I have a “new to me” twofer to share: the Madeleine skirt from Victory Patterns & the Henrietta Maria top from Scroop Patterns. As I sewed the skirt, I couldn’t shake the thought of making a top to go with it…The Monthly Stitch challenges always seem to inspire an unreasonable degree of ambition in me. My little family is moving in three weeks & I should really be packing & taking a Magic Eraser to the masterpieces my daughter has scrawled on her bedroom walls, but I just want to sew!
The Madeleine skirt has been on my radar for years. I remember the first time I ever saw it, as a paper pattern for sale at Grey’s Fabric & Notions (now Mercer’s Fabric) in Boston in 2014. It sucked me in like a tractor beam. A full skirt with pockets & suspenders! Exactly the kind of thing I’d always wanted in my wardrobe, but not a style that is prevalent in RTW, especially in larger sizes.
The only reason it took me so long to sew it up is because I couldn’t settle on a fabric. I purchased some bold floral print denim for it, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I really wanted something more neutral & versatile. It wasn’t until LAST WEEK that it occurred to me to use one of the lengths of black denim languishing in my stash. I was actually still planning to use the floral denim while I was doing flat pattern adjustments. I had it on the cutting table, rotary cutter in hand, when I was like, “Wait! In all my years of sewing, I have never made a basic black skirt! Now is the time!” I even beat down my magpie instincts & went with black topstitching (of which there is a LOT) & black buttons. Ordinarily I’d be looking for a way to add some pink or rhinestones or something!
I sewed a 16, & added an extra 2″ to the waist. I couldn’t be happier with the fit! It’s absolutely perfect, & because the suspenders have three buttonholes in the back to adjust their length (or can be removed altogether), the skirt can be worn with any kind of top.
I did shorten it A LOT–like seven inches. It’s drafted to be a mid-calf on a height of 5’7″. It was close to ankle-length on 5’5″ me! I decided knee-length would work best, given the fullness of the skirt. I used a denim with a lot of body, so anything longer would have been veering uncomfortably close to antebellum cosplay.
Next up is the Henrietta Maria top (also available in dress length) from Scroop Patterns. I wanted a light summer-appropriate top with some volume-related design element to team with the skirt. I was envisioning a modern riff on the classic peasant blouse.
This blouse is drafted for a B-cup, so I took a chance & cut a size 38 (to fit my proportionally narrow shoulders) & did a 2″ slide & pivot FBA. I kept the width through the waist & hips because I definitely am not a 38 in those areas. The blouse is pretty loose & unfitted through the waist & hips, but I didn’t want to take any chances.
The pattern comes with both very detailed directions for sewers who need a lot of hand-holding, & more streamlined directions for people like me. Too much detail just confuses me sometimes, like when Google directions tell you to “go left to stay on Hawthorne Street” & you get confused & turn left, but you were actually just supposed to stay in the left lane. The fitting tips suggest cutting the size based on your bust & just making more or bigger pleats at the neckline if you have a larger-than-average difference between high & full bust, but I’m glad I did the FBA. I only wish I had added maybe another 1/2″.
It was an inadvertent stroke of genius to sew this up in gingham. Each check is 1/4″ wide, which made it really easy to gauge the width of depth of each pleat. I zipped through all 70+ of them (they finish the sleeve as well) in under an hour. I did cut a few inches off the sleeve length. The original pattern is kind of three-quarters/bracelet-length hybrid, but I wanted mine to finish at the elbow. I also employed the pattern suggestions to finish my facings with lace (it looks really gorgeous inside with the pleats) & to add bra strap holders. It’s definitely a wide-necked design, which frames my chest tattoos quite nicely!
The whole time I was sewing, I worried it would look like an early 1960s maternity top. I was picturing Francine Hanson (Betty’s best friend) on “Mad Men”. Thankfully, it turned out pretty cute, & is a perfect compliment for the skirt! The whole look is giving me a modern-day Dorothy Gale vibe (hence the post title, from when Dorothy is introducing herself to Glinda the Good Witch).
You can see more of my sewing over on my blog! Thanks for reading!
I love the outfit Clara! The Henrietta Maria is so cute with the Madeleine skirt – particularly in that check! Also, I’m super impressed your four year old took these pictures!
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Thank YOU for coming up with such a cute pattern! I’m wearing it again right now, with self-sewn jeans. I like how it’s casual, but all the pleats make me look like I made an effort. I foresee this top entering the regular rotation as a nice spot of color among all my trusty black t-shirts!
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LOVE the whole outfit and you would surely be a good witch not a bad witch. I’m off to buy that blouse pattern. I have some back and white gingham languishing….
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Having sewn this blouse, I really want to try her modern Fantail Skirt pattern now. She seems to have a lot of interesting ideas!
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Great outfit! Going against your instincts paid off for the skirt. A little black skirt is so versatile, I’m sure you’ll get a lot of mileage out of this one!
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I agree! I really can’t believe it’s taken me so long to make one. I have lamented my lack of a black skirt at least once a week for a couple of years now.
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I think being a witch is an admirable ambition. And I gotta say, I admire the heck out of anyone who sews those pleats on the Henrietta. They look lovely! As does the whole outfit.
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The gingham really made the pleats so fast. But if I’d been using different fabric, yeah, it would have taken forever to measure & mark each one. Worth it though. I was kind of worried I’d look like I’d just draped a curtain around my neck, but the pleats are pretty delicate-looking.
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Cool combo! Great idea to use the very trendy gingham look with this skirt — quite Dorothy, indeed 🙂
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I even live in Kansas!
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Love how you always do the extra mile on TMS challenges. I think the team of the gingham with the denim is perfect and I love the lace finish and bra strap hooks. Also I completely get the desire to sew instead of pack – when we moved 2 years ago all I wanted to do was sew when I REALLY needed to pack! Awesome work – as we have come to expect from you 🙂
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Thank you! I was seriously pulling stash fabrics & pairing them to see if they worked together & I wasn’t funding anything I liked. When I remembered this gingham stuffed in the back of a drawer, I knew it was the one!
Packing is the worst, dude. Even moreso when you have a tiny house with no room for boxes & a 4-year-old rampaging around making giant messes faster than we can stop her. Though she is my photographer for these posts, so I guess I can’t complain about her too much.
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That is a really cute combination! I would not have thought of gingham for the top, but it works very well. 🙂
When I saw the post title and the preview image I thought Kiki’s Delivery Service – I guess my subconscious thinks you look like a Miyzaki character. (Which is a compliment, because I love his movies.)
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Thank you! I had the gingham in my stash, originally purchased to make a shirtdress. Turning it into a top instead is a little outside my comfort zone, but I like it. I can also see the “Kiki’s Delivery Service” reference. I seriously almost styled it with my hair down & a big bow instead of my usual milkmaid braids!
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Love it! You are really overachieving the stuffing out of IPM. I’m very interested to see what happens when we hit HackIt and IndieRoyalty. Hold on to your bobbin cases ladies!
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Wouldn’t it be great if my contributions for those challenges were just huge letdowns? I mean, who knows, they might be. I haven’t made them yet, so it remains to be seen!
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Hahaha!
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