Autumnal Beignet

This skirt has been a while in the making. I cut it out in January (I think) with an idea for it to be ready for me to sew in March. It was to be part of Cindy's and EmSewCrazy's impending seasonal change theme for the Stashbusting Challenge.

And so the fabric sat there in it's bag in my sewing room all cut out with no one to sew it. It was a while before I felt like sewing, let alone being capable of walking down the stairs in our house to the sewing room!

When I eventually started sewing, it was still difficult to get up and down the stairs and so pressing seams did not happen as frequently as it should. I managed to finger press some bits, which is possible with linen.

The fabric I bought last February time from Global Fabrics here in Wellington. It was one of my first fabric purchases here in New Zealand, so I will for a silly reason always have a soft spot for it. The lining also came from the same store, but at a later stage, with the prime purpose of lining this skirt.

Not the best photo of the lining and fabric, the red is a real raspberry red and the lining is similar. All the seams (both shell and lining) are French seams, bar the side seams where I couldn't work out the pockets with French seams! However, due to my lack of pressing, some of the seams in the lining did not completely encase the first seam (as above). A wee bit of seam trimming had to take place!

If you haven't worked out already, the pattern is Colette Patterns Beignet, a high-waisted button-through skirt.

I didn't really have any major issues with the pattern, it's pretty simple to put together. I think the frustrating part (not difficult, just frustrating) was attaching the skirt lining to the facings, which are made in the shell fabric. My curves were not perfect on the inside, but no one can seem them, so I'm not worried.

The pattern suggests making the belt loops by stitching them and turning them inside out using a bodkin or threading a needle through, but this was impossible with my fabric, I ruined one.

Consequently, I chucked them all and started again folding them and sewing on the outside. I don't honestly think it shows on the finished skirt.

I added 2 inches (I think) to the length of the skirt. The skirt would have been a tad to short for me otherwise. I like the finished length.

I also used a bit of poetic, ahem, sewer's licence and didn't sew as many buttonholes as on the pattern.  I've got nine. This may seem a strange number, but I had ten buttons and thought I'd keep one spare, so I re-measured and sewed nine buttonholes. These weren't all without a hitch. For some reason my machine decided to stay still as I stitched one and ended up with an enormous thick stitch. I had to unpick it (something I am not a fan of, since my seam ripper and I generally part after an argument!)

What do you think of these buttons though?

I got them at the Christmas market here in Wellington. They're wooden and I think they look great, but then I might be slightly biased! :-)

If I did anything differently next time, I would consider making the pockets from the shell fabric, depending on what fabrics I was using. The pattern uses the lining fabric, but with this mix of fabrics, I don't think they lay flat enough.

So, the details
Fabric:  Raspberry red linen for the shell bought February 2012 from Global Fabrics, red polyester lining fabric from Global Fabrics, October time
Trim:   Nine flowered wooden buttons from the underground market, Frank Kitts car park, Wellington
Pattern:  Colette Beignet
First worn:  Thursday for work and lunch with a fellow Wellington sewing blogger, Melissa, where we found time to suss out MrsC's new off-shoot from her craft shop, Made Marion on Lambton. Well I needed some thread, a zip and also an invisible zipper foot!
Worn with:  My sparkly Sorbetto (made in September 2011), black belt from Glassons, black cardigan from Glassons, Everybody black pumps from a shoe shop in Edinburgh (UK). Oh and of course the added sexy moonboot and crutches :-)

 I'd been to work sitting down and the nature of linen means it's a tad creased, but who cares, don't those buttons look cute?

 I would say this is closest to the real colour.