I don’t know what it is about summer, but I swear the months conspire to move at different speeds. I always seem to glide lazily through June, sipping mules from copper mugs and meeting friends for outdoor BBQs. July is always on a mission, moving forward with a blink-and-I’ll-miss-it ferocity, and August barely even seems to exist, her eyes already on autumn and the start of a new school year.
Without fail, my sewing projects seem to follow a similar ebb and flow. Global pandemic notwithstanding, it’s harder to waste that glorious sunshine indoors. So, projects usually languish on my sewing table for months on end in summer, without any discernible end date in site. This latest creation is one such project, lost to the call of the seashore and ice cold beers with friends on their deck. I’ve learned to just let the creativity do with me what it likes – sewing has always been something I have loved, but never, ever something I’ve forced (which is probably another reason why I only sew for myself – there is something so freeing about a zero pressure space in my life).
The Inspiration
This latest project was based on a Juli Lynne Charlot set I had seen ages ago at Jumblelaya (one of my all time favorite vintage stores). Despite the frantic refresh that all of us vintage huntresses have come to know well, I missed her by seconds. But I was absolutely in love with the color scheme – acres of minty fresh cotton dotted with tiny buds in various shades of pink.
Although this one had a lot of intricacies, sewing fearlessness won over again and I started to sketch out how to make this one my own…
Photo: Jumblelaya
The Design
This piece would start with a hunt for the perfect minty hue (around which everything else would follow). I poured over my Kona Cotton swatch card (seriously one of my best investments), and eventually landed on Ice Frappe, with a crisp white for the lining. It’s a subtle but still saturated shade that would give the perfect backdrop to some deep green vines and pops of pink.
With the mint cotton sorted, the rest was easy – I went to BBD Supplies to stock up on wool blend felt. Based on the original, I wanted three different pink shades for the leaves, which I found in fuchsia, cotton candy, and pink sweetness. I also offset it with evergreen for the vines and leaves, a dramatic contrast to the mint but still in the same color family.
After my deck of cards skirt, I was more than a little obsessed with making matching cardigans for my skirts. Although the original set had a bustier, I wanted to make this a little more day casual for work (well, casual for me, which is most people’s fancy). So, I got a MAK cropped cardigan in Hunter Green, which I would use as a base for making some separates.
And once again, we were off!
To recreate this skirt, you will need:
The Construction
As an old song from my childhood goes, “Let’s Start at the Very Beginning,” which in this case is a base circle skirt. I quickly drafted a circle skirt out of the Ice Frappe Kona cotton to my ideal waist circumference (4.5″ radius = 28″ finished waist) and hem length (29″ + 4.5″ = 33.5″ outer radius).
Using those measurements, I cut out one half circle and two quarter circles out of the cotton (so I could have a back zip, but avoid the dreaded front seam that I irrationally hate). I sewed the pieces up at the side and back seam, leaving a 9″ gap for the zipper. If you aren’t as familiar with the geometry behind making a circle skirt, check out this post for a more detailed walk through.
With the base set, I turned to my sketch so I could get to work laying down the vines. While I had photos of the original piece to go off of, the fullness of the skirt meant I couldn’t see all the details and would have to take some artistic liberties (which I kind of prefer anyway).
I started by cutting a series of thin 1/4″ strips of the evergreen felt, using my rotary cutter.
Then, working around the skirt, I laid the vines in place to approximate the original, working to make them gracefully arc and swoop around the front and carefully careen around the hips to the back. After a few minor tweaks, I was satisfied.
Then, I sketched out a leaf shape in Photoshop, and uploaded the.svg into Design Space (which is the software I use to cut shapes with my Cricut Maker). The Maker is ideal for this kind of job, as I needed to cut out about 50 or so of the same leaf shape, which would take ages by hand. But, Cricut made quick work of the project.
Once I had a neat pile of leaves, I added them to the skirt, working on one vine cluster at a time. Again, I was trying to stay true to the original, but I essentially kept adding leaves until the balance looked right. I pinned everything in place and put it up on my dress form to check how it would look when worn (a critical step I highly recommend never skipping! Sometimes things look great in flat lay but just…off when it sits how it will eventually be worn).
After I confirmed the vines were laying how I wanted them, I turned to my sewing machine. I’ve learned from past projects it’s a good idea to machine sew elements like vines and leaves rather than sew by hand. Plus, I wanted these elements secured, so once I started playing with the buds I wouldn’t mess up the vines I had so carefully pinned. Working one section at a time, I quickly stitched the vines and leaves, going carefully around the curves.
Next came the flowers. While a lot of JLC’s pieces have large, dramatic flowers, I love how simple and delicate these were. The drama of the skirt was created from a zillion tiny elements, rather than any single large one. As before, Cricut was really going to come in handy here. From studying the photos, it looked like each tiny flower was created by layering a small cross shape for the leaves and one three-petaled shape (which look like of like the Mercedes logo) and one two-petaled propellor shape for the flowers.
With a plan in place, I quickly drew and imported the shapes, and let Cricut do her thang, first out of evergreen for the leaves and then a mix of fuchsia, cotton candy, and pink sweetness for the flowers.
Then came the flower construction, which would essentially involve some hand sewing. I gathered some pink seed beads I had in my stash, and all of my Cricut-cut leaves and petals. To construct a bud, I started with the green piece on the bottom and layered two petal pieces one on top of the other in the same shade of pink, taking care to offset the petals.
I then brought my needle up through the center and back again a few times to secure them together. Bringing my needle up one final time, I threaded three beads onto the needle, creating a little cluster. Then, I brought the needle down again and tied off the ends. I repeated over and over for each color, until I had a pile of flowers.
Then came the fun part – creating my flower garden! Using a mix of pinks, I worked to scatter the flowers all around the skirt, putting some in clusters and some on their own. As usual, I tried to keep a visual balance, both in color and number of buds.
HELPFUL TIP: If you’re ever creating a piece like this – one thing to be aware of is that this piece will (we hope) be one you wear. Try to avoid putting too many 3D elements at the back near zipper, which is where your butt will make contact with a lot of chairs. It’s a sure way to lose more than a few appliqué after a wear or two.
Then, I pinned all of the flowers in place and worked to hand-sew them onto the skirt. Using matching thread, I attached each one with a tiny, backstitch around the edge of the leaves. Essentially you bring the needle up and down behind your needle, catching the tiniest bit of fabric. This keeps the stitches nearly invisible. I didn’t sew down the pink petals, because I wanted to retain that 3D quality.
To finish the skirt, I needed to add a waistband, hem, and zipper. Starting with a matching 9″ zipper in Caribbean blue, I quickly stitched it in using a simple lapped zip (my fav for these types of skirts).
Next, I cut two 4″ x 32″ strips out of my Ice Frappe Kona Cotton, and a matching strip out of medium-weight interfacing. I pressed the interfacing to the back of the waistband piece to prevent distortion and give it a bit more structure.
Then, I sewed the waistband to the waistband lining and pressed the seam allowance to the inside, and stay stitched along the edge of the center seam, before pressing it it half.
Then, starting from the top of the waistband, I sewed parallel rows of stitching at 0.5″ inches apart. I’ve shared this trick before, but a good hack for keeping things straight is to tape a flat edged guide at the correct measurement (like a piece of cardboard or, in my case, my pack of sewing needles). Before I got to the last row of stitching, I stopped – so that I could attach the waistband to my skirt.
Next, I quickly cut out my lining using the same method for a circle skirt above out of the Snow Kona Cotton and basted it to my skirt, with the seam allowances facing to the inside. Then, I added the waistband to both layers of the skirt at a 5/8″ seam allowance. I finished by topstitching the final row of stitching, securing the lining to the waistband and completing the last of the 1/2″ parallel rows.
Finishing touches involved finishing the hem and lining – I pressed the hem under 5/8″ and did the same to the lining, securing the two together with a slip stitch and keeping all of the appliqué invisible. I added two waist clasps and carefully pressed in my custom garment labels from Heart of Wonder. I love knowing that some day year and years into the future, when one of my makes becomes “vintage,” whoever finds and wears it will know who’s hands brought it to life.
Now, you might be tricked at this stage into thinking we were done. But, au contraire, we were just getting started. And we had a matching cardigan to make! I grabbed my plain MAK cardigan and started to plot the design….
Because the hue of the cardigan so closely matched the evergreen felt, I decided to use another shade of green felt to add the vine detail to my cardi. I played with two different shades, but found grassy meadows to be ideal in the end.
As before, I started by cutting 1/4″ strips of felt, which I laid on the front and back of the cardigan, snaking them around the sides and over the shoulder to the back. I wasn’t really following a plan as much as just seeing where my creativity could take me.
Once I was happy with the vines, I followed up with some matching leaves, letting the organic shapes of the vines guide where I would put them. They were also very useful in hiding the ends of the vines – which always look a little messy. Once everything looked right, I pinned the pieces in place.
Because the stretchy knit of the cardigan wouldn’t run smoothly through my machine, I opted to hand sew the vines in place, using the same tiny backstitch as before.
Once they were secure, I added a few pops of color with some leftover flowers, keeping them random but ensuring they weren’t in places that are likely to rub (ie, avoid under the arms or right at the waist). I also stitched them quickly in place using the same backstitch.
Because I’m still relatively new to working with appliqué cardigans (and new to knits in general), it wasn’t perfect. If I were to do it over again, I think I would stick to purely vertical details. Because the main stretch comes horizontally when you wear it, the vines caused a small bit of distortion. But, I have to say, I love the effect and was really glad I made the cardi – which definitely elevated the outfit.
As it happens, this outfit was finished at exactly the time it was meant to. Right at that point where we start to see towards the end of summer, giving way to a new semester and a whole new crop of undergrads (though I am so excited to be on research reassignment this fall – which means no teaching for me!). But, this is definitely the time of year when I start to bring a cardigan along to work, ready for the inevitable crispness that only fall can bring….
The Debut
It has been more than a little bit of a crazy month – which is one of the reasons why it’s been quieter around here then usual. I spent hours upon hours prepping for an important work conference, only to fall ill while traveling and not being able to give my talk in the end. Sigh. 2.5 years of successful avoidance, but the Rona finally found me. But, luckily, I made it home safely and am on the road to recovery. And hey – at least my talk is already written for next year!
The smallest flower is a thought,
a life answering to some feature
of the Great Whole,
of whom they have a persistent intuition.
Honore de Balzac
I know people tend to associate New Years with a fresh start, but that moment always seems to come at autumn for me. Maybe that’s part and parcel to being an academic – where fall always seems to carry with it so much newness. I can definitely feel some important changes on the horizon. While I normally shy away from change, this time I’m going to do my best to embrace it and figure out how to make it work for me.
So, here’s to making the most of the final licks of summer. To dipping your toes into the sea and basking in those final few rays of sunshine. Then, button up that cardigan and let’s meet this change head on.
Bring on autumn!
xoxo
Construction Details:
Circle Skirt: Self-drafted
Skirt fabric : 4 yards of Kona cotton in Ice Frappe for the base and Snow for the lining
Base cardigan: Yemak
Appliqué: Felt from BBD Supplies
Beads: JoAnn’s
Additional notions (zipper, thread): JoAnn’s
Outfit Details:
Cardigan: Made by me!
Skirt: Made by me!
Necklace: belonged to my mom (similar)
Handbag: Marie Moreau Co. (similar)
Shoes: Kate Spade (similar here & here)
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Any items marked with a “c/o” (courtesy of) a retailer mean I was provided with an item for free in exchange for a review and/or feature on my blog. I always provide my honest opinion of any item I’m reviewing, regardless of whether it was sent to me as a courtesy item or if I purchased it myself. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links or ads on this site, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase at no cost to you, which helps with the day-to-day running costs of my blog.