I am pretty sure I am in love.
Bottom first. McCalls 5591, with pretty soft pleats and POCKETS, is definitely the fav skirt in my closet right now. Add the fact that I made it from the leftover yardage from my crazy-linen-pants-making-marathon this summer makes me feel absolutely parsimonious. “Frugal” + “Maris” + “anything-related-to-sewing” are not normally combined in a single sentence. Oh, and did I mention all the fabric (black linen, white linen, and black stretch lace) was from my stash? That’s right. Extra points for frugality! 🙂
I made view A of the skirt so I could make good use of both pieces of leftover linen, and also get that classy hem band finish. Black and white is my favorite color palette anyway, so naturally this combo was my jam. I wore the heck out of this skirt over the summer, and loved it more each time I had it on. It is very Kate Spade, don’t you think? Polished, sophisticated, comfortable, feminine…..really, I can’t think of anything bad to say about this skirt. Except maybe the fact the pattern is out-of-print now. Good luck with Etsy and eBay!
One issue was I didn’t have anything in my wardrobe that I thought was the perfect topper for this perfect skirt, tho. And who wants a lonely orphan skirt hanging in the closet?
My eldest DD owns a pretty black lace top, and I tried it on once my skirt was completed, just to see if the look/length/etc. were right. Yep, winner-winner-chicken dinner!
I hemmed and hawed about which pattern I would use to try to re-create my DD’s top, and finally decided to hack Lisette’s B6182. If you check out the technical drawings on that pattern, you will see darts in the center front seam. I pinned those out, and set the front pattern piece on the fold instead of creating a center front seam line in lace. I did sort of just smash the tissue flat while I was cutting out the lace, which of course is not-great-patternmaking-practice, BUT. It was a knit, ladies! Definitely easier to break the rules with knits, and I took full advantage.
I used bias strips of the leftover black linen to bind the neck and hem, and also cut the cuffs from the black linen. I already had a short black cami to wear underneath, and a couple of shoe options, so outfit complete. BAM!
I finished this outfit in July, and yes it is crazy that it took me so long to blog about it. But if you can find the skirt pattern, or are lucky enough to have it in your stash right now, MAKE.THIS.SKIRT! Then we can gush together about how great we lookit is.
Happy sewing!
Maris