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Thursday, April 11, 2013

A surprise win!

On Tuesday I made a skirt I've been wanting to make for a year.  Just a simple, solid-colored dirndl, but it really fills a hole in my wardrobe and I love it!

I've had this pattern in my mind since I won it from Andrea at Invisible Flower last year.  I even mentioned that I intended to make it,  to simulate a designer skirt priced at almost $300.  (You can see that skirt here - it's no longer available on the designer's site.)  I would have made it a lot sooner, but I couldn't find the emerald green fabric I wanted until about 2 months ago.  I was astonished that it was so hard to find - seems like a pretty standard color to me, especially for spring.

The pattern hails from 1969 and includes long skirt, short skirt, pants and blouse:


You may ask why I needed a pattern for a dirndl skirt.  I really didn't, but this one seemed so perfect and was in my size.  The pockets here are in-seam, but I made patch pockets on my skirt to mimic the expensive one.

As I was making the skirt, I had a feeling it might not look so great on my curvy body.  So I was really pleased when I tried it on and was happy with how it looks.  I call this a "slim dirndl' - it's not overly gathered, and the panels are not rectangles but rather subtle trapezoids, so there's a little shaping at those side seams which in my opinion gives a more flattering fit.  You can see that on the back of the envelope:

look at how wide those pant legs are compared to the skirt pieces!

So here are my sub-par rainy day photos.  I decided to just go ahead and take them because who knows when the sun will return?  It's been rainy here since Monday.


See?  I don't look all poofy!  My hair, however, is quite poofy due to the humidity, so here is the skirt from the back, with me trying to pull my poofy hair out of the way!


This is plain broadcloth.  I didn't line the skirt because I decided to make it on a whim and didn't want to go out and buy lining.  And I always wear a slip so it's really not necessary.  The pattern calls for a lapped back zipper and waistband extension, but I did an invisible zipper going all the way to the top of the waistband.

this one shows the color best

This morning I pulled out about 5 blouses from my closet that look great with this skirt, and I didn't even get to the tee shirts or sweaters or jackets!  But I love it most with this little blouse I bought from Anthropologie probably ten years ago - it's one of my all-time favorites.


I'm also wearing these cute little pink and white seersucker sandals from J.Crew probably 7 years ago.


I traced this pattern onto the medical paper thinking it would be a one-off, but I would really consider making this again! 

I considered putting two buttons on the front of the waistband like the designer skirt, but in the end decided against it.  It seemed like a little too much, and I had a feeling they would have bothered me anyway.  It took me a while to manage the patch pockets with those gathers, and it's not perfect, but I think it's OK.


Or maybe they are perfect and it's just my wonky posture!  I did measure them.


So that's my new skirt.  Someday it will stop raining and warm up, and then I will get to wear it!  Yay!

35 comments:

  1. So cute! I love this color! This is so flattering and sweet on you!

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    1. Thanks, Sonja! It is definitely my style!

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  2. What a great skirt on you - everything works, the style, the colour and the fit ... well done ... J

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  3. What a lovely colour! So often its the simplest things you wear the most :)

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    1. I should probably remember that for future!

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  4. The perfect skirt for mixing and matching. I love that colour but sadly, it just doesn't suit me, it looks wonderful on you :)

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    1. This has always been one of my favorite colors, especially in spring time. I love it with navy and white, so I'm thinking of going for Renfrew #13 in stripes of those colors :-)

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  5. cute skirt! in my opinion green goes with almost everything. and i love this color green and have no idea why it's so hard to track down!

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    1. Thank you! And I agree - I love olive green with red, for instance.

      This emerald is supposed to be the "color of the year" - seems like it should be all over the place! Maybe fabric companies are slow to catch up?

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  6. Super cute skirt. Love that Kelly green. It's terrific on you.

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  7. I need to make more simple cute things like this:)
    I would probably wear them more than the crazy dresses:)

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    1. Me too! Almost everything in my closet is patterned!

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  8. I'm glad the pattern was a win! I've had luck with "trapezoid dirndls" also. And like everyone else .... I looooove that color!

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    1. Thanks again for your generous giveaway! I still sit down and look through those patterns now and again!

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  9. I should be commenting on the skirt, but OMG, I love those shoes. The skirt, the shoes, just the pick me up we need with all the rain we're having in Chicago!

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    1. Hehehe - you're funny! Well, now might be the time to admit that I also bought them in blue and white seersucker, yellow suede and brown suede :-) All on sale, natch! The inflexible wooden soles make walking in them a little clompy though!

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  10. Super cute! Love the green :) And that blouse is adorable too!

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  11. Gorgeous skirt! I LOVE the colour, and the style is perfect on you.

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    1. Thank you, Sam! I actually feel like it's kind of slenderizing, which is something I never would have thought possible for a dirndl.

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  12. Pretty! And the perfect green.

    I am going to have to pick your brain soon for patterns.

    I bought some vintage linen on a trip this week and am determined to make a simple smock-y dress! Getting that much closer to a project inspired by all your gorgeous sewing...

    ;-)

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    1. Oooh, I'm getting ideas for you already! I'll hook you up!

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    2. Please! I really want the merchant mills shirt dress pattern - http://merchantandmills.com/products/products/2-the-dress-shirt-pattern

      but think it will be too advanced, and take more fabric than I have. (it is a soft, washed, block printed linen!)

      Need something simpler. I am ok at sewing, but need much more practice to get anywhere near to the level of patterns you can handle. ;-?

      If you think of anything in the patterns you have seen lately, please let me know!

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  13. "It hails from 1969". . . it does indeed! I might buy it for the illustrations alone, but that skirt makes it a practical buy too.

    Emerald as "color of the year" has already hit rtw and the make-up counters. Why not the fabric stores?
    -- stashdragon

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    1. Emerald was really popular last year too in RTW, but it's just so hard to find in fabric and yarn!

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  14. I am about the same shape as you and it is good to know that tapered pattern pieces can take the pregnant look away from a dirndl skirt!
    Love the color, and it looks great with the blouse!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, I think it's also the fact that this one sits on the high waist that helps too. And the fact that I used a lighter-weight fabric.

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  15. I love that candy apple green! What a great skirt for spring.

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  16. Terrific skirt, and what a great choice to go with so many things you already have! I have no idea why it is that such popular colors/fabrics are so often difficult to find for home sewers -- some friends and I were lamenting last year that it seemed to be *impossible* to find red denim, or even white to dye it! Grrrr... conspiracy! ;-) Adorable shoes too...

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    1. It really is! I was in a shop looking for eyelet cottons today, and no luck! Don't they know we want to be trendy too?

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  17. Love it! That special shade is always impossible to find when you're looking for it, right??

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