The Perfect Denim Skirt #vintagepledge

A denim skirt has long been a wardrobe staple for me. This is the fourth I've made since I began sewing 5 years ago, and it's definitely my favourite. Here's the pattern I used:

New Look Maudella 6029 from the late 1970s/early 80s - I guess, from the illustration style - it's undated. I made view 3 which has diagonal slash pockets.

The fabric I used was a lovely denim from Mandors, a nice dark colour with a hint of crosshatchy weave and a bit of stretch. I bought it using a voucher I got for Christmas from my sister-in-law - if you're reading, THANK YOU, what an ace present. I also had enough to buy a length of wool which I am also planning to make a skirt from. 

Although I was initially a bit concerned that the pockets might stick out and make the skirt look wide and unflattering, they don't actually sit out significantly. I used some scrap polycotton for the front of the pockets as it's less bulky than denim, plus it's nice to get a wee peek of different fabric.

I used bias binding to form a hem - my hand sewing of hems always ends up unravelling, so I normally machine sew hems. Here I used a turquoise thread in the bobbin to match the colour of the bias. The skirt has a kick pleat, but as I ended up shortening the skirt quite a bit, this pleat has ended up oddly stumpy. Happily no movement is impeded by the short pleat length. Now I know how long the skirt ends up, next time I will shorten before cutting and take the length from above the pleat.

There's not much to say about this project - the cost was minimal as fabric was a gift and the pattern was about £1.50-ish, bought along with several other New Look Maudellas in a *slight* eBay frenzy (shush) a few months ago. It's my first blogged #vintagepledge project of 2015, which is worth mentioning. It also reinforces my opinion that New Look Maudella patterns of this era are the best ever.

In case it needs repeating, I love this skirt and wear it frequently, and have started on another version in wool with a silk lining. Fancy.

K x

p.s Sorry the photos vary wildly in brightness, tone and blurriness, so hard to get time to take photos, so it was these or nowt!

p.p.s The top is M&S from a charity shop, I bought it months ago but have only just started wearing it and now I realise that I love it and might use it to make a pattern to make more versions.