I revealed my Mexico travel wardrobe plans last week, and what better way to start it than with a pattern actually intended for travel! I bought Christine Jonson’s Travel Trio Three pattern a few years ago because I loved the gathered turtleneck, but I’m slowly working my way through the rest of the pack, too. So far I’ve made two different views of the turtleneck already – one gathered and one plain raglan for winter running, but this time around I wanted to try out the pocketed, knit skirt.
Like the other views in the pattern, the instructions for this are utterly excellent. Christine Jonson clearly understand knits and the best ways of finishing them, and she even uses the exact same method I do for elastic waistbands (though I prefer a 3/4-1 inch wide elastic, myself)! I’m seriously tempted to buy more of her patterns with my Adsense money because I’ve really gotten my money’s worth with this pattern!
My only change here was to shorten the skirt by 12cm at the “lengthen or shorten here” line, as the original was mid-calf and felt a bit too dowdy for me. This now falls right at my knees and is just about perfect for me.
The fabric is a royal blue hefty jersey that really feels very much like a thin neoprene – this stuff couldn’t wrinkle if it wanted to! I bought the last of the roll at “A-One Fabrics” on Goldhawk Road, so I’ve made leggings in the same fabric for the trip, too, but there were plenty of other colours left in the shop, also.
I really like that the skirt is slim throughout the waist and hips, and the pockets are seriously deep! This means that they actually feel pretty secure even though they’re stretchy and open at the top, and should be great for travelling (as you’d hope by the name!). The pocket facing could really stand to be in a thinner lining fabric though as it gets to be a lot of layers on the vertical seams, but that’s my only (small) complaint about the design.
I also added an internal, zippered travel pocket to the front waistband, in place of a purchased money belt, so I can keep my passports, spare cash, and credit cards secure. But more on that later because I’ve (whisper it!) got a pattern and tutorial in the works for you!
I hope you like this fabric, because you’ll see the leggings I made with it later this week!