The Flirt Skirt

June 15, 2016April 20, 2017 ~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

There’s no doubt about it – The Flirt Skirt is my favorite skirt pattern. I do have other patterns, but I seem to go back to the Flirt again and again.

Here are the ones I’ve made so far:

Denim flirt

This is still one of my favorites. This is my stretch denim Flirt.

floral flirt

This is a pretty floral denim-look Flirt.

yellow flirt

My pale yellow denim Flirt.

burgundy flirt

Another favorite Flirt in a lovely rich-colored flocked knit.

Maxi flirt

And my very favorite maxi Flirt.

So, why am I showing all my Flirt Skirts here? I recently found something out. Craftsy no longer has the workshop for the Flirt Skirt available. I’ve been referring to it over and over because I love the skirt pattern, and I love Craftsy.

But it’s not there.

One lovely follower commented she tried to use the link and all she got was an adorable kitten saying something went wrong.

That got me looking around a bit. I knew the pattern was out there. I just had to find it.

I did find the pattern for The Flirt Skirt again. It’s on Pamela Howard’s website. Pam is the designer of this skirt and was the one leading the workshop.

flirtskirt

Here’s the photo from Pam’s website so you know what the original looks like.

In case you’re wondering, I thought I’d share just what it is I love so much about this skirt. From the front, this skirt gives the look of a long straight skirt – something I normally can’t wear. Being on the shorter side, and curvy, most things that are straight don’t fit – at all. This fits wonderfully.

Something else I love about this skirt is the back. That flirty part makes this skirt a dream when it comes to walking.

Happy creating!

A Lacy Maxi

July 8, 2015July 17, 2016 ~ Michelle

I really do live in skirts all summer long. I love how comfortable they are, and if you knew me, you’d know I’m not a jeans girl. I like to be a little more dressed up than that. A few years ago I could even say I didn’t even own a pair of jeans, but I had to buy a pair for a job. Those jeans have been in my closet for a couple of years now and I haven’t worn them. That just makes me think, what are they still doing in my closet?

Back to skirts. I wanted a Maxi skirt, and knew the exact look I wanted. For this skirt, I modified my Flirt Skirt pattern to use for both the skirt and the slip.

I’d picked up some black cotton lace-like material.

Material

It’s lovely, but it’s also not the perfect material for a skirt on its own. It would show just a bit too much. So, to use this, I made a lining for it with a light-weight cotton, also in black. Both materials are so light, making this a great summer skirt.

Skirt

Oh, I love it! It doesn’t show here on Catherine (my dress form), but I didn’t want the slip to go the full length of the skirt. I wanted some of that open work to show that it was open. So, the slip only goes part way below the knee. Originally, I’d thought of making the slip shorter, but I’m really loving this skirt just the way it is.

Here I am out with my pup. You can see where the slip ends and the light shines through the bottom of the skirt.

There’s one thing I miss about RTW clothing when I’m wearing clothing I’ve made myself – the garment’s tag. I don’t miss it for any of the reasons it’s likely there – like the brand, or the fabric content, or the care instructions. I miss it because it’s a really quick and handy indicator of the front or back of the garment. With the Flirt Skirts I’ve made, I’m always checking the seams to see where the front or back is before putting it on. I came up with a quick little tag that is uniquely me.

tag

I cut a flower out of some scrap lace that was heading for the garbage and gave it a quick zigzag onto the back seam. Now when I pick up my skirt, I’ll know really quickly where the back is. I didn’t match the thread to the flower thinking I didn’t want pink to show on the skirt. I was tired and not really thinking there. I could have easily used two colors of thread – I’ve done it before. However, I let it be; I chose function over form for this one. Maybe I’ll be my normal more finicky self for the next one and pull out some matching thread.

Happy creating!

Panties To Match

February 28, 2015July 17, 2016 ~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

Here are my panties to match my Sewy Rebecca bra.

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Did you know Sewy actually has panties to match their bra pattern?

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Here they are. This is from the Sewy website. And here’s the line drawing of the pattern from their website.

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Aren’t they lovely?

And on a side note, I’ve found being an English-speaking person, who does not read or speak German, the best way to navigate the Sewy website is on Google Translate. You can read everything translated into English, but you can’t place an order when using Google Translate. Ask me how I know. You can see the Sewy website translated here.

Back to my sewing. The panties I made are from my TNT Kwik Sew 2286, but I altered the front. This time, since I was adding the lace panel and wanted to keep the scallop at the top of the lace, I remembered to add the lace elastic to the waistband before sewing the lace panel on. I love them.

And here is the matching set.

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My intent is to make two pair of panties for each bra I make. So after my Rebecca was done and I got out my cotton spandex, I realized I only had enough cotton for one pair of panties. I already have the lace cut out for the second pair of panties, but it looks like I have to wait for them.

I told my hubby I needed to order more cotton material, and, well, we had a discussion and he suggested that since I’ve bought all this other material with plans to sew other things, I needed to sew something other than bras and panties to match. Sigh. He just doesn’t understand how addictive bra making is. And for a garment I have to wear every day – it’s just such a delight to put my own on rather than anything RTW.

We came to a compromise – I ordered more material and I’ll sew something else before I sew another bra or panty. But… there was the Watson Sew-along, and there’s Erin’s Bra-a-Week Challenge going on right now, and there are patterns to perfect now that I have my size and fit all figured out. I’m having a very hard time choosing another project when I want to sew bras and panties.

So, I told myself, while my supplies are on the way, get something else sewn and then I’ll have both time and resources to sew another pretty matching set.

So, a Flirt Skirt it is.

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This is in a stretch denim. Look at that flare at the back. Such fun. It really is flirty. My skirt’s not quite done. I still have the waistband to finish, but that won’t take long at all. The ‘top’ is simply material I draped over my dress form. I’d bought some of material to make a cowl neck top, so that will be next… after my second pair of panties.

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Happy creating!

Whoops! My Flirt Skirt and Another Watson Started

January 28, 2015December 27, 2017 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Sorry to everyone who received that unfinished post I sent out. I had a terrible headache (I can count on one hand how many headaches I’ve ever had) and when I went to save a draft of my blog, I hit publish by mistake. Oops. Once that button is hit, there’s no taking it back. However, it wasn’t finished. So here it is (again) in it fullness.

I really like black, and my wardrobe has a disproportionate amount of the color. I have four or five black skirts in my closet right now, and was planning on making another one with the fabric I used for my Mum’s cardigan.

My hubby loves when I wear color, so when he went shopping with me for material, he ‘helped’ me pick out my fabrics. This fabric was one of those helpful picks. Honestly, I’d put off sewing it because I really wasn’t sure I’d like it at all. Turns out I love it. I love the material. I love the skirt.

The Flirt Skirt comes together quite quickly and easily. Here’s the link for the skirt on Pam Howard’s website. This is such a pretty skirt. There was also a kit for this skirt on Craftsy, but I didn’t love the material in the kit so just bought the pattern and read through the information in the workshop. (The workshop is no longer on Craftsy.)

When it came time to sew the waistband, I had a memory of using the serger to sew on the elastic. So, I looked it up. I found this blog post on Sewing With Nancy, and the post has more information in there than I’d hoped to find. I followed her suggestion for attaching the waist. I didn’t think of it until I’d sewn the waist on, but I only had three seams to sew that waist down. It wasn’t going to work for this skirt.

While I had the elastic serged on, I thought a blind hem might work. Nope. That was not what I’d wanted. This really was one of those projects that if my hubby hadn’t seen the material and the skirt wasn’t almost done, I think I might have thrown it out. I don’t like re-doing things over and over. I’d rather start again. And that was how it was feeling – like I was doing the same thing over and over. I finally decided to just follow the instructions from the workshop and it all turned out perfectly. Imagine that?

In the end, it all came together and I really love it. I’m thinking my hubby needs to take me out somewhere nice so I can wear it. I also found a lovely scarf that had been given to me that goes so nicely with it.

What makes this skirt flirty is there’s a lovely flounce at the back. It looks a lot like a straight skirt from the front, but the back has a little extra. It helps with walking and it’s rather fun to wear.

This photo shows the flounce a bit.

And here I am showing the front of the skirt.

Sadly, the photo looks washed out, but it was the best we could get. The material is closer to the photos above.

And showing that little flounce at the back:

There’s lots of kick room back there. I love it. I may take the elastic at the waist in a bit. It’s looser than I like, but I’d read how curvy girls needed to make sure it would fit over the hips too. The skirt isn’t too tight going over the hips so, the waist band is going to come in.

Lastly, I’ve got another Watson bra cut out for the sew-along. This time in some of the black and beige Lycra I bought. So far, it’s looking darling.