My ever-growing collection of hand-knitted cardigans has been calling for matching skirts since the beginning of the winter. What better excuse to make a few Elegante skirts, a pattern by Popeline Linon I had been eying for a while. So here is version 1, in an embroidered denim fabric from Selvedge and Bolts:

… version 2 in a candy pink and baby blue brocard, also from Selvedge and Bolts:

… and version three, in an off-white and black checked wool from Croftmill:

L’Elegante by Popeline Linon: pattern review

L’Elegante is a midi (on the longer midi side actually) skirt, pleated at the waist with box-pleats and with a very pretty shaped waist. It comes with a large belt, which in my view is absolutely necessary to make – without it, the skirt loses a lot of its appeal.

The pleats are well-proportioned and well-positioned – not funny effect at the back, I assure you!

The pattern was issued a while ago and was a success among French Instagram seamstresses – now I know why! It is quite straightforward to make, very comfortable to wear and consumes a relatively modest amount of fabric for a big skirt (2.3m in my case).

I cut a size 36, which corresponded exactly to my waist measurements, and the fit is perfect – the waist measurement is crucial but the hip measurement is pretty irrelevant, as the skirt is not fitted. I am 1m68 and the skirt is quite long for a midi skirt and could easily be shortened – I personally like it this way.

The instructions are very clear (although I am not sure using a busy floral fabric for the pictures was the best idea) and the only change I made to te pattern was lining the skirt (I’m sure you could have guessed that!!). I basically cut a rectangle of fabric of 150x70cm, gathered the top to the belt width and sandwiched it into the belt.

Fabrics used

I used very different-looking fabrics and I am very pleased with each of them. The one thing they have in common is that they are reasonably heavy and structured (but not overly so), which I think works well with the box-pleats.

Fabric one is an embroidered denim from Selvedge and Bolts. The denim is quite light in itself but the amount of embroidery makes it much stiffer and heavier. I really like the fact that there are some blue threads in the embroidery, allowing me to mix and match with my blue Belladonna cardigans (number 2 here).

Fabric 2 is a light brocart, from Selvedge and Bolts too. I absolutely adore the colours – I am a candy girl at heart – and I think I will be able to transition this skirt easily into Spring. Here too a perfect match with Belladonna, version 1 this time.

Fabric 3 is a slightly stretchy checked wool from Croftmill – the stretch was definitely not necessary but never mind. As ever for Croftmill’s wools, the quality is to die for – if I was not worried about pattern matching (definitely not a success here), I would definitely buy more to make a fitted dress. This one will be worn with my off-white Agatha and my black Belladonna cardigans.

Conclusion

I must admit that I was hugely tempted to make dresses out of these fabrics – I always am – but I am very pleased I didn’t. This winter has been quite cold by London standards and skirts are so much easier to wear than dresses when it’s colder (especially with thermal turtlenecks!). They also perfectly work with my hand-knitted cardigans – and I definitely needed a justification to continue knitting more. A never-ending virtuous circle of garment making!

Sewing other garments than dresses (!!!) was one my challenges for Autumn 2020. And I managed! Let me introduce you to my Pascal shorts by Coralie Bijasson.

I love shorts for the colder months but I haven’t worn them for ages, as I couldn’t find a shape I liked, either ready-made or for sewing. So when I saw Joviana 2’s versions of the Pascal short on Instagram, I was over the moon: a very plain model with a slightly trapeze shape and a low waist, exactly what I needed. That said the overskirt version is definitely not my cup of tea!

Theses shorts are incredibly easy to make: the pattern has very few pieces (5!) and requires less than a metre of fabric. It is the perfect pattern to optimise fabric leftovers, which was another of my goals for this season.

My first version is in a blue brocade fabric from Amothreads. Initially I wanted to use this fabric for a midi skirt, but the supplier only had 1m left, which he kindly gave me for free! I cut a size 38, slightly shortened the legs, added some silver pipping and entirely lined the shorts (because brocade tends to be itchy, as I previously discussed in this article).

Ce short a le net avantage d’être très bien assorti au joli pull Enchantée tricoté pour ma fille – comme elle porte un uniforme toute la semaine je peux lui emprunter sans aucune culpabilité!

My second version is in brocade too, from the same Amothread supplier, but this time I used real fabric leftovers! They come from a midi pleated skirt, for which I hope to publish the tutorial soon. It is the exact twin of my first version except for the piping, which I omitted this time.

I am extremely please with these shorts! And also by how well my Autumn wardrobe is taking shape. More to come on the blog soon!

Is there anything like a dress pattern crush? – all seamstresses will reply in unison « of course« !!! Anyway that’s exactly what I felt when I first saw McCall’s M7995 dress, released as part of their last A/W collection – too quirky for a long-term relationship, but definitely too attractive not to make one!

My crush was made even worse when I saw Zoubi Zoubisou’s version on Instagram. The fabric contrast was such a genius idea, I had to have the same!!!

After a couple of months looking for the appropriate fabric, I actually… found it in my stash! Do you remember this dress? – I never posted specifically about it but it was part of my brocart frenzy 18 months ago...

I had a bit left of this beautiful brocart for the body of the dress (you need very little if you’re not adding the sleeves, something like 70cm!); and I miraculously found a matching shiny pink crepe on the Croftmill website, for the bottom ruffle and the bow (I bought 1m) – we had a deal!

Based on the finished measurements of the bust indicated on the enveloppe, I cut a size S, which seem fine even with my E-cup – but I stupidly lowered the sleeve opening by 1.5cm, which I always do with McCall patterns but shouldn’t have done with this one – oh well.

I had a bit of a struggle with the instructions for the collar, in particular about where you should leave an opening to slip-in the back and front of the dress when you link collar and body. To avoid that, I strongly suggest you write this down on your pattern before cutting and sewing.

This dress is definitely a winter and mid-season piece for me, so I layer it with my beloved M&S thermals and opaque tights; and it is – obviously – fully lined! Here is how I did it:

1/ I cut the two body pieces of the dress both in the main fabric and in the lining fabric.

2/ I then sew both the main fabric dress and the lining dress by the sides – ending-up with two bodies.

3/ I attached the two by the armhole openings; trimmed the sewing allowance at the curves; and overstitched it to the lining fabric, so that it would not show from the outside.

And that’s it! I’m very pleased with this little number and I am now thinking about a summer version in fine cotton… Typical!

My sewing moto has stalled lately, after a few sewing dissapointments in the wrap dress area (but more on this later). For the moment I need a quick, highly satisfactory project and this SisterMini by Vanessa Pouzet perfectly worked as such.

I am not a huge mini skirt person but I am all into the chunky sweater + dressy skirt combination this winter, and when I stumbled upon this beauty at COS, I immediately wanted to wear it with a mini skirt. I would have bought this corduroy one from the same brand but the pinks did not match. Thankfully I had the perfect fabric in my wardrobe, a beautiful pink and gold brocart fabric from Bennytex. And jumping to conclusions, here is the outfit, which is exactly what I was looking for!

In terms of sewing, the Sister Mini is a wonderful experience: in mimimum time you achieve a highly rewarding make, which is as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside. I have sewn three Vanessa Pouzet patterns up to now (including TheCape for my daughter, reviewed here) and I am extremely impressed by their quality: the number of pages to print from the PDF is tiny, the explanations are crystal-clear and full of humour, the finish is impecable and the sizing spot-on.

As for the skirt itself, it is a very short mini skirt – my key rule is never to wear it when I have to take the Tube! Rule number 2 is to drop the heals and wear trainers, not something I’m used to at all…

There is a fully-detachable zip at the front, which is a key element of the skirt. I looked for ages on E-Bay to find the right one, with a pink gold zipper on a beige background, perfectly matching my fabric.

The skirt is fully lined, in such a way that the inside is trully pretty – come on, have a look!

And joy, it also matches another of my recently bought jumpers, hurrah! – what do you mean, yet another blush item in my wardrobe?

In summary :

• Pattern: SisterMini skirt by Vanessa Pouzet, an absolute must in my view after a mini skirt, such an easy make with a really professional finish. I picked size 36 (my shopping size) after trying a way too large 38 with my muslin.
• Fabric pink and gold brocart fabric from Bennytex, this specific one is not available anymore but they still have a wide selection here.
• Sewing level: you absolutely need to make a muslin to check the size, which can be a bit boring; and you need to be precise when positionning the zip – but it is exposed so not as fiddly as a concealed zip. Otherwise very straightforward as the explanantions are so good.
• Love level: suprisingly for a mini skirt and my difficult relationship with my legs, I absolutely adore it!