Catch-up Monday: Full Circle Skirt

Towards the end of last year I was very bad at posting about my new makes, and I'm going to try and make up for that with a series of Catch-up posts.

The November sewing box from SewHayleyJane contained the Christmas fabric, sensibly enough to give time for making something from it before Christmas. My box contained 2.5 meters of the beautiful red cotton poplin, amongst other treats.

Having made a dress from my October box fabric, I wanted to make something else this time but also to make the most of the quantity of fabric ... the idea of a full circle skirt popped into my head.

While a pattern for a full circle skirt is not strictly necessary, I do happen to have a rather nice one.

I found it in the box of pattern in my parents' house, which is a mixture of patterns belonging to my mum, aunt and grandmother; we are a family of needlewomen. On application my mum thought that it wasn't one of hers, but probably belonged to my aunt (who died when I was a teenager). On the off chance, I asked mum if she might have any photos of my aunt in her skirt (a long shot but their father was a photographer so there are lots). Amazingly she dug up this photo, which, while it might not be of skirts made from this pattern, do show some very like it.

Mum on the left, Aunt on the right

I love that I'm sewing from the same pattern as my aunt, and that I'm keeping the flag flying for the Harvey needlewomen :)

My waist is not quite as small as my aunts was as a teenage, so I made some adjustments to skirt. I sewed the front and back of the skirt together, and then just cut a bit off the waist until it fitted, and added a little bit of length to the waistband.

The skirt is fully lined, I used some lace from my stash to finish the bottom, and the fancy zipper (from the October box) on the back. (When I showed the finish skirt to my boyfriend, he helpfully asked if I knew that I had a zip on the outside of it!)

I'm really happy with the result, and wore it to several Christmas parties and on Christmas Day itself. I don't seem to have taken any photos of the skirt on any of these occasions, and I didn't feel like getting all dressed up this evening, so my faithful mannequin will have to stand in.

Outfit details
Top - bought from Carousel
Belt - made by me
Skirt - made by me