Sunday 22 September 2013

Zinnia

Recently I've found myself becoming increasingly aware of the length of my skirts and dresses, coming to the conclusion that the majority of them are too short (especially now I have gained another year and reached the grand old age of, erm, 26). What may have been cute when I was a student just feels embarrassingly inappropriate now, so the natural thing to do to resolve this issue is obviously to Make. More. Skirts.

Duh.

So, on my to do list was shopping for a suitable skirt pattern. I knew that Colette patterns had a new launch this week and was really hoping for the perfect dignity restoring skirt. And they have TOTALLY delivered with Zinnia. I mean it's basically amazing.

Like quite a few others, judging by the first comments, I'm not really mad about the gathered version 1. It's very similar to Tillys picnic blanket skirt which I made recently, which was an easy make, but not exactly a wardrobe staple.

I need something I can wear to work, to the pub, on a sunny autumn walk... Basically I need something I can wear to death!

I already have the fabric ready for the until recently "unknown skirt" : a gorgeous red wine coloured something I grabbed at Birmingham rag market. The man kept shouting £1.50 a metre at me, what was I supposed to do!? (answer: buy three metres and worry about what to do with it later!).

So I've purchased, downloaded, printed, cut, masking taped, traced and cut my pattern pieces. A quick fabric wash and a trip to the haberdashery for thread and a zip and we're ready to go!

I've decided to make a hybrid of versions 2 and 3. I have no idea on the content of the fabric (assume polyester), I'm not even sure what we would call the fabric, but it's smooth, drapey, opaque and generally lovely, so I'll follow the instructions for version 2, including the pockets and belt loops, but cut the length for version three just for that guaranteed modesty fix I so desperately need.

My only wish now is for a skirt that looks half as beautiful as the ones modelled in the launch photos. If the wine skirt goes well, I could well be making an exact replica of their version 3.