FO: Gray? Green? Skirt

Well, I meant to post this a day or so after my previous post, but it's been a crazy time. Interestingly, this skirt is now too big for me even before I managed to post about it. Interesting. Anyway, when I made my Fairy Tale Voile Sailor Top, I really wanted a new neutral skirt to wear with it. Enter one of my favorite patterns: McCall's 7475.

This is my usual use of this pattern: view B plus the back pockets from view A. Add all the pockets always! I've made this skirt 2 other  times, both of which are still worn weekly, so I knew this was a solid choice to help out my dwindling wardrobe. Interestingly, I don't have a lot of bottom weight neutral fabrics in my ridiculously large stash. I have plenty of cool prints and then things like denim that would stand in a corner on its own, but not much with any type of drape. The fabric I used isn't ideal, but it did the job credibly for a mystery cotton twill. I grabbed this gray? green? fabric at a thrift store for $1.00 simply because it was a usable neutral. It's the weirdest color. In real life it has an olive-green tone, but in these pictures it looks totally gray. But it's not really olive green as you can see by the contrast it shows against my top in the pictures.

Pardon the all over wrinkling, but these pics were taken after the same July 4th trip to The Sewing Studio. I particularly love this pattern because it takes no alterations at all for my sway back - it just curves how it should at my lower back :) And I love the look of the pockets on the front, plus they are big enough to fit my enormous phone. As per usual, I top stitched all the seams with a triple stitch. This proved interesting when choosing a color for the thread, but I just took the fabric to the store with me and chose a strange greenish color, lol. Still don't know what to call it.

Another of the things I love about this pattern is the fly front. There's something so professional feeling about a fly front to me. This one actually went very well, so I'm thinking I am getting better at them. Another reason to love a fly front is when you don't have a weird green/gray colored zipper on hand but really want to sew this skirt up. Since a matching color wasn't an option, I decided to grab a zip from my stash in a color I would be unlikely to use elsewhere - so this has a mustard yellow zipper inside, lol. Yay for fly fronts.

I actually managed to sew the top stitching correctly on my back pockets this time. Usually I mess up the little triangle in the upper corners that helps to reinforce them so you don't immediately pull the pocket away from the skirt when you put your hand in. Usually my triangles are weird shaped and different sizes and overshoot the edge. This time though, they look great :) Yay for progress.

And now for the saga that this skirt became. I finished this entire skirt - hem and all - tried it on, and discovered it was over an inch too big at the waist :/  I was so ticked off. I had gained weight at the time, so I knew it needed to be a bit bigger than the last time I made the pattern, but it seems I overcompensated. I had to unpick the entire two piece waistband with top stitching, the waistband seam, the side seam and top stitching halfway down the skirt, and all the serging on the edges to take this skirt in. Nothing like doing a full scale alteration on an item you just finished, right? Not fun. It took me over an hour, but I got closer to a decent fit and sewed it all back up.

Later that week, I went to my moms and sewed the final step - the buttonhole. That night I cut open the hole with my chisel and sewed the button on, only to discover it was just a tad snug in the hole. So I grabbed my seam ripper to just barely open up the hole a little more... AND I SLIPPED. I've seriously never had this happen, but I guess it must happen to everyone at some point. I slit right through the buttonhole stitching and through my tab to about 1/4" from the edge. I was so ticked off, lol. The only thing I could do was sew a perpendicular line to hold the two sides together, then sew an extremely tight zig zag stitch over the rip and then fray check it within an inch of its life, knowing full well this repair may not hold up very well. I've managed to wear and wash this a few times now and thus far it has held up ok, so hopefully I was being overly pessimistic. Interestingly, I have now lost a weight since I made this and the photos were taken (I don't say this to brag - it has not been in a healthy way, but in a "I'm so stressed out I don't feel hungry" kind of way, which I don't recommend), so the skirt is WAY too big yet again. Like 2 inches can easily be pinched at the waistband :/ So who knows how long I will keep this one in rotation - I don't really fancy picking it all apart again, plus it seems to pull a bit odd across my tummy with each alteration at the waist. 

Anyway, I do still wear this skirt in spite of its issues because it makes a great casual, "go with everything" type piece (and my shirts always cover the buttonhole and the loose waist anyway). Mostly, I'm just glad to have sewn something wearable up in my sewing room back in June :) Here's hoping I can make something again soon!

Summary:
Fabric - 1.4 yards gray?ish cotton twill - $1.00 (thrifted)
Pattern: McCall's 7475
Notions: 7" mustard yellow zipper - $0.10, green button - free, green thread - $1.00
Time: 6 hours
Total Cost: $ 2.10

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

FO: Black Fly Front Skirt

I've wanted to make McCall's 7475 ever since it was released about a year ago. I'm not a fan of culottes (at all!) but the pattern showed a very cute skirt. It's been a long time since I used a Big 4 pattern and I was a bit skeptical of the sizing, so I searched out the finished measurements and went from there in choosing my size knowing I would have to alter the waist. I had to take a wedge out from the hip to the waist at the side seams, but other than that it went together well and I now have a nice skirt for the Summer of Basics challenge :)

The details that drew me to this pattern are still my favorites: the fly front and the patch style pockets. I love that this pattern is designed like a typical jean skirt but with a bit of a retro flare in the pocket choice. I made sure to top stitch everything just like a jean skirt would have to accentuate the details and get things to lay flat.

Since I didn't know how this project would turn out, I used a thrifted black twill fabric I picked up for $1 so I wouldn't be too heartbroken if I didn't like the result. Happily it turned out great and I have a nice basic skirt in full rotation now.. The only thing I don't love about it is that this fabric loves to pick up dog hair (and I have a very hairy dog), but a little lint rolling before I leave the house has helped me not look like a crazy person so we're good :)

I have a little bit of wrinkling at my waist line just above the pockets, but that may be from how I just took a larger seam allowance in that area (it's wedge shaped on both sides), so I will have to look up different ways to do that in the future. Since I knew a style like this would be washed frequently, I made sure to overcast all the inside seams before I top stitched them down.

The pattern offers the front patch pockets OR the back patch pockets, but I decided to go for broke and use both. I mean you can never have too many pockets, amiright? I know these picks are a little crooked (and blurry), but I'm happy with the pocket placement and spacing. I also am really happy with the fit of the back yoke - typically I have to make a sway back adjustment on every pattern I sew for the small of my back, but this lays nice and flat there. Woo hoo!

I also really like that this back pockets are such a nice size - look they fit my hands no problem! This may sound like an obvious thing a pattern should have but in my experience it has not always been the case - and no I do not have large hands. This is also my first time reinforcing the pockets by sewing the little triangle at the sides of the opening - they didn't come out perfect (and I know you really can't see the black on black in these pictures), but I'm fine with them since the fabric doesn't show this off anyway. So now my pockets are reinforced and no one will really know it's not perfectly top stitched.

I really love that this is a fly front and it just feels really professional to me having this in a skirt. After the trouble I had on my other fly front (the Sally skirt) I was concerned it would be tricky to figure out. I'm really impressed by the instructions in the pattern for the fly! I was able to just use the instruction packet and it turned out great. The only thing I had to constantly remember myself was to finish the seams before I stitched the fly, but that's not that big a deal. I used a vintage metal zipper from my stash and it worked out great. I did use a hook and eye in place of a button at the waistband and this was purely aesthetic. I have a full tummy, so buttons tend to just stick out there, plus I pretty much always wear my shirt untucked and it just looks odd to have the button poking out under my top. I liked that the hook and eye would make it lay nice and flat, so while it maybe seems less "store bought" this way, it works great for me. And why sew it yourself if you're not going to make little changes from how it would be in a store, right?

And finally my top stitching :) I'm pretty happy with my pockets all things considered. I knew I would like this style, but I honestly like this particular version much more then I thought I would. I've worn it quite a bit since I finished it - it's a nice basic, slightly casual style, and it's black so it goes really well with a lot of things. I will definitely be making more of this pattern with some of my stashed twill fabrics. Yay for a win from a Big 4 pattern, right?! And yay for a very wearable muslin!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards black cotton twill (60" wide) - $1.07 (thrifted)
Pattern: McCall's 7475 - $1.99
Notions: Pellon SF101 Interfacing - $0.50, 7" metal zipper - $0.10 (thrifted), black thread - $1.00, hook and eye - $0.15
Time: 5 hours
Total Cost: $ 4.32