New Look 6843, Mini Skirt Hack

No, you're not seeing things, that's correct, I made another wool-blend mini skirt to team with long socks and boots this winter. The moment the weather started getting colder the 4 I already have in my wardrobe were on heavy rotation and I couldn't resist dreaming up another. 

I had this plaid/houndstooth with green checks waiting patiently in my stash, it's destiny decided when I spotted this luxurious emerald green liquid satin on the Minerva website. The green was a perfect match to pair as a lining for the skirt. 

When the fabric arrived I was not disappointed. It has a brilliant sheen to it that really comes alive under the lights. The satin has quite a bit of body to it too so there is a kinds of bounceyness that adds to its vibrancy. I have been eyeing up the green silks and satins on Minerva's page for a while now, feeling green is a good colour on me and something with a bit of sheen would make for a good mini dress that had some impact on the dancefloor. I would say this fabric was ideal for lining, as its bounciness might not create the desired silhouette that a satin with more drape would. There are plenty of options on the Minerva page to try though. I am confident my dancefloor-dress fabric is also waiting for me. 

The liquid satin also feels really nice to wear, with its sheen feeling nice against both bare legs and tights (calm down). I love knowing that such a bold colour is inside, lining my chic lil skirt! 

I used Microtex needles for the lining and had to remember to keep swapping around when sewing up the main skirt, but this didn't cause too much hassle. Its bounceyness did make it a little difficult to press and hem, but you just have to keep your tape measure close at hand and show it who's boss! 

I followed the same steps to make this skirt as I did my others. My pattern is getting a bit tatty now, I could really do wih comitting it to card before it falls apart... I somehow doubt this will be my last... 

I had held off using this plaid fabric due to the pattern matching comittments, though the weave did make it easy really. There are lots of linear elements to the design which make lining up the patten pieces easy once you have decided which part of the design you want as a 'centre'. The pattern match worked really well, with the green horizontal lines running all the way around the skirt. 

The fabric also made it easy to ensure my darts were symmetrical, making sure the dart heads were placed on the same lines of the weave on each side. This attention to detail is one of the things that makes wearing handmade so satisfying! 

To finish the look, I couldn't resist making a lil scrunchie using some leftover satin. I have followed a few different scrunchie tutorials, but this was the only one that literally just covered a pre-existing hair bobble. Due to the qualities of the fabric, it was quite easy to cut a linear piece of the satin, which made lining up to sew around the little piece of elastic a little easier. The faffy bit was closing the ends, but it seemed to work pretty well. 



I think making a scrunchie was a perfect way to showcase the way the fabric reflects the light. Of course I just had to order some matching earrings off of Vinted to complete the look! 

We're off to Edinburgh in a couple of weeks. I feel like Scotland is gonna dig the look 💚💚💚

x
Location: Boyland Street, Sheffield
Currently listening to: Ramblin' Man, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan

Clothes Clone, Spotty Skort (Instructions)

One of the great things about literally picking apart a garment step by step, was that it gave me a good insight to how I was going to assemble to garment once I had everything cut out. As I was essentially putting together the skort with nothing but the disassemblage process and my past knowledge as instructions. I decided to keep note of all the steps I followed so that when the time comes, I'll be able to make the next in my skort collection without too much head scratching. I wrote these out on the plane to Berlin to stop me overthinking about being 10000s miles in the sky, but hopefully they will make sense when I come to my next one! 

Seam allowance: 1cm throughout
Suggested fabric: Something with some body but also a slight bit of stretch
Fabric requirements: 1m fabric, small bit of interfacing
Notions: x1 7" zipper & thread to match fabric

1- Interface:

• Waistband front x1 back x2 (L&R)
• Seamline on fron x2 back x2 (use a 1.2cm strip of interfacing)
• Bottom edge of top flap and underflap (3.7cm strip of interfacing)

2- Stitch darts in back pieces and press

3- Stitch waistband front and backs at side seams

4- Press hem of flaps (2.5cm)

5- Overlock:

• Bottom of waistband  (optional- turn under the overlocked edge  on waistband and stitch a narrow hem)
• Centre back of waistband (L&R)
• Short edge of each flap hem
• (Fold up short edge) Overlock long edge of underflap hem ONLY)
• Raw edges of front / back leg hem
• Centre back of L&R back pieces down to the notch

6- Unfold upper flap hem, and stitch to the underflap. Overlock the seam. 

7- Stitch front pieces together along front rise, leaving a gap before reaching the the leg seams to allow room to stitch the inside legs together later.

8- Match notches at the front side seams to notches either side of the upper flap

9- Baste 0.5cm seam allowance, ensuring flap hems are folded under. Baste the top edge of the flap to front leg pieces, fitting the slight curve and stopping and restarting at the centre front, so the seam allowance can be overlocked later. 

10- Place back pieces overthe top RST and stitch seam. Match hem at front and back / top and the notches. Press the seam and overlock the side seams.

11- Stitch front to back at inside leg seams

12 - Overlock inside leg seams, press.

13- Overlock legholes

14- Match inside leg seams, pin and stitch back rise from the notch (end of the overlocking), to the front rise.

15- Overlock the rise seam allowances together, from the front to the back (to the beginning of the single overlocking at the zipper area)

16- Match centre front, side seams and centre back of the waistband to the top edge of the skort RST. Pin and sew.

17- Understitch the waistband to the waistband seam allowance and press.

18- Pin and tack invisible zipper to left side centre back. Ensure the top of the zipper sits at the top of the waistband opening. Stitch using invisible zipper foot as far as it will go.

19- Pin and tack zipper to right side, ensuring waistlines match at the top. Sew as far as possible

20- Change to a standard zip foot and secrure the top of the zipper area. Flip the end of the zip tag out of the way and stitch from the bottom of the zip to the backrise seam, backstitching for security

21- Flip facing RST at zipper opening and stitch from the lower edge towards the waistline seam - as close to the zip as possible to secure the zipper ends. Turn back out

22- Check waistline matches before clipping bulk from the inside of the top of the waistline opening. Turn out again and press

23- Turn up 2cm hem on each leg and press

24- Blind hem the leg hems by hand

25- Blind hem the lower flap hem

26- Blind hem the folded edge and hem on the upper flap

Finished!

x

Location: Bakers Hill, Sheffield

Currently listening to: The Moon is Full, Hindi Zahra

Clothes Clone, Spotty Skort

If you're a girl in a band, or if you're used to performing on any kind of stage, I imagine you will have a certain amount of familiarity with the term 'up-skirt'. You'll know that if you have a gorgeous skirt that you feel fantastic in, chances are- despite wantingt to show it offf to the world, you've put it back in the wardrobe when planning your gig-wear, or you've dug out a pair of lycra cycle shorts to wear underneath it, so that those front row 'toggers don't get a perfect shot of your knickers while you're performing. 

Or, if you're like me, you've turned to the trusty skort to create the chic vision of a mini skirt, but with all the practicality of a pair of modesty protecting shorts while you're towering above your audience. I love skorts. They seem to baffle men which I always find amusing, and they are so un-restrictive, which makes them ideal for wearing while you're playing guitar and having a dance. 

One of my favourite gig outfits from years gone by featured this Top Shop skort which I found in a charity shop the day before our show. It fit the brief perfectly- tease-y like a mini skirt, practical like cargo shorts (sorta), created a nice silhouette and fit perfectly on my waist. And it was houndstooth to boot! The Top Shop skort has made a few appearances on stage since, working both with and without tights. I have found however, that it's maroon tones doesn't go with every outfit, and I haven't wanted to present as a one-skort-pony , "Oh look, Angela's got the gig-skort out again" - cue eye roll. 

So that got me thinking, what I clearly need is another skort that I can wear for shows, the same style and shape but perhaps in a more versatile fabric. The seed was sewn to recreate the pattern - its only small, how hard could it be? Searching Top Shop Skort and scrolling through Vinted, I soon found what I was looking for - the same Top Shop skort on sale for £1.00 (!!), that I siftly ordered, unpacked and unpicked so that I could draw around the pieces and re-create the pattern. 

This is the first time I have completely disassembled a garment in order to recreate it. I found the whole process really quite cathartic. Essentially I was making somthing I already knew fit like a dream, so although I did make a toile to check my theories, I felt confident that the pattern was going to create a garment that I loved - and let's face it, sewing something from a paper pattern doesn't always provide that certainty. 

Carefully unpicking the seams allowed me to keep the seam allowances intact, so I could draw around the pieces without having to add any extra on. It was clear from the folded lines when unpicking the darts exactly where and how wide they needed to be, and taking time unpicking also allowed me to better understand the construction of the garment and what order I would have to piece together the front layers in order for the faux-wrap to work. 

I made the toile from calico, which I found didn't have as much give in it as the original, so this helped inform my fabric choice. I already had a stash of this black and white linen blend fabric from a previous project, the monochrome also hitting the mark in terms of the versatility I was looking for in design. 

Having seen the guts of the original, I felt much more assured in where to place my interfacing, how wide my strips should be and what areas required extra reinforcement. This attention to detail resulted in my finished skort having really crisp lines and angles which was integral to the design. 

I'm super pleased with the outcome, it was exactly what I wanted and I really feel like I learned from taking the skirt apart and recreating my own. We played over summer in the back of a truck, it was absolutely scorching so the legs out option was much appreciated. We keep talking about touring and I have visions of making another 6 in different colours so I have something different but equally reliable/sexy/versatile/practical/'me' to wear each night. 

What's more is I gained a lot of confidence and inspiration from the process, and now feel like I could take absolutely anything apart and recreate a pattern to make my own. Due to mass production and fast fashion, I have found it really easy to find a 'back up' version of garments I love on Vinted at really cheap prices. It's really exciting to think that clothes that I know fit and feel great that I have bought on the high street can be recreated by my own hands, adding that me-made element to an outfit that means so much to me. 

x
Location: Bakers Hill, Sheffield
Currently listening to: Midnight Sweat, Satllites

New Look 6843, Mini Skirt Hack

Yet another autumnal mini skirt using my heavily modified New Look 6843 patternm which features a slightly A-line cute, an inside facing band rather than a waistband, and is fully lined. 

I was on the hunt for the perfect autumn skirt fabric and I knew I'd found it with this. Upstairs in Abakhan Manchester I found this brown, almost felt-like fabric, which was half price!! The colour was perfect and with it being a bit felt-ier than other fabrics I have made skirts from it was already giving me winter-warmer vibes before I'd even laid the pattern pieces out. 

I was a little bit worried how heavy the fabric was would cause the skirt not to hang quite right, but I was already dreaming about matching it with a brown beret, and did I mention it was half price?! Already in my basket was a slightly textured plain black wool blend from downstairs, and the faun-flecked wool blend from my previous post. I knew all three would spice up my autumn wardrobe even more than a spooky-season Costa menu, and the wearability of a mini skirt in each fabric was high; suitable for work and play! So I felt no guilt in buying all three fabrics and the concealed zippers ot match. 

Knowing how much wear I would get out of these made me feel much less creative-guilt for deciding to make the same pattern a further three times (I already have two 🥲). 

Lining choices were a bit sparce in Abakhan that day, so I had to wait to sneak a trip into Hillsborough Fine Fabrics and get this, all linings were half price that day! Honestly this skirt was such a bargain make! 

In between securing the fabrics, I set-to cutting out the skirts in a kind of conveyour system, which I knew future me would be grateful for (who else hates sitting down to sew only to find, oh shit need to cut my interfacing😑). This was by far my most efficient cutting out and sewing together mission. I had piles of each pattern piece and sewed each step on each skirt before moving onto the next step. So you know that feeling you get after finsihing a garment (that fits super well!)?? Well I got that three-fold when I had finsihed sewing! 

This fabric was little harder to handle in places given the thicker nature of it. I used the overcast stitch on the normal sewing machine rather than overlocking as this just seemed to match the fabric really well (cough, overlocker fear on bulky fabric, cough). 

Despite it's qualities, the skirt does hang well, the body of the fabric making the shape definitive, creating a 60s silhouette. There isn't much give in the fabric and the facing adds a bit of bulk, particularly around the darts. This perhaps makes the skirt sit a little higher on my waist than the others do but that's not at the detriment to comfort or style. 

If you've ever spent time in my company, you'll know I'm a big fan of fast-walking (who has time to amble, really?), and the fit of these skirts allows for a wide stride, which is also great for the cooler seasons when you just gotta keep moving to keep warm! 

Something tells me these three skirts won't be the last I see of this pattern. These little mini skirts are already the best thing about autumn. Now, if only I could find a sewing pattern to salvage winter! 

x

Location: Ponderosa Park, Crookes Valley Park
Currently listening to: Man on a Mission, Black Keys

New Look 6843, Mini skirt hack

With my perfect fit mini-skirt pattern now in existence, I've gone a bit mad for this pattern. 

Boys won't understand, but there's something about a miniskirt that screams autumn to me ("Aren't you cold?"). Tights and boots and a wool blend mini - who's with me? 

Rooting through the wool blends in Abakhan Manchester I dug up this wool blend with seasonal browny flicks in it. The lining fabric was some I had in my stash which luckily matched the fawn tones in the wool. I found a zipper to match this colour too which really bought the whole thing together. 

In love with the fit of this pattern and understanding its versatility, I picked up some more mini skirt-suitable fabrics that day too, and set to a kind of conveyour system for cutting them all out at home, which I knew future me would be grateful for (who else hates sitting down to sew only to find, oh shit need to cut my interfacing😑). 

Having made this skirt a few times now, all three mini skirts came together really quickly. I think this one was my fave of the three, as the fabric hang is just perfect and the colours match so many things in my wardrobe. 

I love the construction of this skirt - the omission of a waistband, using the fabric for a facing inside instead just makes the whole thing more chic. 

The double darts in the backside allow for fantastic shaping. The almost A-line cut allows for lovely free movement (helpful for hiking up all the hills in Sheffield!), but doesn't poke out at a comical angle like ready to wear a-line skirts seem to on me. 

I knew I needed to add 1.5cm for the hem to the bottom of my skirt and lining pattern pieces as I had only been able to turn up a very tiny bit on my last black and white one (slight miscalculation there on my part maybe!!). This fabric hemmed really nicely. I finished with a blind hem by hand so that the stitching wouldn't be visible on the right side of the garment, again another chic little feature that adds to this skirt's simple elegance. 

I'm super pleased with this mini skirt - it looks so balanced when I wear it, the darts on this really do create the perfect fit. It's great for work, autumn and winter walks with woolly long socks, looks good with boots or flats, the brown flecks in the fabric make for a perfect pairing with gold jewellery and a neutral beret. It really is my perfect skirt! 

x
Location: Wentworth House
Currently listening to: New Town Velocity, Johnny Marr