Marfy 1908

The denim skirt is finished. I really like the pattern but this particular version has been plagued with errors, all of them my own. To add to the four attempts at the front zipper, I've also had the topstitching on one of the seams out twice, forgotten to sew the pocket bags in at the right stage in the process, requiring them to be sewn to the remaining eighth of an inch of seam allowance that was free after I'd topstitched the seam, and the zips for the pockets. Then I managed to sew one of the pocket bags on inside out so the print was facing me and not inside the pocket. Of course it was attached with a teeny zig zag stitch to stop it all fraying so I had to leave it that way. The thread ran out three times on the waistband topstitching, broke once on the hem and the bobbin ran out twice on the hem. The waistband looks lovely on the outside. The inside, not so much.

I made it a bit longer than the picture shows it to be, it hits just below the largest part of my calf muscle which is a length I often choose for fuller skirts.

The pattern took a bit more fabric than I had expected it to as I couldn't top and tail the pattern pieces on the fabric the way I wanted due to the hem width. This really is quite a full skirt and I was really glad I did a machine hem and not a hand sewn one, or I would have been sat there all night.

The top stitched waistband is a nice detail. I had originally planned to use a triple straight stitch for all the topstitching and the zipper insertion but due to my zipper challenges I changed to single stitch. As a result the detailing does not stand out quite as much as it might have done. I am sure that now I've made it once, I will be able to topstitch it more successfully on a future occasion.

The pocket zippers have had the original pulls cut off with pliers and a pair of Prym fancy zip pulls attached in their place to give a more luxe feel to the skirt.

I replaced the three inch wide straight waistband with a contoured waistband of the same width. My figure is too curvy and the distance between ribs, waist and hip bones too short, to wear a wide straight band. They just stand straight up on me and make my skirt look as though it doesn't fit (which I suppose strictly speaking it doesn't). I applied the four self drafted contour waist pieces to their respective quarter of the skirt before I sewed up the side, front and back seams. This meant that any tweaks to the seams/waist could be done very easily and without the need to remove the whole band. The band does stand out from my body ever so slightly, however, when I pinned out the excess, it looked just too tight and wasn't flattering.

Upcoming projects are another version of this skirt, and two versions of my TNT master trouser pattern. I am hoping to complete all three in the next three weeks. I think one item per week should be achievable even though the fabrics I am hoping to use are a bit challenging.