Happy Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday to the Monthly Stitch! I’ve enjoyed reading this blog since it started and can’t quite believe it has taken me this long to take part but better late than never.  When I finished this Vogue 1247 skirt I realised this is the fourth bright pink skirt I’ve made so not only do I have a lovely new skirt I also had a reason to write my first post for The Monthly Stitch – yay!

So if the cool concealed pockets didn’t give it away straight away I’ll introduce the skirt – it’s Vogue 1247.  I have seen so many amazing versions of this, most of them by Handmade by Carolyn, and lots of great versions of the top too.  I’ve had this fabric/pattern pairing in mind for a long time but finally decided I was going to do it this summer so I have at least 1 summer skirt which isn’t a Megan Nielsen Brumby (I’ve made 3 of them so far).  The fabric is a cotton, possibly cotton twill, with a lovely waffle texture.

My pattern was cut out as a size 10 so (thanks to some helpful advice on instagram) I added 3/8″ on all side seams in the hopes of increasing it to a size 12. It worked really well except I must have made a mistake on the waistband measurements and had to add a bit extra on but you can’t really notice it.

I still found the instructions for attaching the waistband a bit confusing but the extra instructions a friend gave me last time really helped – you can find them at the bottom of my post about my first version of this skirt.   When I made the skirt up years ago I didn’t use the Hong Kong/bound seams suggested. I always regretted it a bit but now, 4 years (ha I’ve just realised I first made this 4 years ago so there’s another number 4 in there) later, I felt a bit more confident at doing these seams and I’m so glad I did as it looks so good on the inside.

There is definitely some added length on here but I cant remember how much, maybe 1&1/2″, possibly even more, I do remember it’s pretty short as drafted.  These photos were taken the day after I finished it so it went straight from the sewing machine to being worn – a definite success. Since then I’ve worn it 2 or 3 times so I know it’s going to be a new wardrobe staple. I am so pleased with how it’s turned out and I’m kind of hoping it will work in winter too though I have a feeling the fabric will just stick to tights so I’ll just need to wait and see. It goes with lots of different tops but I think this pairing – with my (still unblogged) Marilla Walker Maya Top – is one of my favourites.  I’m still working out how to add images via URLs on wordpress so if you’d like to see more photos of the insides I posted more on my blog.

So thanks for the party invite, it’s nice to finally join in!