Grainline Moss Skirt in Woodgrain

By
I hope no-one minds that this is just a slightly edited version of the post for my personal blog... it's school holidays and two-for-one posts are about all that's manageable!

Ever since I saw the sample of this woodgrain fabric by Kokka of Japan that we ordered in for The Drapery, I had been imagining this.

The fabric is a mid-weight 100% cotton, very stable, and ideal for the Grainline Moss skirt. And Grainline, Moss, woodgrain - irresistible, right?

Presently the pattern is only available as a pdf download but Jen at Grainline is working hard on getting all her excellent patterns into print and we're poised to order for the shop. Aish Printing on Glen Osmond Road is a good place to get pdf patterns printed out if you hate all that taping of A4 paper.

This skirt is simply a fabulous basic. There's a goodly stack of excellent versions of it out there in the sewing blog-o-sphere so Google Image it up.

 The fabric looked like just a straight woodgrain until Fiona and I unfolded the sample and saw that along one edge, it has these crosscut sections lined up. We had a good giggle thinking about the placement possibilities of these circles in a dress. But for the sake of an actual wearable garment, I decided against a couple of big circles on my butt or whatever, and just popped a couple of slices in the pockets and around the waistband.
 Inside the pockets, I used some scraps of Nani Iro brushed cotton, which is so cosy to tuck my hands into!
Sorry about the rumpled Sunday morning styling.

This is my second version of the Moss skirt. I made my first in a beautiful Hemp/Cotton denim which I am pleased to announce will be back at The Drapery in the near future - in a slightly improved version in that it will be Hemp/Organic Cotton this time!

This is a straight size 14, made in the 'mini' version without the band around the bottom, but with a couple of inches extra length. (For a laugh, you may like to see the muslin I made to check the fit.)

The pattern has a zip fly, and I highly recommend referring to the photo tutorial on the Grainline blog if (like me) you haven't attempted one before. (I'm going to have to come back and add a link to that as it doesn't want to connect right now.) I can't say I found it easy, but the result is so very pleasing that it's totally worth a little... or a lot of... swearing and unpicking. And chocolate, tea and wine.

We have plenty of other fabrics at The Drapery, plain and patterned, that would make excellent Moss skirts so come on in for inspiration.

What's the most daring / unusual fabric you've ever used for a garment?

- Jane x

Comments

Post a Comment

We love to know who's reading and what you think so please leave us a comment! We'll also try to answer any questions you may have.

Popular posts from this blog

Care of your Boiled Wool

By
Image
We have some lovely 100% boiled wools at The Drapery for this first time this year. The care of these fabrics was a bit of a mystery to us as well as to you, so we've done some investigation. Will my boiled wool shrink if I wash it at home? More than likely, yes. That surprised us, too. One would guess since the fabric is called 'boiled wool' and has a felted, non-fray texture, that it is pre-shrunk and would not shrink further. Not so - please be well aware! Here's what we found: We tried three kinds of gentle washing: - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle', 30 degrees , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. - Gentle hand wash, warm , with wool wash liquid, rinse, press dry in a towel. - Front loading machine wash 'wool cycle' cold , with wool wash liquid, rinse, spin. In both warm washes (machine and hand) the wool experienced 10 - 15% shrinkage in length. There was little to no shrinkage in width. The cold wash showed sligh
Read more

Boiled Wool Shrug - free tutorial

By
Image
We have some luscious boiled wools in stock at The Drapery right now, and have put together a free tutorial for possibly the easiest garment you'll ever make! Searching for boiled wool inspiration, we came across this simple and lovely shrug by Manda of Treefall Design, who was inspired by a ready-to-wear piece. We whipped up a couple of prototypes in the shop and arrived at this which takes just a 75cm cut of fabric and three straight seams. Edges can all be left raw because boiled wool does not fray! REQUIREMENTS 75cm x boiled wool , ours is 150cm wide - would also work in wool knit fabric such as this Japanese wool blend (or this one ) and this Merino Rib Gutermann Sew-All thread in matching colour Cut about 50 - 55cm in from each selvedge so you have 2 pieces approx. 50 x 75cm, each with a 75cm fluffy selvedge. The piece from the middle is spare so you can use it for another project, or perhaps to embellish your shrug. Pin your pieces together along th
Read more

Pattern Review: In The Folds Jumpsuit (free pattern for Peppermint Magazine)

By
Image
Did someone say jumpsuit? Free pattern? By fantastic Australian designer In The Folds ? I was onto it like a shot! Pattern promo pic: I certainly hope Emily of In The Folds is paid quite well by Peppermint Magazine for the patterns she designs for them, because she's a thorough professional. This is a great pattern, a really well-constructed blank slate for individual interpretation or just a really clean, simple silhouette. So thanks Peppermint Magazine , for making this available to sewists everywhere (and for encouraging sewing in general)! And thanks Emily for the fab designs (more online here ). I made a muslin, which we always recommend and is particularly wise for a fabric-hungry pattern like this. You really don't want to use your 'good' fabric until you're sure of what you're doing. Muslin legs not full length because that was not necessary to check fit The pattern states that it's designed for a height of 5'7" which is a good f
Read more