Last night I reconnected with the magic of sewing. I’d already done a bunch of boat chores, done some alterations to take in a pair of leggings that are now too baggy (great result, but so tedious!), and I wanted something quick to wear. Since I upped my training regime for the British Transplant Games track race tomorrow (omg), I’ve lost a rather incredible amount of weight and girth so nothing fits me anymore. Which feels nice for about 5 minutes, and then it’s annoying because you have nothing to wear in the morning!
So I pulled out a bit of the black and silver lurex ribbed knit that I’d had leftover from my Marie jacket. The fabric was originally from Minerva, but is sold out now in this black colourway. I nearly gave it up in the Goldhawk Road swap, but then I had second thoughts and pulled it out of the bag. I’m glad I did, because it’s become a cute and very simple skirt!
Sorry about the quality – quick photos before work and it was raining, and my hair’s wet from the shower still!
This is literally the quickest, simplest skirt you could possibly make. Not only is there no pattern, but there’s no measuring or drafting, either! I simply took the fabric, wrapped it around myself like a skirt, marked with pins where the overlap was, then cut along the pins.
This gave me a long rectangle, and I sewed the sides together to form the only major seam of the skirt. I wear the seam at the back, but it could easily go at the sides or front since it’s all the same!
I then took a narrower piece of the fabric and wrapped it a bit tighter around my waist to become the waistband. I sewed the short ends together, folded it lengthwise with wrong sides inside, and attached it to the top of the skirt, stretching as I sewed. A quick hem later and it was ready to wear!
And since it was raining, I grabbed my Marie jacket to wear on my walk to work – I’ve now got a matching suit going on (the top is an Isaac Mizrahi for Target top I bought about 8 years ago, but Vogue 8305 (OOP) is very similar)!
You’d be permitted to think that this simple skirt is a reaction to having just completed a very complicated, drawn-out dress, but actually I’ve sewn another project since then that I just haven’t photographed yet!
Site news
After literally years of fiddling on and off, I’ve finally got the site search working! Omg! It’s over there on the left <——- Give it a go!
British Transplant Games
If any readers in Sheffield are interested in watching me race this weekend, come down to the Don Valley stadium – I’m racing the 3000m on Saturday night around 18:30, and the 1500m on Sunday morning at 9:35, and the mixed relay at 16:15 on Sunday afternoon. It’s free entry and you can just turn up and see a ton of inspirational, competitive sport. And if I’m very very lucky, maybe even catch me on the medal podium! BBC Sport are even covering it!