My favorite skirt patterns

 It is time for the Summer of No Pants 2014 and Kids Clothes Week. (so many things happening in the sewing blogosphere)  So, I am sharing a few of my favorite skirt patterns.  And a great story!

 First up is a skirt I made for myself five years ago from Favorite Things Belle Skirt pattern.  It appears they don't sell this pattern anymore but it is a good one if you can ever find it.  The reason I am sharing this skirt now, having shared it five years ago, is that it comes with a great story that just happened last Saturday.  Last weekend, I wore this skirt on a date night with my husband. I wore it with a red tee shirt and my new Dansko sandals.  (love Dansko shoes) I had a red kerchief in my hair.  After leaving the restaurant, after two nice glasses of wine and a lovely dinner, we were laughing our way to the car, enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest still-sunny-at-8pm night, when a woman walked up to me and proclaimed, "I love you!" She was with an older woman, possibly her mother, and two children so I immediately thought she was probably not insane. And she laughed and said that she loved me for my colorful outfit and my laughter and how happy I looked. And she said, "Did you make the skirt, is it Amy Butler fabric?"  Well, way to make a fabricaholic swoon there!!  This is the first time someone on the streets has ever stopped me to talk fabric designers! I said, "No, it is Heather Bailey, but they are similar! Thank you!" And we chatted about fabric love for a minute and then went on our way. I didn't stop smiling all night. 

And that, my friends, is why sewing for yourself is so wonderful! Wearing the latest great jeans from Nordstroms with the new Coach bag is fun.  But not nearly as fun as someone recognizing the fabric you used AND the fact that you sewed for yourself AND they appreciated what you did. That was amazing! Super fun!  Astounding! I am still on cloud nine!  

And, for what it is worth, the top of the skirt is Nicey Jane fabric, the middle is Pop Garden, and the bottom is I don't remember. 

Now, go forth and sew for yourself and share it at sew4me every week! 

 

2. Next up, I used Sew Serendipity's Fashion Formula Skirts Mini Book to make this faux wrap skirt of my lovely sister in law.   I love this pattern book. It has three skirts in it plus several variations of each so you really can make probably a dozen skirts from this booklet and still not be bored.  This is a faux wrap because it is really a big pleat in the front.  It has a drawstring all the way through the waistband. The string goes behind the pleat so the pleat lays flat in front.  I think it looks nice! My lovely sil, Bonnie, picked the pattern from my choices and sent me the fabric and let me do my thing!

 

 2.  And finally, I had enough fabric left over to make my niece, Lake this skirt from Monkeysbug's Twirly Skirt Pattern.  I have also owned this pattern for years and have made many.  I think it is the perfect little girl skirt. It is super twirly! And super easy to make.  

So, there you have three of my favorite skirt patterns. Now, go forth and sew!

Pattern Designer Interview - Kate of Monkeysbug Patterns

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1. When did you start designing patterns and how did it come about?

I started designing patterns in 2007. Where has the time gone?!? The pdf pattern industry was still very new, so the sky was the limit on fresh ideas.

2. What training do you have or how did you learn?

My mom is an amazing seamstress. My childhood was filled with coordinating dresses for my sisters and myself. Even though she was happy to teach me, I was completely uninterested in sewing…..then I had kids…..and I had to go begging for lessons. Between my mom’s teaching, loads of research, and boatloads of sacrificial fabric, I developed enough experience to feel confident teaching others.

3. What is the process of designing a new pattern like?

Funny question, because I think every pattern goes through the same process in my house. I start by telling my beloved that I have a great, new idea that is “going to be so fast and easy to design”. When it’s finally finished, I tell him that I’ll never say that again. Somewhere in between, there is a lot of drafting, re-drafting, photographing, tutorial writing and (most importantly) testing.

4. What is the hardest part about designing a pattern in pdf form?

The hardest part for me is finishing! I rarely finish one pattern before I’m ready to start the next. It’s difficult to get excited by the little details, like fabric requirements and picture cropping, once a new idea has started to grow.

5. What is your favorite of your patterns and why?

Does it sound too vain to say that I still have a crush on my girls’ undies pattern? After all of these years, I still make them for my girl (who is nearly 13!). There’s something very satisfying about finishing a stack. They even make folding laundry more appealing ;)

6. Do you sew for your own family or for sale? What do you prefer more, sewing or pattern design, and why?

Aside from occasional stacks of undies, I don’t sew much for my family. They’ve outgrown my style. I love working with beautiful fabrics, but my heart belongs to pattern drafting. It’s like a crazy and wonderful jigsaw puzzle.

7. Have you learned anything from feedback from customers that you would like to share with other designers or wanna-be designers?

I’ve learned so much from customers. Simple, clear instructions and detailed photos are invaluable. For any designers starting out, I would add that I would be lost without my amazing team of testers. 

8. Best time and place to design?

I am most productive at night or first thing in the morning before my people wake up. I’m highly distractible once my house is hopping. My sewing room is a sunroom that is desirable to everyone in the house, so I’m rarely lonely.

 9. Favorite fabric of all time?

I could never narrow it down to just one fabric, but anything that makes me weepy to cut is a contender. My most recent sacrifice was some Victoria & Albert Museum – Garthwaite Collection

10. Favorite thing to do for fun?

I love reading, hiking, photography, and any board game my family can agree on. 

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What a fun interview. 

Interesting factoid here: Kate's Tiered Twirly Skirt was my first pdf pattern purchase, back in February 2010.  I have made it many times since. 

A quick gadget case

I tried a new pattern today!  Monkeysbug's Gadget Case for iPhone iPod Kindle Nook Tablet Smartphone PDF eBook pattern.  It was super quick and easy.  Took me about an hour to make.  And now my iphone is sheltered from the dirt and detritus so common in a mom's purse. 

I love Michael Miller's Big E fabric and have been hoarding my scraps just for such a project.   And it matches my phone case so nicely.  

 

 

Looks good! 

And thank you to my sewing buddie, Carrie, for posting about sewing buttons on using your machine.  I figured it out!  I do not have foot T for my Janome but I wunged it (winged it??) using my regular foot.  Looks good. Seems secure. What could be better?

 

Kids Clothing Challenge Week #1 (plus giveaway!)

 

It's kid's clothes week challenge time.  This year, I am participating. This all starts at the elsiemarley blog, linked above, and happens every year around this time.  The goal is to spend an hour a day for 7 days in a row sewing only for kids. Sewing, not yarn work. 

So, here is my first day's work. I finished up this skirt and applique top for my youngest daughter.

This is the Monkeysbug Festive skirt pattern, but I made it with elastic in the casings instead of ribbon.  That was a bit of a challenge to do but I think it turned out cute. This is Riley Blake trick or treat fabric that I was gifted a year ago.  The trim fabric is Black Mini Dot fabric.  All from Treasure Bay on Etsy. 

This top is a Picture of a Great Tee from Hanna Andersson. They don't make these anymore but occasionally I find them on Ebay. This was bought new off Ebay a year ago. Lucky me! These tops are thick and soft and wonderful.  The applique pattern is from the Riley Blake website. They have a cute skirt and applique tutorial you can download. This was my first ever attempt at an applique using my Janome MC5200D.  I had several stitches to choose from but liked #65 best.

Giveaway!!!!  
Yes, if you made it this far in the reading, you have a chance to win the set of Halloween fat quarters shown below!  Just leave a comment here AND post on the HDH group page that you left a comment AND be sure to be a follower of this blog.  I will choose one winner this weekend, at the end of the Kids Clothing Week Challenge.

 

 

 Watch for more KCWC posts every day this week and more giveaways!!

Kathy