool knit. I cut a size XXS and took 1″ out of the center back. The length is the long version (aka, not cropped) and the sleeves are long as well.

I used rib knit to finish the neckline and cuffs – it was in my stash, I have no idea where it came from. This knit was way stretchier than the sweater knit, so I had to keep retrying the neckline to get it to lie flat. I ended up cutting the rib to half the length of the neckline and stretched the everloving shit out of it – it could still stand to be a little tighter, but this will do. The neckline also can’t stand to be a little lower, it’s already a little risque (which I LIKE!). The cuffs are a bit looser than I’d prefer, but I wanted to be able to push the sleeves up, like so.

I sewed the entire sweater on my serger – you could use a sewing machine (this particular knit does not unravel or shed), but serger is faster 🙂 I did use a twin needle to topstitch the raglan lines, as well as the neckline & hem. Really loved topstitching this sweater; the stitches just sink right in and look soooo good!

For the black skinnies, I used a really great stretch twill. I’ve had some hits and misses when it comes to stretch bottom weights – they tend to be a weird weight (either too heavy, or not heavy enough), and the stretch can bag out over time. One thing I’ve learned is that you need a pretty high spandex/poly content to get them to snap back into shape – 5-10% – and you need to make sure they are bottom weight. I actually made Heather Lou source this fabric for me, also in the Mood store. We were initially looking for black denim, couldn’t find a good one (I still don’t really know what constitutes as a good one- you’ll have to ask her! I just blindly followed, ha), and decided on the twill. We did end up finding a black denim, fyi, but not at Mood. Once I sew that one up, I’ll share more about it 🙂

Anyway, this twill is great! It’s pretty similar to what you get with stretch RTW pants – thick enough for a bottom weight, but not tooooo thick (I still only used an 80/12 needle, so no heavy denim shit or whatev). The stretch is crazy good, and it actually snaps back into shape. I can’t give y’all a true verdict on a full day’s worth of wear – the weather jumped back up to hot, so I haven’t had a chance to wear these yet. However, I tried the jeans on a LOT during construction, and they haven’t bagged out yet. So that’s a good sign!

The only drawback to this stuff is that it attracts cat hair like a magnet. It’s not as bad in real life as it is in photos (else I would have lint-rolled that shit, I mean, come on), but it also doesn’t bother me that much. When you have a cat and you wear black pants, cat hair is sorta just a way of life, you know?

The pattern I used to make the skinnies is the Jamie Jeans, from Named. I’ve actually had this pattern in my stash for a few months – my friend Carla bought me these (plus a few other Named patterns) as an early birthday gift earlier this year. Then I was a total ass and didn’t do anything with them until just now 😛 Hey, it’s been too hot! Anyway, I’m glad I put these off because there is no way I would have had such stretch twill success if it hadn’t been for Heather doing that side of the shopping for me. So there’s that.

Anyway, this was my first experience with Named. My understanding is that a few things have changed since they initially released this pattern – for one, the instructions include some diagrams now (they used to be text-only), and the prices are a little more competitive. The pieces also aren’t quite as overlapped as they were the first go-round – because, ugh, tracing patterns, ugh. I only had to trace the waistband for these. Everything else was, thankfully, not super overlapped.

I started with the size 2, and made these initial modifications, based on my muslin:
– Added 1″ to the back crotch, for butt room
– Removed 2″ of length at the legs
– Removed 5/8″ at the center back yoke, blending to 1/4″ at the bottom (where the pants meet the yoke)
– Removed 1/4″ from the center back, blending to nothing

Once I started sewing, I ended up doing a few more fit adjustments. I don’t know why these weren’t prevalent in my muslin – perhaps my fabric wasn’t quite stretchy enough? At any rate, these are my additional modifications (and now you know why I pulled them on and off so many times!):
– Sewed the side seams at 1/2″
– Took a 1″ wedge out of the center back of the waistband, tapering to nothing at the bottom
– Removed an additional 3/4″ from the length
– Did some crazy witchcraft to reshape the crotch to be a J (again, NO IDEA why this wasn’t an issue with the muslin, but argh – at least I fixed it? Mostly.).

Things I will change for my next rendition:
– Need to remove some length from the front crotch – you can see that it’s slightly too long (it’s not toooo bad – I doubt anyone will point and be all “HA HA YOUR CROTCH IS TOO LONG HA HA!” But I know it’s there and hey, it bothers me, ok?). Maybe 3/8″ish.
– Rescoop that J a little more out of the crotch. It’s still not perfect, but it’s damn good considering that I did this while the pants were already mostly assembled (for those of you who are all, “Wtf is this J crotch you keep talking about?” Here’s the post where I talk about my pants adjustments, including J crotches. Also, in case you were wondering- those crotch rulers *do* work. I found one in Elizabeth’s studio last week, immediately stuck it on my crotch – and hey, there’s a J! Cool!)
– Need to take a little pinch of fabric out of the inner leg seam – maybe 1/2″

Despite my nitpicky fit adjustments, these aren’t so bad! I’ll still totally wear the shit out of them, at any rate.

Constructing these was REALLY fun! The instructions – honestly, they’re kind of useless about 70% of the time, but I’ve made enough pants to where I don’t really need them. The seams are all finished with my serger – except the crotch seam, which is flat-felled – and I made use of my edgestitching foot to get all that beautiful topstitching. For the waistband, I used fusible tricot knit interfacing – I fused both the outside and the facing, to give it some stability but retain that lovely stretch. The button & jean zip are both from Pacific Trimming in NYC.

I really love the back pockets! And hey, that double line of stitching at the yoke? That was done with a single needle, twice. No twin needle!

For the hem, I used the lightning bolt stitch, so it would retain some stretchiness. It looks pretty similar to a straight stitch, but it, you know, stretches.

What else? Here are some sweater close-ups:

YUM!

One last thing – here’s the little watercolor fashion illustration I made for this outfit. GOD, I love painting watercolors! So much fun!

Ok, I guess that’s it! Now if the cooler weather could please come back – I hate working up a sweat while I drink my morning coffee 🙂 Oh, and in case you were wondering – that’s a fresh dye job you’re looking at, in regards to my hair! I love how neon electric is is 🙂 Yay for fun-colored hair!

PS: Ralph Rucci V1419 Sewalongers – in case you missed it, there’s a new post up on the McCall blog regarding the sewalong. Just some general housekeeping, including blog buttons (yes!) and social media chat. The burning question this week – for general sewalong chat outside of our blogs, do y’all prefer to use a Facebook page or a Flickr Group? Trying to decide which platform to us. Let us know which side you swing!

Tags: completed, cotton twill, fashion drawing, fashion illustration, jamie jeans, jeans, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, named, pants, papercut patterns, rib knit, SJ tee, starz, stretch twill, sweater, sweater knit, top, twill, watercolor, wool knit

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Categories completed projects - new, Mood Sewing Network

Completed: A Solid, Structured Hollyburn

19 May

It’s official. Hollyburn is my new favorite skirt pattern. Also, that post title makes this skirt sound like it can stand up on it’s own. Well, it practically can, I guess.

After knocking out a drapey rayon version, I was ready to try this pattern in a fabric with a little more body, like you see on the Sewaholic site. I’m a flared skirt girl at heart, but I’m kind of over circle skirts for the time being (I don’t know what happened, but I suddenly feel like I’m in costume every time I try to wear one!), so this marriage of flared-but-not-circle skirt combined with a fabric that has some structure was pretty perfect.

I used this navy solid organic cotton twill from Mood Fabrics that I bought while I was in NY (but, thankfully, you can also buy it on the website. Which is good, because I’m definitely gonna need to buy more asap!). This stuff is AWESOME. It’s a great, bottom-weight cotton twill with no stretch, and very saturated color. I’ve used this fabric to also make my tie-less Miette and my Red skinny Thurlow pants (albeit in different colors, obviously) and it’s just a joy to both sew and wear. Seriously, those red Thurlows get the HELL worn out of them and the fabric still looks totally pristine. I love them!

There is not much more to say about this pattern, apart from what I wrote in my previous post. I almost didn’t want to post this skirt because I feel like it’s a little redundant… like, cool, Lauren, you made another flared skirt. YAWN. However, I felt it was important to at least show what a major role fabric choice plays in when it comes to putting together a garment. This skirt is obviously much more structured than my previous Hollyburn – it practically stands out on it’s own. That’s just the fabric, by the way – I didn’t add anything to the hem, nor am I wearing anything under it. I like it though!

The only change I made from the first skirt (and the pattern itself) was to put in a lapped zipper. I don’t think invisible zippers are strong enough for this sort of fabric, so I like to go lapped in that case. The zipper goes all the way to the top of the skirt, and then the waistband is finished at the top with a hook and eye closure. I should have taken a picture, but, I didn’t (I actually did try, but it was already late and every photo ended up super dark and grainy). You’ll just have to trust me on this one 🙂

Although I didn’t take these photos on the same day I wore this outfit, I decided to repeat the overall look because I think it works really well – and why mess with a good thing, you know? Seriously, I think this combination of Nettie+Hollyburn is probably going to end up being a sort of summer uniform for me. It’s just sooo good and EXACTLY what I like to wear.

Speaking of Nettie, I did want to show y’all one downside to the scooped back version – it ain’t bra friendly, at least not on me! Of course, my particular top has a few things going against it that probably keep the scoop back from providing full coverage behind the shoulders. For one, I cut this a size smaller than I should have (this was during testing; the sizing issue has since been fixed). I also used a thick pontie-ish knit that doesn’t have a lot of stretch, which means it doesn’t stretch at key points – such as to cover a bra strap. A prior Nettie in a lighter/stretchier knit (which I’m sure will turn up at some point on this blog, ha) doesn’t have quite as much bra-showing. So, something to keep in mind, again, with fabric playing a huge role in how a finished garment looks!

I also realized after making this that I don’t really like the way the scoop back looks on my body. I’ll continue to wear this Nettie because, dammit, I love this fabric!, but future makes will probably stick with being high back.

Also, in case you were wondering, those shoes are Fergalicious brand. Yes, I know. lol forever. They’re really cute, though – and surprisingly comfortable (says the girl who hates wearing heels. Flats 4life).

Landon took these photos, by the way! He’s such a good sport – and I’m 99% sure he offered to do these because I told him we would go for a run after, and my solo ~photoshoots~ (if you can even call them that; I mean, let’s be real – no one comes to this blog to look at pretty photos or whatever) take about 3x as long haha.

Also: outtakes!

Ok, so these aren’t that great… but I’ve been saving some of my better outtakes from MMM (as Landon has been taking most of my pictures for that, too, bless him), which I am going to subject all of you to at the end of the month. Well, there’s two of them, and they both involve Amelia being pissed, ha!

I guess that’s it! What are your thoughts on Hollyburn now? Are you camp swingy or camp structured?

Tags: completed, cotton twill, delicious cake, hollyburn, sewaholic, skirt, twill

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Categories completed projects - new

Completed: Ikat Moss Mini

21 Apr

Since I announced my pledge for Me-Made-May, I realized I better get crackin’ on making some summer-appropriate handmades if I want to actually get through the month as planned. One thing my closet has been missing for a few years is a good, basic mini skirt. I used to wear these things aaalll the time, but all my old ones either disintegrated over time or plain don’t fit anymore. I really wanted to try Grainline’s Moss Mini, but I wanted to hold off on pulling the trigger until I came across the perfect fabric.

That perfect fabric being Ikat. Ow ow!

OMG I love this skirt way more than I should. It’s a new silhouette for me for sure – despite having worn this style a LOT in the past (no lie you guys, I had them in every shade of denim, from white to dark blue. My dreams of being in a Poison video were, unfortunately, never recognized. Perhaps it’s because I only have a pick-up truck to lounge across, instead of a sweet 80s sports car? Dammit, I knew there was a reason why I needed a Delorean.), it’s not something I wear a lot of these days, so the style takes some re-getting used to. I’m liking it so far, though!

Let’s talk about the pattern. The Moss Mini is a cute little mini skirt that includes slash front pockets, a back yoke, and a front fly with a button closure. It sits a little lower than my other skirts – the waistband is right below my navel. The length is pretty short! I didn’t remove any and it’s good for me – but I’m a petite lady, so as always, check those measurements.

I cut a size 0, but I had to take quite a bit out of the waist and hip to get it to fit without straight falling off. Next time I make this, I will probably cut a wedge out of the center back yoke as well – it’s gapes a little, since I curve more there than the pattern was drafted for. Other than that, the fit is pretty good!

I debated adding back pockets (lord knows I’d use ’em), but ultimately decided that the skirt was busy enough without extra pocket baggage also demanding attention. Plus, the thought of additional pattern matching made me want to cry. Print-matching this bitch was rough, but totally worth it.

“Wait a second, Lauren, didn’t I hear you say something earlier about there already being pockets on the skirt?” Yep! Check out those front-slash pockets, so cunningly camouflaged RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES.

Like I said, pattern-matching this skirt was way rough. I used my single layer method, which always does the trick. The hard part was getting the pattern to seamlessly continue, so you don’t notice any interruptions in the skirt (as opposed to a plaid or stripe, where you just follow the line). It’s like hanging freaking wallpaper, I guess. I think I ended up doing a pretty damn fine job if I do say so myself, though – do you see the center back seam? No? Good.

Apart from the pattern-matching-hell, the fabric was lovely to work with. This is a stretch cotton twill from Mood Fabrics, emphasis on the stretch. Like I said, I had to take a bit out of the side seams to get this baby to fit close (a close fit is important when you are working with a stretch – negative ease is needed!), but the resulting skirt is also really comfortable and not at all constricted. Be warned that it does like to fray and shed, though. I used flat-felled seams throughout my skirt and it’s held together pretty nicely, although pressing got a little fiddly (tip: use a reeeeally hot iron and smack the shit outta that bad boy with a clapper. Ha!).

As far as how I’m gonna wear this skirt? I dunno. I like the way it looks with my white button-down, but the combo feels a little fussy for a breezy summer. The lower rise is also throwing me off, as tucked in shirts just don’t look nearly as good (and this shirt is long enough to where it needs it; it looks sloppy otherwise). I’m thinking I’ll just make a bunch of plain tshirts that hit right at the waistband seam, and just swap out the colors according to my mood.

Now let’s plaid “find that seam!”

I debated how to cut the back yoke. Originally, I planned on matching it with the back of the skirt, so the pattern wasn’t broken up – but then I realized you wouldn’t be able to tell there was a yoke there. I stand by my mis-matched yoke (and slightly mis-matched waistband, ah well), but I still think a close match would have looked good too.

There’s the flat-felled seam! Omg you guys, I changed out soooo much thread to make this stupid skirt. All interior seams are white, all topstitched seams are navy. Since every seam gets sewn twice (first the inside, then the topstitching for the flat fell), you can imagine how much I was changing thread to make this. Of course, I have 3 more machines that I could have set up to speed things along. Did I bother? Naw.

I made a couple of changes to the waistband. I kept the extra length that was left (from me taking in the side seams) and used it to create an underlap for a flat button. I’ve found that I prefer this kind of waistband finish, as a non-underlap waistband – on me, anyway – tends to pull funny. I also used a hook and eye to close the front, instead of a button. I dunno, I just like the clean finish of no button!

And here’s the inside! I serged the pocket edges and the fly front/facing, but everything else is flat-felled (with the white thread on the inside – see how good it looks??). I’m really really happy with how the inside of this skirt looks. So clean!