Tag Archives: Colette Mabel Skirt

February Makes and March Plans

I literally can’t believe we’re already in March. (I’ve been watching a lot of Parks and Recreation recently, so this sentence is my homage to Chris Traeger!) I was moderately successful in completing my makes for February – I made only one thing I planned, but I made 2 extra things I hadn’t planned. I also had a mammoth cutting out session so I still have a few projects ready to go!

In a rare moment of blogging, I’ve actually blogged everything I made in February already (this may come back a bite me on the arse when I run out of things to blog!). First up I made this Colette Mabel skirt, to match the one I made for my sister for Christmas.

I also made what I thought would be my entry into the #MonetaParty, which was in the end my first version of the pattern, from the navy-with-white-flecks jersey:

Then I made my second, way more successful version of the Moneta, which rescued the pattern in my eyes – I felt it was a bit frumpy and not really my style in my first version. It goes to show the importance of fabric choice!

So my plans for March are pretty much the things I didn’t get around to making in February……including these effing trousers which have been on my to-make list since I started doing these posts back in October! They are at least cut out! I’m planning to tackle them this weekend.

I do also want to make my Toaster Sweater, which is also already cut out. I think it will be a good top for the still-quite-cold-weather we’re having in Gloucestershire! And I love the silver jersey I’ve got for it. Now if I could only get my overlocker working……

If I have time – which is unlikely to be honest as I’m away for 2 whole weekends in March – I’ll try to make my denim Moss Skirt, which is basically a copy of the one I made for my sister.

I want to try to get some fabric this month to try to make a start on my #2017MakeNine. The Moneta Dress was one of them, so I’ve at least made one. I also have Christine Haynes’s Marianne Dress on there and I do have fabric for that so hopefully that will be made in April.

I also want to get back into refashioning – I have quite a stash of garments to refashion – as that is one of the things I consider to be under the ‘thrift’ part of my blog name! Though as I’m away for some of March, this might have to wait until April!

What are your sewing plans for March?

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Twin Mabels for Twin Sisters

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You know how I was making those skirts for my sister for Christmas? Well one of the 3 I made in time for Christmas was a Mabel made out of this cool quilted jersey from Fabricland (though we got it in grey and it seems to be only available in khaki now).

This is mine:

And this is my sister’s:

Like us the skirts are more fraternal (non-identical) twins than identical twins. They are both a size small – I traced off a size bigger in this pattern after the too-tight original Mabel I made a couple of years ago. Phoebe’s is 3 inches longer than mine, which was the length she requested. I made mine in the standard length for the pattern, which hits me just on the knee.

I’m pretty pleased with my pattern matching skillz on both, if I do say so myself! This is Phoebe’s:

And this is mine:

Mine isn’t quite as good as the pattern isn’t uninterrupted – I’ve got two poofy bits and 2 flats bits (technical terms, obviously!) next to each other, when they should alternate. But at least the lines match up.

I managed to mostly match them on the waistband too, at least in terms of the vertical lines, if not the horizontal zigzags perfectly.

Mine was a bit better matched across the back – sorry Phoebe! One of the back panels of hers ended up slightly on the wonk – I guess the fabric wasn’t perfectly folded in half. I haven’t done a huge amount of pattern matching, so I’m pretty pleased with how these turned out 🙂

I love the little kick pleat at the back!

These are definitely really quick skirts to sew up. At least they are when you don’t sew the waistband on upside down, without realising until you’ve finished the skirt and topstitched the top edge to stop it rolling. Though I’m just guessing that this would be really annoying and time-consuming to fix……… I actually didn’t topstitch the top edge of mine because I was feeling lazy!

I used a twin needle (heh!) for the hem and stitching in the ditch of the bottom of the waistband, and topstitching the top edge of Phoebe’s skirt, but for mine I just used a normal zigzag for the hem and stitching in the ditch. You actually really can’t see the stitching on this fabric, so it didn’t matter to me too much on my own whether it looked all professional like a twin needle makes it look.

I modelled the skirt with a tight rtw top tucked in, so you could see it, but I’ll really wear it with this black jumper in the Winter, and maybe my Astoria when the weather gets a bit warmer. I actually wore it exactly as in the above photo to work on Monday and I got quite a few compliments. And I love saying ‘thank you, I made it’ when I get complimented on something I’ve made. #sorrynotsorry.

Who would you like to wear matching clothes with?

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December makes and January Plans

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I know I already wrote a post about my plans for the year, but I thought it would have ended up even longer if I included my regular recap of what I made last month and plan of what to make this month, so here is another planning post in the same week!

My main aim for December was to make 4 skirts for my sister for Christmas, but I did manage to squeeze in a sneaky dress for myself!

This is the Jersey Dress by In The Folds with Peppermint Magazine. It’s free to download and has in seam pockets! I’ve worn it quite a few times so far, including to the Christmas Sew Brizzle meet up and on Christmas Day! It’s quite long on me but it’s like a secret blanket!

I managed to finish 3 of the 4 skirts for my sister – I stupidly thought they would be really quick, which was true to a certain extent, except I made stupid mistakes with the Mabel skirt which put my timings back a bit. I finished a red corduroy Delphine, a navy blue drill Delphine and a grey quilted fabric Mabel. I’ll post in more detail about them later this month hopefully.

I’m pretty pleased with the pattern matching of the quilted lines on the Mabel, if I do say so myself! And Phoebe liked the skirts and they fitted pretty well and were the right length, which is cool. She’s not sure about the colour of the navy drill one as she ordered the fabric online and it is quite a pale shade of navy, but hopefully when the weather gets warmer she’ll have other things to wear it with so it will grow on her. And if not, it’s not the end of the world 🙂

So my first make for January has to be the skirt I didn’t make in time for Christmas – a denim Moss Skirt. I’ve got the pattern assembled, traced and altered – she wants the long length but without the hem band, so I’ve lengthened the mini version pattern pieces. I have a zip and thread too, so I’m all ready to go!

There was quite a bit of fabric left from each of the skirts I made, so I also might see if I can make a Moss Skirt out of what I’ve got left from the red corduroy. Selfishly I might use the rest of the grey quilted fabric (probably for a matching Mabel!) and the navy drill, but I don’t wear red so I figure if I can make something else for Phoebe, then it doesn’t go to waste.

As I mentioned in my 2017 planning post, I’ve signed up for #ProjectSewMyStyle and I’m going to try to make the pattern for January which is the Sew House Seven Toaster Sweater 2. This might get bumped to February as I don’t have any fabric I’d like to use for it currently in my stash. And there was talk of a Sew Brizzle trip to Birmingham to go fabric shopping at the end of the month, so I’ll look for something then hopefully. I’m also in Aberdeen for a second Christmas with my uni friends so I might see if we can take a detour to a sewing shop at some point, then this might get made this month. I could do with some warmer clothes to be honest, as our flat is rather cold!

I don’t know how many more times I can add this make to my plans……

It’s getting embarrassing now! I now pledge to have the pattern and fabric cut out by the end of the month, then hopefully I can make them in February. I’m hoping once I’ve popped by trouser cherry, then my jean-making plans for the year won’t feel quite so scary!

Given that I’m away this weekend I doubt I’ll get all of this done this month, but I’ll do my best!

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November Make(s) and December Plans

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Since I’ve been doing these planning posts, the months seem to be disappearing very quickly! I think this means I have to be more modest in my plans…….as demonstrated by the fact that I made only one thing in the whole of November. Oh. Dear.

It was a pretty good thing though – I made my By Hand London Alix Dress for a party I went to 2 weekends ago for my sister. It’s made from some viscose from Abakhan – the photo below doesn’t do the colour justice.

I will take some proper photos of me wearing and do a full blog post on it – I really loved making it and wearing it. I don’t think there’ll be too many occasions in my life where I can wear a maxi dress but I really like the top version of the pattern, so I think I’ll be using this pattern again.

So now after one dress……onto my December plans!

I will try to make the free Jersey Dress pattern from Peppermint magazine, designed by In The Folds. After I finished my dress, I was away for the weekend and then last weekend The Boyfriend’s brother and sister-in-law came to visit so I didn’t end up with much sewing time for the rest of the months – that’s my excuse anyway 😉

I still haven’t even finished assembling the pattern for this, let alone cut it out. I think it will be quite quick to come together once it’s all prepared – I find jersey is quite quick to sew because you don’t have to neaten the seams 😀

Realistically there are only about 3 weekends left until Christmas (eek! How did that happen!?) the main things I want to get done this month are 4 skirts for my sister. She has now got her prosthetic leg and is learning to walk with it, though it is hard work. They say it takes something like 80% more energy to walk with a prosthetic leg than if you have 2 legs! She has asked me to make her some skirts to wear as most of her clothes were skinny trousers and her thigh is still quite swollen and it will take a long time for it to completely settle down into its permanent shape.

She has asked for 2 Tilly and the Buttons Delphine skirts (hopefully they will be better fitting than mine!), one in navy blue drill……

…and one in red corduroy

She bought some really lovely grey quilty jersey fabric to become a Colette Mabel – I may have to get some for myself and make a matching skirt. Or maybe a Talvikki Sweater like Heather Lou’s?

The 4th skirt will be a Grainline Moss, which I bought the PDF of during their Thanksgiving sale – I’m going to try to print it off and assemble it this weekend. Then I can make myself some versions too!

The denim has a little stretch in it but it also a bit thick-feeling so I may have to line this one so it’s comfortable to wear.

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Aztec Print Mabel Skirt

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On the same day I made my Linden sweatshirt, I made a Colette Mabel skirt from the same fabric. OMG, this was so quick to make! It took, like, 90 minutes – and that was because I made a rookie error and sewed 2 pieces wrong sides together!

I made the size xs and the only change I made was to add 2″ to the length – I held up the pattern pieces and it seemed like it would be waaaay too short!

I think when I cut the skirt out, I didn’t quite get it perfectly straight with the pattern – which I didn’t notice until I saw these pictures! You can see on the hem, below, that the line isn’t quite perpendicular. Boo!

The waistband is also really on the wonk! But with a top covering it, you can’t really see.

But I did triumph on the pattern-matching front on the back seam! Behold!

I used my beloved twin needle for the hem – I’m really starting to get the hang of sewing with knits now I think!

The only problem with this skirt, though, is that I’m not sure if it suits me or is really my style. I might give it a go in the longer length and see if that’s any better. Or maybe make a size bigger. Or slightly change the shape so it doesn’t go in so much at the bottom. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned many times on here, I like to wear looser fitting tops but this skirt looks really weird with a non-tight top as it makes me look top-heavy.