Have you been following two Instagrammers, Helga from @salixsews and Nic from @septemberfaden yet? They decided to run the sewalong for a single pleated skirt from factorem_imago_patterns, a Ukraine designer who sells her patterns on Etsy. Here’s my earlier blog post so you can catch up.

I can go overboard testing patterns and then trying to see if they suit my shape and height.

It’s always a matter of balancing the width of the garments to my height and weight at the time.

I managed to pair this test skirt with a New Look 6532 top I use now for remnants. In this case this is a Julia Allison Cost fabric I just could not waste. You would have seen the dress I made in November.

This is the winter version of the skirt using a preloved wool fabric and another remnant fabric I couldn’t waste. This time the fabric is a John Kaldor print from Minerva. I used this fabric earlier this year in a great celebration wrap dress and I decided to use the remnant fabric for this top as a basic piece to pair with anything ie skirts or blue jeans.

Then I decided to see if these pieces could be another ‘look’. Sue Stoney experimented with her version of this skirt too. She’s fabulous in making her clothes work together.

I really don’t mind this pairing for getting out and about.

I like this combination too. I’ve got a couple of jackets that would go nicely with this skirt. Fitted jackets, so I have a bit of shape ie balance.

The skirt is not lined so this is my Winter lined skirt version. I did allow the skirt to hang for a few days before I attempted to pin the hem.

I’m not sure if you can pick this but the hems are angled slightly differently. The rose coloured skirt is hemmed as per the pattern. The Julia Allison Cost fabric goes with everything.

Here’s a close up of the hem finishes. The lining hem is folded twice and machine hemmed.

The fashion fabric is bound with a paisley print lining remnant from Minerva. I cut the bias strips and machine sewed them. You need about 2.5 metres of bias, depending on your skirt. I’ve only machine sewed this binding once onto the hem. Then I ironed it over and hand stitched the hem closed, using waxed thread.

Many thanks to Teresa for developing a whole website dedicated to Ukraine etsy sellers who we can directly support. Also many thanks for Nicole and Helga for running this sewalong for us and for SewOver50.