Skirts – Stitch Sessions

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023

Drafting a Tiered Circle Skirt – With Styles InSeams’ Calculator

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands in front of a blue couch. They are wearing a white peasant blouse and a pink tiered circle skirt printed with small flowers. They have lifted one edge of the hem and let it drop, and it has been photographed mid-air.

Hello friends! Having now completed one skirt pattern with the pinafore I shared in the last post, I could see how pattern drafting could become addictive. I wasn’t satisfied with how the last skirt turned out and the itch to perfect the pattern and test something new had set in with a vengeance. However, I wasn’t drawn to making a pleated skirt since I found one I adore at an Op-Shop and tailored it. I also don’t tend to gravitate towards gathered skirts. These don’t feel either comfortable or flattering on me. So it was with some delight that I discovered the amazing Styles InSeams had come up with the perfect solution in designing a circle skirt that wasn’t gathered at the waist, but which had gathered tiers below it for volume and flare. Not only had they come up with this wonderful design, but they also created a calculator to make it simple for others to follow along! Content warning: this post includes mentions of weight fluctuations.

April 1, 2023

Drafting a Pinafore (Circle) Skirt

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands in front of a white wall. They are tucking a strand of hair behind their ear. They are wearing a dark blue blouse and a grey and blue plaid pinafore skirt.

What do you think about when I say pattern drafting? Some rather clever people out there start sewing without ever using commercial patterns and instead make their own! Others like me might spend quite a while using commercial patterns before moving onto drafting. However, I think we can all agree that being able to draft patterns is a very valuable skill, and one well worth spending the time and effort to learn. It can help you with fitting and sewing commercial patterns too. Imagine being able to replace missing pieces, or having a basic blueprint of yourself that you can compare any new pattern against before you even sew it!

November 28, 2020January 26, 2023

Jumpsuits and Pattern Hacking – Simplicity 6926 + The Tania Culottes and Vogue 7583

Nell, a Caucasian person, stands in front of a wooden bench and concrete wall. They are wearing a blue floral jumpsuit, and have pulled the legs apart to show the split.

Hello friends! I am so excited about this month’s blog post as it signals a change in the way that I am approaching sewing and sharing my makes on Ye Olde Internete. I recently made the decision to move to a monthly posting format on both Instagram and my blog, as I realised that this would suit me so much better and give me more space to thoroughly test each pattern. So each month I will be focusing on one particular pattern and testing a few different variations of it, depending on what I’m inspired to make with the fabric I have in my stash. However, this change was largely inspired by the fitting adventures I embarked on with the bodice of Simplicity 6926 – a vintage dress pattern circa 1975, which I picked up second-hand. It was a thoroughly enjoyable challenge and I learned so much from the process that it inspired this series, as well as my first ever video tutorial which you will find below!

February 1, 2020January 25, 2023

McCall’s 9900 – Vintage, paneled skirts at their finest!

Nell, a Caucasian person, bends over the side of a cabinet full of various homewares with a book in hand. They are wearing a blue and white gingham skirt, a white top, and a white hairbow.

This skirt pattern is, without a doubt, the pattern that cemented my interest in sewing vintage. My wardrobe largely consists of items that are vintage inspired to some degree, as well as menswear inspired. But I had been hesitant to sew dresses and skirts, as I thought I wouldn’t get much wear out of them.