Tag Archives: sewing clothing

sewing a summer skirt

Finding the right skirt is tricky – too short, too long, too sheer, too stiff, the list goes on and on. Discovering a perfect ready-to-wear skirt is like winning the jackpot for me. I like my skirts flowy but not frumpy (see my Pinterest board for what I mean)

handmade clothing: jersey skirt | little home by hand blog

Not suprisingly I decided that this summer I was going to make a few jersey skirts for myself. Jersey is such a great material to work with once you’ve gotten to know your serger.
This skirt is based off the Colette Moneta Dress pattern with a self-drafted rectangular waistband. The fabric is a medium weight jersey, the same one I used for my green Moneta dress.

You can always just use a rectangular piece of jersey too – just sew both pieces together, gather at the waist (I used elastic) and attach a waistband the way you would attach a neckband or cuffs on a regular jersey top (the Grainline Linden pattern has good instructions for this).
handmade clothing: jersey skirt | little home by hand blog
VoilĂ , a drapey skirt with just the right length. The waistband is a tiny bit too big but it doesn’t bother me enough to take it apart again.

Also sporting my new handbag in this picture – every time I am in Italy I end up buying a leather handbag at Avorio, whose factory is just down the road from my friends’. I only own three handbags total (keeping it simple – one for summer, one for winter and a big one), all of them from this same italian brand. In that way I am probably the least girly girl ever – using more than one handbag at a time just seems like a lot of hassle to me. Who wants to keep moving all their stuff from one bag to the next every day? Anyone else following a strict one bag policy?

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pea green – colette moneta #2

I have a new obsession – knit dresses! Making my first Colette Moneta dress made me realize how comfortable and versatile a knit dress really is. And soo quickly done with a serger. Were it not for the elastic waist – don’t get me started on that.

I made this pea green version soon after my stripey grey one and finally got it photographed this weekend.

colette moneta dress. little home by hand blogThe fabric is a lovely jersey knit with a little less stretch than the striped fabric – thus the dress fits more snugly. It’s so hard to find a really nice green color and I just love this dress. A nice change from all the navy blue I usually wear.

Though I admit the grey tights weren’t the best choice – blue tights? Brown, black? Help me out here!

colette moneta dress. little home by hand blogNecklines are usually a spot of bother for me – they nearly always gape at front and back in any pattern. I use Rae’s method of taking off the excess fabric while tracing the pattern onto the fabric and it works like a dream. Just letting you know in case you ever run into the same problem.

I love that these dresses can be worn in virtually any season. I look forward to wearing them in winter with thick knit cardigans. A handmade dress with a handknit cardigan – pretty cool, huh!

If you’re itching to make your own – find the pattern here.