We’re nearly at the end of November and I’ve still not posted all of my October makes! This is my second entry for Rosie Martin‘s #sewdots initiative – it has a surprise spotty lining!
The pattern is the Delphine Skirt from Tilly and the Buttons’s book Love At First Stitch. I’ve made one other pattern from the book – the Mimi Blouse – but it’s a little small now, especially as it shrunk in the wash. I made the size 2 of the blouse but it was always a little snug, especially around my arms, so I looked again at the measurements of skirt and I came out as a size 3, with a little ease around the waist, which I wanted as I always make the mistake of fitting things standing up, then I sit down and it cuts me in half!
As you can probably see in the above photo, though, there ended up being a little too much ease. But actually I think the fix would be to angle the waistband in a little instead of taking length off it. Marie from Sewn Bristol talked about doing this in one of her youtube videos, so when I make this again I’ll definitely use her tutorial. She is talking about the Grainline Moss Skirt, but the theory should be the same. You can see how it sits away from my waist in the below picture even more – sad face for dramatic effect!
Having said all of that, I’m pretty pleased with this skirt – I don’t plan to wear it like this so it will be less obvious the fit is a little off! Though I might take it up just a little. I expected it to come out quite short as most of Tilly’s patterns seems to, but on me this is knee length. I maybe should leave it as it is, though, so it’s more demure for work!
It actually looks a bit better from the back weirdly. Though it seems to have a couple of drag lines in the photo – I don’t think they’re there in real life. I always seem to get this step thing with zips in skirts, though, and I don’t know how to stop it – any tips? I put a pin into the zip on the second side to mark the waistband seam so they would line up – and the waistband seam seems to. Maybe I just sewed the top seam inaccurately?
I do love this fabric. And I love the shape of the skirt, it’s very cute! I used Tilly’s tutorial for adding a lining to a skirt and I can definitely recommend it, it was very simple and didn’t involve any hand sewing!
I’ve started wearing skirt and dresses more this Winter – I was cycling last Winter so it was a lot easier to wear trousers all the time – so I think I will make this again. Not sure what fabric to make it in though…..any suggestions? I think it would have to be something with body so it holds its shape.
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sewingmachinations.com 
The Delphine is a cute skirt but I had the same problem with the waistband. I think angling it in is the answer. I found Tilly’s tutorial on adding a lining really good – in fact the lining I put into my Delphine was probably the best one I’ve ever done!
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It’s a really great skirt, isn’t it? I’ve made two so far. The first one was my very skirt, so not wearable due to wonky stitching. The second one has slash pockets and I wear it a lot! I say, unpick the waistband to contour the sides more closely to your body and you should get a lot of wear out of it. Great fabric choice!
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I was planning to unpick and alter the waistband this weekend but I didn’t get around to it – typical! It is wearable as it is so I might be too lazy to ever change it!
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I know how it goes 🙂 I have a lovely wool skirt that I bought second-hand. The lining got somehow shredded with wear and I need to replace it. A bit of work — and it’s worth it — but I’m so lazy that I ended up somehow in the process of making a copycat skirt while the wool skirt is still waiting for me to unpick the waistband and insert a new lining (copied from the old lining, so easy, really).
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What if you got rid of the waistband altogether? Finish the waist with piping, or make a facing using the top of the skirt pattern? It would sit a little low on your waist but might be more fun that cutting a new waistband or trying to reshape this one. Cute skirt otherwise, you always look adorbs.
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I could get rid of the waistband but I quite like how it sits a bit higher up than my others – such as my Simplicity 2451’s. I’ll almost certainly never get around to changing this one and maybe I can wear it with a jumper tucked in so it looks less obviously too big 🙂
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Just put a belt on it and you’re done, I think 😉
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