FO: On Point Hollyburn Skirt

 

Now that I'm sewing again, and now that I'm smaller than I was previously when I sewed clothes, it was time to recreate a few favorite patterns I've worn all these years. I've made 5 Hollyburn skirts over the years and I wore every single one of them all the time unless I sized out of them. Now I'm down to 2 - my original green one that was too tight at the time and my purple one - but these are technically too loose as well. I could take them in, but I just haven't wanted to mess with that yet. Why not make a new one instead? 

The Hollyburn skirt is a very simple design from Sewaholic patterns. It's knee length, a-line, and has huge pockets. Sewaholic designed all her patterns for pear shapes, so this skirt works particularly well for me. The pockets are simple to construct, but they are secured in the waistband seam, making them very sturdy and easy to access.

I made this one up using a Cotton + Steel print linen/cotton fabric that I was given by a friend who was destashing back in March. Can you believe it? She is a quilter and she had a 3 yard cut of this fabric and I jumped on it immediately. The print is from Melody Miller's Mustang collection and it's a dusty mint green with arrows and metallic details all over. I knew the arrows would accentuate the center seam line and come to a bit of a point there and I think it worked really well for this design. The only qualm is that this fabric has some slightly faded crease lines from how it was stored in my friend's stash, and since I was working with just 3 yards of 44" wide fabric, I couldn't avoid them. They are angled right across the center front, but honestly I don't think anyone else notices them but me. I'm hoping that washing the skirt a few more times will relax the creases out - at the moment, no amount of ironing will touch them since they were folded and had other things stashed on top since 2014.

 

At first I tried to follow the true directions for the pattern and use a slot seam zipper insertion, but friends ... it's been a long time since I put in a zipper, lol. It did not go well. The original zipper looked like garbage and I decided to just follow my heart and do my favorite - the lapped zipper. I had a little struggle with this too, but in the end I used the directions on the vintage zipper packaging and I think it turned out lovely. 

I serged all the seams inside the skirt and hand stitched the waistband as well as the hem, which I think turned out very nice. I used to avoid hand sewing like the plague, but I find that I'm more prone to choose it nowadays for the added control and the invisible finish outside. Here's another look at the lapped zipper - gosh I just love this method. And I happened to have the PERFECT colored vintage metal zipper in my stash. I still can't believe I had this because it's such a muted mint green, but my stash came through this time. Love it.

So that's my new Hollyburn skirt :) I'm thrilled to have one that actually fits me like it should and I already have a stash of fabrics in line to make more. This is such a quick and satisfying project, and I love wearing these skirts, so I don't mind making them at all. Hooray for a lovely fabric and a great pattern pairing!

Summary:

Fabric: 3 yards of Mustang "Leap and the Net Will Appear" mint arrow print cotton linen fabric by Melody Miller for Cotton & Steel Spring 2014 - Free

Pattern: Hollyburn Skirt by Sewaholic Patterns - at this point, it counts as Free

Notions: 9 inch metal mint zipper, $0.10, thread - $0.50, Pellon SF101 Interfacing - $0.25

Time: 4 hours

Total Cost: $0.85