wiksten tulip skirt

It’s no secret that I adore Jenny Gordy‘s patterns and I’ve wanted to get my hands on the Tulip skirt pattern for ages. I always thought it was sold out, but it’s actually available online (thanks to Neus for the tip!).
With spring some time away the navy corduroy seemed a good choice for a fall/winter version of the skirt.

I was a bit intimidated because the instructions came without pictures but I needn’t have worried: The skirt sewed up like a dream, using simple techniques I already knew.
I didn’t have any fusible interfacing (also, I hate fusible interfacing), so I opted for sewing in some lightweight muslin instead. I’ve never sewed in interfacing before, but it worked fine.

The pattern calls for a bit of handsewing to finish the placket and waistband. I actually really like handsewing and I love how pretty and invisible handsewn finishes are.
Since neither of my two vintage sewing machines have a button hole feature I handstitched the buttonholes…twice, at least. The thick, interfaced corduroy placket made it a bit of a pain so I’d recommend using machine-made buttonholes when possible!

I made the smallest size and it fits really well and is such a versatile style and color that it can be worn with just about anything. A slight drawback turned out to be the fabric choice: Even though I picked the thinnest corduroy I could find the skirt is still a bit too stiff and doesn’t drape as well as I should like. I’m hoping it’ll soften when washed a couple of times.

I can’t wait to make a summer version of this. I’m thinking a nice soft linen or linen/cotton mix, maybe a light brown or grey…this will definitely not be the last tulip skirt!
In other (totally unrelated) news: I’ve found the perfect way to curl my very thin hair! The solution is rag curls and just 4 in total (two on each side of the head). The result is big soft curls instead of frizzy baby curls which is what I get when I try to curl my hair in any other way. I did actually take a photo of the rags in my hair but it turned out too embarrassing to post, so you’ll just have to imagine it (or look at Anna’s post on rag curls).