Finished: Milkmaid skirt - another backlog garment!

As soon as I saw the Milkmaid Skirt for Grown Up Girls on Crafterhours, I really liked it.  I totally wanted to stalk Adrianna's striped version in the instructions.  And no pattern needed!

So I set to work.  I struggled to find the right fabric but went for the closest one and in doing so broke what has now become one of my cardinal rules of sewing - if you don't love the fabric, don't bother as you won't love the finished garment.

I worked out all the pattern  pieces from the very clear tutorial, and it went together really easily.  Except when I put it on, it was horrible.  I think the fabric was called Toothpaste stripe and it was as awful as that sounds.  And a kind of shiny canvassy twill.  I think I may have gone temporarily insane at the time of purchase!

The fabric was too stiff and I had made it too A-line.  I was also still losing weight at this point which probably didn't help with the look.  So I did what any self-respecting sewist would do in that situation - threw it in a corner and started on something better!

The next time i was in Fabricland I did spot the right material and nabbed it straight away.  It's a grey and white striped cotton.  I harvested the broad elastic from the waistband in the corner and whittled down the pattern pieces to fit my new smaller size and take out all of the A-line. 

Much better (scuse the horrible wrinkles - I didn't notice on the camera and it's far too cold now to get back outside and retake the pics!):

I really love stripes with florals and wore this outift a lot this summer.

It's a cheap as chips make - only 1m of fabric and you make your own pattern.  And speedy too - I think I might have taken 1.5 hours to sew up once I had the right sized pattern pieces. I think it could make a good winter skirt with tights and boots in a heavier fabric (although I would probably omit the pocket binding as I think that might become a bit bulky - perhaps a separate binding would work better on thicker fabric than the way this is applied)

And I had fun with the stripes on the pockets.  And matchy matchy waistband seams (the first time I have really managed this, but on a straight pattern piece there's no excuse not too!)