Wild Red Skirt

How much fun is this print? I just love it! I have loved it from the second I saw it, and I continue to love it. It is Taza, Caroline, Red by Dena Designs. Until I made this skirt, I did not realise that I had bought, and used, the same fabric in pink for a child's skirt. The pink is in a smaller scale but we have matching skirts!

I was always going to make a skirt with it. I went for a similar A-line shape to the last quilting cotton skirt I made. This one is more A-line, and I used a pattern.

I used the waistband from New Look 6057. It had worked really well for me in my striped skirt and I will probably use it in many future skirts. I did make some modifications to the waistband, which I detailed earlier.

I also modified the skirt pattern, I changed the straight-ish shape to an A-line by drawing a straight line from the waist, through the hip and carrying on to the hem. I skipped the back vent because there is enough space in the hem for easy movement. I used a 1cm seam allowance throughout.

And... I added a pocket! In the right place! And it doesn't show! There's a first time for everything!

I eked this out of 1 yard of fabric. It was not easy. How can I get a whole dress out of 1m and yet I can't get a skirt out of 1 yard? I had no chance of pattern matching, but I did spend a long time laying all the pieces out flat to get the most out of the flowers. I particularly like the massive yellow flower but, sadly, I was not able to keep it intact. It is sitting there on the hemline. I was careful to make sure none of the flowers or leaves sat in embarrassing places, and I lined up the front waistband so it would show a small scale print.

I would have done the back of the skirt in one piece, but I didn't have enough fabric. I cut half of it on the cross grain, that is the piece where I was able to keep almost all of the statement yellow flower. I used a piece of plain red cotton for the back facing, but otherwise, it all came from the pattern, pocket included.

I tried something new during the cutting out process. I traced around the pattern pieces with chalk and then cut them out using the outlines. It was born of necessity, making sure I had space for all the pieces, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a great way to lay out and cut out.

I finished with a minimal hem and I am very happy with my new skirt. I feel bright and summery when I wear it!

Final tally:
Fabric: £6.77, inc postage
Pattern: £0.00, used previously
Zip: £0.30, Mood
Total: £7.07