The story of this outfit goes back about three years to when I purchased a pair of brown boots. I had never owned a pair of brown boots before and so was unprepared to find that they went with nothing I owned! The logical conclusion was to buy a brown skirt. I found a nice, heavy cotton one in Zara for pretty cheap and wore it a lot with the boots. But it is not very warm and isn’t lined, either. It’s starting to look a bit shook up. This winter I decided that should I come across some nice brown wool, I would make a new brown skirt.
This day last week, I decided to visit Murphy Sheehy’s because I haven’t had a chance to visit in quite a while. They had just gotten a delivery of wools and despite the selection, this was the only decent brown. But it is very decent: a soft herringbone with beautiful drape.
Pattern: The same one I used for my tartan skirt, the skirt part of Simplicity 8042.
Fabric: The fabric was something like 160 or possibly even 170cm wide so I managed to eke the skirt out of about 60cm! I only bought a metre but still have a useable amount left over. I used a 100% silk satin to line it so despite the overall loftiness, this is a super-snug skirt.
The top is another Renfrew! Check out the first one I made here. Leaving off the cuffs and lower band means I can squeeze this out of 1.6m. I used a 100% polyester ponte de roma knit that I got in Hickey’s.
I really like the shape of the skirt. I think this is my go-to plain skirt, it doesn’t take very long to put together at all.
I used a bias binding to finish the hem. This was my first time doing this and it was really easy. I’ll probably use this from now on!
…And another first – I used the rolled hem feature on my overlocker with great success. I am so unbelievably awful at hemming lining so this is my solution, I think, until I learn another way. It only took about five minutes! I used a silk satin to line it and whilst it is so lovely and not at all static-y with tights, I am so bad at cutting it out it’s not even funny.
Great job, Aileen. I have one of those rolled hem gadgets for years but have never mastered it. Your hem looks so good that I might try again! Lovely skirt and top. Happy New Year.