Daffodil Charlotte

Hello!

I finished this last weekend (was a pretty quick Sunday make, with just a couple of tiny finishing tasks on Monday evening) but have only found time to get it photographed today, which is a real shame as we've had beautiful blue skies pretty much most of the week, but it's been pretty grey today.

 Yesterday would have been perfect as it was St David's day and this skirt makes me look like a human daffodil, but oh well. I was originally intending to make it in a neutral shade, but when I saw this mustard fabric for only £1.99 a metre in Mermaid Fabrics (on Mare Street in Hackney) I couldn't resist. 


So I'm steadily making my way through my xmas stash of By Hand London patterns, and am going to get tracing on my next this evening- a sleeveless Elisalex in vintage-style newspaper advertising print (if that makes any sense). 


This is the Charlotte skirt, and I love how it's turned out. As I mentioned it came together pretty quickly, but as usual I did make a couple of little mistakes. I decided to do French seams but only remembered on one side (which again had a touch of the 'punk seam' mohawk effect on the outside, still need practice).

To the side..
And to the other side...
 I was tracing my pattern onto baking parchment again which isn't that easy to see through so cut the waistband too small first time, but luckily noticed and recut before it was too late (although this one looks like it might fold over too much, as you might be able to tell from the back view shot below). I also managed to bend my sewing machine needle attaching the ruffles! And I think I just about cut the skirt the right length to allow some movement, but stairs are still a little challenging. 

Here's the back view. Promise I'm not sticking my bum out, it's just like that. I hated it so much as a teenager, but that's before I discovered skirts like these. 
I think the fit is pretty decent, but the waistband does tend to fold up when I'm sitting down so maybe I'll make it ever so slightly looser next time and add some interfacing to stiffen it. I'm not an expert on fitting but maybe I could also make the darts slightly longer at the front, as it seems like the front of the skirt puffs out a little under my belly before being pulled back into shape over my hips. Do let me know if that isn't how to fix the problem...

Next skill will be making a lining so that you can't see the tail of my shirt tucked in through the skirt for the next one! My zip's still not invisible, but it's getting better right?


This was such a fast and fun make for me-  I've already worn a couple of times (and can think of loads of other things to pair with), and I'm a bit smug that by now I'm making things faster than I can blog them, which is great progress for me when I think back on my posts that contained nothing more than frustration when I was in the process of making my first dress.

Off to make more stuff now, hope everyone's been enjoying what feels like the start of Spring and have had lovely weekends!

NorseOtter x



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