I don’t think there is any fabric I like more than this woven handprinted fabric by the small Belgian company Atelier Lotte Martens – but took me that long to decide which pattern is suited best. This blush rose with a neon-orange print is just like hitting bullseye. My crush on orange is no secret, I already sewed a blouse out of this fabric in a slightly different color for my little Madame.
The challenge (or the devil is in the details): the quality of the fabric is quite heavy-weighted and the print was nearly in the middle of the panel whereas I would have liked it at the bottom. So first step (as always): browse through all my patterns with the idee fixe to sew a blouse for me as well. Obviously it had to be a blouse pattern with a yoke, because the print should just above the hemline, remember? But nothing really fit my and the fabrics demands. Even my last resort, the Blouse Suun, vanished into thin air when I realised that the print wouldn’t be were I wanted it to. (But because I had already printed and cut out the printed pattern I just went along and made it with a different fabric.)
Back to neon: it began to dawn on me why most of the design examples had been skirts. So I tried to get the blouse out of my head and visualise my cool new skirt. I startet with – guess what – a look through all my skirt pattern: the tried and tested Frau Lilia (no, boring, try something new!), Brumby Skirt (ingenious front pockets but too high-waisted for my taste) and finally: Lotta Skirt by Compagnie M. (much admired at Liivi & Liivi or tillit.).
Sewing it up was a walk in the park compared to the prelude: the instructions are available in a lot of different languages and even if my English is quite good I appreciate the German version. For my preferred fit on the hips I made a size 38 for the waistband, and my normal size 36 for the skirt. I topstitched the folded pocket flaps, that are the eye-catchers of this pattern, with a neon thread.
The positioning of the printed orange part finally worked as planned, mainly because the back skirt is cut in two parts and leaves more options when cutting the pieces. I’m quite pleased with how my first invisible zipper worked out, even without a special invisible zipper foot for my sewing machine. You just really have to take care of your fingers when pressing down the zipper feet right beside the needle.
What did I modify? I made the waistband a little less high at the top and as usual for my size shortened the skirt a little. In the beginning I was so afraid the skirt might turn out too high waisted, but in the end when I have a look at this pictures I guess it actually would suit me better if it sat a bit higher. I’ll probably open the waistband at the sides again and sew it a bit tighter or add belt loops. Anyone has a better tip for me? Besides getting myself to take more time with my next sewing project to get the fitting right before closing the side seams and topstitch the waistband … Having said this maybe I will give the Brumby Skirt a try next time.
Unlike all the fuss about the skirt, the pattern and fabric for a matching shirt came together easily: »Frau Hennie« by Studio Schnittreif had been waiting on my harddrive for almost three years, and the small-striped interlock by C. Pauli nearly that long in my fabric-shelf as well. Although this shirt pattern is quite simple, the seam ripper had to work overtime until the bindings were to greater or lesser extent, well … acceptable. And to give up a secret: the shirt is still not hemmed – I just had to take some pictures before the beautiful grain fields would have been cut off …
On a side note: Lotte Martens has apparently recognised the problem of the short panel size and is now producing larger panels that are better suited for adults …
Fabrics and patterns: Lotta Skirt by Compagnie M. made from a handprinted polyester viscose »Bromelia 08« by Lotte Martens; Frau Hennie by Studio Schnittreif made from an organic interlock from C. Pauli in the color »peach blush/white«
Fabrics and patterns are bought on my own.
