Finished: Electric Blue Wool & Silk Skirt

7 things I love about this skirt:

1. The A-Line shape and pockets. It's the same New Look Maudella 6029 pattern I used to make my denim skirt

2. The gorgeous colour of the fabric - it's electric blue worsted wool. This colour makes me think of the 1980s, and it might well be from that era.

3. The feel and drape of the wool - it's light but warm and drapes beautifully, The fabric was purchased in a charity shop last June for £2.49. It was from the stash of a lady who'd died and I feel that makes it extra special to have made such a beloved item after it was languishing in a stash and then a charity shop.

4. The beautiful silk lining. I won this in a giveaway from Karen at Did you Make That?, waaaayyyyyy back at the start of 2012. I was a little intimidated by it and then undecided as to the best use to make of it but this was the perfect project. It feels wonderful to wear, so much nicer than the usual poly linings I use. Incidentally, after a trawl through her blog archives, I found that Karen used the same silk to line her wool Minoru jacket - it's so luxurious! I wonder if her jacket still gets worn, 3 years down the line? I hope so.

5.The cost. Yep, I love a bargain and this skirt cost about £5 due to the cheap wool and free lining

6. The care I took in making it. I sewed the lining to the zip by hand and hand hemmed the skirt. Working with beautiful materials really encouraged me to 'up my game' and the skirt feels extra special because of that

7. It's my 3rd #vintagepledge project of 2015

Anything not so great about the skirt?

The hem is a little bumpy - normally I finish the edge with bias tape but I didn't do that for this skirt as I thought the inside wouldn't be seen because of the lining. It's not, but I think the hem fold looks a little bumpy from the outside.

I didn't know how to line a kick pleat skirt, so I just put a split in the lining, It functions fine and I don't know if there is a better way to line a kick pleat so this will do.

 Looking a bit creased at the back - you can see the kick pleat though

Any more skirts from this pattern - is 2 enough?

I have plans for one more and then I'm done for the meantime. I don't think that three versions of one pattern is excessive, when it's such a useful item.

What's next?

Another New Look Maudella pattern, this time a dress to be worn to a 90th birthday party. It's actually nearly finished as I write this, so hopefully the increased daylight will make it easier to get it photographed and onto the blog quickly.

I also have a cardigan nearly finished, just one button band to go and then blocking. I'm ready to start swatching my next knitting project too, from Kate Davies' book Yokes. I will do a full post on that as I want to share my yarn choice, which was a major(ish) undertaking.

K x

p.s Despite the fluctuating blue shades of the photos in this post. the skirt is a bright blue. It seems to be one of those vivid colours which is unusually hard to photograph. Do you ever find that? It may well be my photographic and photo editing ineptitude