DIY Knit Maxi

It seems like every time I am in Finch, someone else is either making or wearing a knit maxi skirt.  It's about time I finally decided to whip up my own.  And whip up, I did.  This was so quick to make, I feel like I need to go crazy before summer is out and make a handful more.

This project was self-drafted, meaning it didn't come from a pattern and instead used my own measurements.  If you're local to NoVA,  you should consider taking Nicole's class and she'll guide you through making your very own maxi skirt.  Her version features a wonderful folded yoga-style waistband which comfortably stretches to fit your belly, no matter how many ice cream cones you've eaten lately (guilty).

I used two and a half yards of this striped knit that had been hanging around the shop for awhile, and since I hadn't seen anything made from it yet, I felt bad for it. Far from being just fabric sympathy, I'd actually thought this fabric had a very beachy quality to it. (And evidently people had been buying it since I finished off the bolt.)

Simple to cut and simple to sew.  That's my kind of summer project.

Pattern: None; self drafted at Finch Sewing Studio.

Size: Made to size.

Alterations: None; custom made.

Photo credit: My husband.  ("Okay, now crouch down with me and come closer.  Frame me from here to here..." - the troubles he has when his wife is both the subject and a professional photographer.)

Colette Zinnia Maxi Skirt

I've been itching to make a maxi skirt for some time now.  I knew a knit version would be simple and quick, but I was imagining something in a flowy light fabric, like a voile.

I also knew that a maxi skirt would require a lot of fabric and given that voiles tend to be more expensive than regular cottons, I kept putting it off.  But last weekend my husband went out of town to visit his brother for some boy time, so I stopped in to Finch to browse.  Yeah, browse.  That's what I told myself, anyway.  An hour later I walked out of there with three yards of April Rhodes' Arizona voile, the Colette Zinnia pattern, and white cotton fabric for a lining.

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out the best way to convert the Zinnia (Version 3) into a maxi skirt.  In the end, I did the slash-and-spread method, but it took awhile to determine the best way to do it.  Should I extrapolate the A-line from the top of the skirt down to the bottom, making a wide-ass hem?  Or should I draw a line from the end of the top part of the skirt down to the bottom of the skirt?  I opted for the latter, but I did a lot of researching online to make sure my skirt wouldn't end up with too tight a hem circumference making me walk like a Mermaid or something.

The Zinnia pattern sewed up easily once I got all of the specifics out of the way.  I went up a size so that it would be a little looser around my waist - I am high waisted with a long torso, so when something is designed to sit on the natural waist, it ends up being really high.  I wanted this to sit more toward my belly button, so I measured this area and sized for it rather than my natural waist.  This worked out pretty well.

My only gripe about this last-minute skirt that I sewed is that the cotton fabric I used for a lining is too thick.  It's a quilting cotton, so paired with a fabric as light and flowy as a voile, it practically feels like canvas.  It'll be too much effort to take the skirt apart and swap out the cotton for something lighter/drapier, though.

I was up until 1:30 in the morning working on this skirt, and the only reason is because I had planned to wear it that day (Sunday morning) to an event  I was attending - Blog Brunch DC.  Head on over to my photo blog to read more about it.  Trust me, you want to!

Pattern: Colette Zinnia

Fabric: April Rhodes' Arizona Voile (Triangle Tokens)
Alterations: Converted into maxi skirt.  Used V. 3, but gathered rather than pleated.
Photos: By Nicole outside of her shop!