Friends, eleven days ago, you were kind enough to give me your opinions on what I should make with this fabric here. Shortly after I posted about my fabric, the oh-so-fabulous Maria of Denmark emailed me about her Yasmin Yoke Skirt and asked if I wanted to give it a try with the comic strip fabric. After emailing back and forth about my body measurements and the measurements of the skirt, I was definitely ready to try this pattern. I will admit straight out that I avoid PDF patterns at all costs, mainly because I can never put them together properly. My BurdaStyle PDF adventures usually end in tears and thus, I do not make BS PDF patterns anymore. Maria's pattern, however, was a piece of cake to put together - she adds circles in the corner of each page so you can align the pages better. This worked like a charm! I was able to put the pattern together without any issues. I also appreciated that some of the pieces fit all on one page and didn't require putting together.
Once I got down to cutting out my fabric, I liked that Maria pointed out in several places that seam allowances are not included. Sometimes I have to search for this information in BS patterns, and I start the project completely frustrated. This is probably the first pattern that has spelled out so clearly the suggested seam allowances - based on my needs, I ended up adding 6/8" to both skirts' seams. Once it was cut out, sewing it up was a complete breeze. Maria included pictures of the steps with the instructions clearly spelled out, helpful for any level of sewist, but especially one who has not used PDF patterns before. I think this is an excellent PDF pattern for a sewist who is ready to try their hand at it: easy to put together, easy to follow, easy to sew.
Once I got to sewing, I loved it so much that I ended up making two versions!
First, "Pleasure": The Comic Book Skirt
OMG I LOVE IT.
To make it more "comic strip" like, I added a black band at the bottom to match the black yoke at the top. I love how it turned out, even if the polyester was shredding as I worked with it.
I hand-stitched the black band closed on the bottom, as well as the facings on the inside. The inside facings were made with leftover pieces of the comic fabric, just to add some more character to the innards.
Up close shot of the fabric... I think this might be the most colorful and most boring series of single-frame comics ever.
While the pattern calls for an invisible zipper, I did not have any in my stash. Instead, I grabbed a hot pink normal one and I love the little pop of color in the black.
Second version: "Business" or the work skirt.
For this version, I used a pinstripe suiting that has a TON of stretch in it. This definitely caused some issues down the line, but all manageable.
I love skirts with pockets, because sometimes I just don't know what to do with my hands when I am talking to other professionals. Yay for pockets on my new work skirt to solve that problem!
The front has a weird wrinkle running across, but I plan on tackling it with an iron later. I was also having issues with the lining that I added. The lining has no stretch in it, so attaching it to the bottom of the skirt via slip stitch was nearly a nightmare.
This is my attempt to hide the wrinkle. It will be conquered - it will just take more steam, and then more steam on top of that. For as fabulous as this skirt turned out, I'm willing to invest some time ironing.
I also made this blouse to go along with it. I had some extra navy poly in the stash and decided a blouse was in order. I used Simplicity 2659 and altered it to include a keyhole with hook and eye instead of a zipper.
Front pleating details up close. They are a little bit off kilter, but I can live with it, especially since winter is coming and I'll be wearing some sort of sweater with this for most of the season.
Flanges details up close. I love how these look! They add a ton of pizazz to this sleeveless shirt, and I might just Frankenstein them onto another shirt pattern in the future.
The back zipper. I used brown since it was the least garish zipper I had in my stash. I am pleased with how easy it went in and how well it looks now.
I slip stitched the lining to the zipper. I added a lining so I could wear it with tights during the winter since the suiting is nice and heavy already.
The slip stitched hem. It's a mess, really, pulling upwards because the suiting has so much stretch and the lining does not. I think I might need to separate the two and hem each on their own while tacking the lining to the shell at the seams.
Friends, I cannot recommend this pattern enough. It's versatile, can be made with so many fabrics for so many occasions, has different length options, you can add different linings for the pockets and skirt, and even do color blocking if you wished. I fully plan on making a flannel one before it starts snowing here.
Thanks again to Maria for making such a wonderful pattern! I'm definitely loving the "Business or Pleasure?" additions to my wardrobe!
XOXO,
Meg