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!

Palos Verde Pajama Shorts

Voile is such a summery fabric, don't you think?

It makes me think of warm summer nights, or hot, yet, breezy summer days.  Perfect for long, flowing maxi skirts, or short, lightweight sleep shorts.

This weekend, I went with the sleep shorts.  I've been itching to make a pair out of one of Cloud 9's Palos Verde fabrics for awhile now.  I went with the La Venta print and picked up coordinating stretch lace (now at Finch!) to use as a waistband.

I had planned on using this pattern by Liesl Made, however my printer has chosen to become petulant lately, so instead I just traced out a comfortable pair of sleep shorts that I already own. I followed the directions on the blog though, and even decided to use French seams like she instructs.  They came together quickly and simply, although I may go back and take them in a tad, because much to my surprise they are a bit large on me.

I wanted to photograph the shorts on me this morning, you know, showing them in action on a typical Monday morning before I start my day.  And I did, however I'll admit that I felt semi-pornographic trying to photograph only my bottoms while wearing light and airy (and lacy) pajama shorts.  So um, enjoy?