Tag: Simplicity Naaimode 27

Skyline Skirt

At some point in the past (my downloads folder claims August 15th, 2018), I decided that I needed a skirt with the skyline of my town on it. So I scoured the web looking for a picture with the skyline and managed to find one on a Christian website that seems to have been taken down since. The picture went though some fine MS Paint-ing and had all the coloured background removed. I then printed the results on A3 paper to see how large it would need to go to be able to cover a skirt. That was .. September 2018 and I promptly forgot about the whole thing.

About two weeks ago, I remembered this project and decided to go ahead and try to get it started. Step 1, find a good skirt pattern. Step 2, cut out the pieces of the skirt from the smallest bit of fabric possible. Step 3, serge the sides of the skirt pieces and put them together. Step 4, measure the amount of coverage the skyline needs to be. Step 5, print the skyline again because the older version was too short. Step 6, embroider the skyline on the skirt. Step 7, finish sewing the skirt together.

Step 1 was a bit of a struggle to start with, since making choices is HARD! At the end I made the choice for Simplicity Naaimode 27’s model 3-4 (aka Simplicity 1324). A knee-length skirt with a contrast mock wrap at the front. Going through the hoard, I found a piece of fabric that I also used for a larp thing ages ago. There was only little fabric left, so the skirt pieces were on one grain, while the front bands and waistband were on another grain entirely. The sides were serged and put together after which I measured and printed the right size skyline. I sat down for a night and managed to stitch the skyline in with some thick white thread.

I did make a change the skirt and added a pocket in the right seam, since skirts without pocket(s) are not useful bits of clothing if you ask me. In the same vein, I also added belt loops to hold my keys.

On Friday there will be a little reunion for employees and I figured that would be a good time to test whether this skirt works. It should be somewhat appropriate, I hope.

Edged in Grey

Remember the weird black stuff that was very warm and that has been used as a cover up and key-hole opening top? Well, I pulled out the fabric again the other day and created a thing! The pattern is from Simplicity Naaimode 27, pattern model 5-8, and it is effectively New Look 6417.

I’ve always been interested in this pattern since I bought the magazine, but was never interested enough to actually draw the enormous pattern pieces it required. So one day I sat down and actually got to work. Eventually laying them out on the fabric and cutting it all out. I put it together and as usual with this fabric, the sleeve heads look really wonky. Ah well, they also do that on the key-hole top, so I guess that is the nature of the fabric. Then I went looking through the hoard to find something to edge this thing with. I stumbled on something grey that I think was used before for either a dress or something larp. So I cut that up into bias strips, using a continuous bias tape tutorial. I put it on the vest (?) and chucked the whole thing in the laundry, hoping the shoulder seams would shrink a little.

An hour later and my washing machine revealed a horrible truth. Apparently, I hadn’t caught all of the edges enough when sewing on the grey. This meant that about half of it was.. sticking back out? I didn’t take a picture, it was a horror-sight. So back I went with mr. seam ripper, taking out the stitching on one side. I ironed the edging flat again and folded it over further, now making sure to catch that fold completely such that it wouldn’t ‘unfold’ in the wash again. This worked!

I’ve worn it a few times and it is quite comfortable. In contrast to the original, I put two snaps on the back for the pointy bits. The only annoying thing is that it does not cover too much of my back, so those areas are still quite cold. I’m going to continue to wear it as a cover up, because it does feel mostly good while on.