FO: Minty Floral Skirt

This is yet another piece I've had planned for literal years and I am so thrilled to finally have a finished item to wear :) In fact - I have a whole outfit for it:

The dream of this outfit is what finally made me buy the Agnes Top pattern. I bought this cotton twill fabric from Hobby Lobby in 2016 always intending to make a fly front jean style skirt. It's mint green with tiny white flowers and a decent weight for a skirt. At the time, I did not have a pattern that fit my needs yet. I purchased the Sally Skirt from Style Arc and made up a muslin to see if it was worthy of this adorable fabric, and it wasn't quite what I was wanting (plus it needed a lot of fitting help). Soon after that, McCall's came out with the 7475 skirt and culottes pattern. I would never go for the culottes, but the skirt is a great pattern. I made a black version last year to test out the pattern and in spite of the not so ideal fabric on that version I still wear that skirt all the time. The fit is great and it's very comfy but cute. So when I was making my Make 9 list this year, I put this combo on it to inspire me to finally sew up the minty skirt of my dreams.

This pattern has all the details I wanted plus the back yoke fit me perfectly with no alterations. Usually I would need a sway back adjustment on most any skirt I make, but this yoke has the perfect shape for my body. I get zero bunching at my lower back with no extra effort - major score :) I also love the slight a-line shape - just wide enough to keep cool in the hot summer. And I LOVE the pockets in this pattern. Technically the pattern includes back pockets with one version and front pockets with a separate version, but I love pockets and wanted it to look like a classic jean skirt, so I added ALL THE POCKETS. I did the same thing on my black version and I love the look. Do I use the back pockets? Not even once that I recall. I just love the look of them.

The front pockets are equally cool with a neat shape and they are the perfect size in my opinion. I can carry my keys around at work in these no problem and they also fit my whole hand in there should I so choose. These pockets feel very 70s to me since it's a detail I see on a lot of vintage patterns.

Then there's the fly front. I have no idea why I like fly fronts so much - they add a little bulk to my tummy, which I would usually steer away from in other circumstances. I guess it just feels so professional to have one. I am always trying to find classic jean skirts in stores, but I never find any that fit me right; so this has apparently instilled in me a desire to make them. Any cute twill or denim I come across is automatically evaluated for this type of skirt. Again I was surprised at the quality of instructions on the fly front. I had no issues inserting this fly and I only used the pattern instructions. On my black version I didn't want to add the bulk of a button at the waist (and I was secretly afraid my machine wouldn't like sewing a buttonhole through all that bulk) so I used a pants hook and eye, but this time I wanted to go whole hog and make it just like a ready to wear version with a proper button.

Here are some up close details and "design features". The one problem I had on my fly front was keeping my foot straight as I top stitched the fly from the front. I sewed it a few times and because of little bumps on the underside, I squiggled when I should've stayed straight :/ This mean that I had to unpick this line a few times, and being me I accidentally made a hole in the front of my skirt. I was not happy, but at that point you have to make due. I decided to put my bar tacks right over that spot, lol. So I neatened up the area, applied a lot of fray check, then added a long bar tack over top of the hole. I did a little more fray check just in case after stitching, so I'm hoping this spot holds up. At least you can't tell anything happened. I used a 7" white metal vintage zipper from my stash. My button was a one of in my stash that probably came with a garment someone bought who knows when. It's covered in some type of white poly twill and I knew it would lay fairly flat, and I'm really happy with it. I went all out on top stitching with this skirt. Every seam is overcast inside and then I used a triple stitch with regular white thread to top stitch the seam allowances down. The pockets, yoke, hem, and waistband are also top stitched. I wanted a decorative pattern on the pockets, but when it came time I couldn't think of anything interesting, so I just went with a double V. Hopefully next time I can think of something more interesting, but I think in this version it's fine since the print makes the stitching more subtle.

Fit wise, I'm very happy with this version. I made the largest size and used a 3/8" seam allowance on the side seams. I also added 1/2" to the length based off my first version. This wasn't absolutely necessary, but I figured I would try it out just that little bit longer.

So that's my new skirt :) I've worn this outfit a few times since making it, and I really love both pieces - I mean how can you not love flowers and flamingos? I particularly love how they look together. I like that it's coordinating colors but not matching patterns - I'm never very good at combining prints, but I think this tiny floral makes it easier. I'm thrilled that I finally made this up and I'm definitely planning another version in the future.

Summary:
Fabric: 1.8 yards minty floral printed cotton twill - $11.00
Pattern: McCall's 7475
Notions: 7" metal zipper - $0.10, Pellon SF101 Interfacing - $1.00, white thread - $1.00, white button - free
Time: 6 hours
Total Cost: $ 13.10