Nita in Nara

I've made the Nita Wrap Skirt a number of times (first up as a pattern tester) and I've always found it an easy pattern to get a bit experimental with - see previous attempts in denim and pleather. The inspiration for this gingham ruffle hack came from a couple of fab skirts by Jess and Daisy, as well as a strong and continuing high street trend for gingham garments.

Inspiration from DIY Daisy (L) and Jess Sews Clothes (R)

It's not often that I sew with straight cotton as a serious fan of the drape, but I thought this light-ish weight gingham would work for both the skirt and the high temperatures in Japan, plus it was a bargain at just £2.99 p/m from Samuel Taylors in Leeds. The fabric holds the gathered ruffle perfectly, so I'd be tempted to do a repeat of the hack in a similar fabric.

Aptly worn with a Kyoto Tee, in Kyoto

Ruffle hem close up

I made view B, shaking up the order of construction a little to make room for the addition of the ruffle hem. This meant sewing the darts and side seams of the skirt up first, but joining the ruffle before finishing the front edges. The ruffle was cut at 20cm deep, and each piece (2 for the left/right front skirt and 1 for the back) measured 1.5x longer than the skirt piece it was being gathered in to. I stitched the pieces together and hemmed the bottom and sides before gathering the raw edge in to fit the skirt, matching at the side seams and the notch where the front pieces are folded in to finish the wrap edges. Hope that all made sense, but of course, do let me know in the comments if I can make it clearer!

In Nara in the rain

How much leg is too much..?

I love that the depth of the ruffle makes the skirt midi-length. I hadn't originally intended for it to be this long, but I feel like it offers that extra bit of modesty to make up for the inevitable amount of leg flashing you get when sitting down in a wrap skirt (I'm sure you guys know what I mean)!

Looking a little tentative here...

'Give me those crackers or the skirt gets it'!

Thanks Chris for capturing some of my finer moments in Nara.

The deer might not like it, but I love this version of the Nita Skirt. I'm hoping to be able to transition it through to autumn/general British weather with tights and a Papercut Patterns Fall Turtleneck! I'd love to try a slightly asymmetric hem like Daisy's above, or maybe a ruffle along the front diagonal edge - maybe another one of these is on the cards!

Talvikki meets Nita: my underwhelmed face

The beautiful print up close

Stabilising the shoulders with jersey

On the whole, the finished thing leaves me feeling a bit deflated. I'm not sure that the Talvikki works in such a loud print, or maybe the print doesn't work on me - it's now I remember why I usually steer clear of most prints. (My boyfriend suggested it made me look like a wotsit not long after taking these pictures - not exactly the look I was going for)! The lack of stretch and difference in drape of the fabric means it doesn't sit quite as well as I'd hoped. I've rolled the sleeves up as they look too wide and hollow otherwise, and the dropped shoulders look less smooth and more boxy than they would in a jersey.

Back view

Pinterest perfection

In reality, I think the pairing makes me look a bit bloated and frumpy. Perhaps I'm being overly critical as the skirt isn't so bad at all and definitely a wearable garment, but it's just not quite lived up to my styling expectations (see image below compared to image above)!

Not quite a Pinterest fail, but not my favourite

Although both garments definitely don't go together hand in hand, the Nita is the first tick off my #2017makenine, and the Talvikki marks the final make from my winter sewing list - which I can't quite believe I actually finished! I hate the thought of any make languishing in the back of the wardrobe, particularly ones like these that are perfectly wearable, but I just have a few niggles over. I'm sure the Nita will get the wear it deserves come spring and summer. The denim actually gives it a bit more structure and prevents it flying open when walking, unlike my first version which is flash central without tights! And while I want to love the Talvikki more, I think it might be relegated to a house-only jumper for now (particularly after the wotsits comparison...). Styling suggestions to help me get the most out of the two are very welcome!

At least it was sunny for pictures - thanks Chris!

I'm always a little tentative about posting my 'meh' makes, but I guess it's good for providing a bit of balance. Not everything works out, even the ones that should - in this case, it's probably a combination of lofty ambitions and wrong fabric choices. How do other people feel about sharing the makes that leave them feeling a bit deflated? And what do you do with yours? Do you try to salvage them, pretend they never happened or grin, bear and wear?

Some special makes for someone else...

In other news, most of my personal sewing time has been eaten up by a special project I'm working on for someone else (see above). I'm excited to share it as soon as I can, but also looking forward to getting a bit more making time back for me. I have the loveliest fabric and pattern from Sew Essential queued up, which I'm hoping will give me just the boost I need!

Really, I had a score to settle with a faux leather skirt that I recently tried on in Topshop (pictured below). If you read my last post, you'll already know exactly how I feel about the sizing on the high street, and this one was no different. I loved the garment on the hanger, but when it came to trying in on, the hip measurements seemed to barely change between sizes. This was just at the time when I was testing the Nita pattern, and I thought it would work perfectly in faux leather if only I dared to brave working with it...

I bought the thin leatherette from B&M Fabrics when the lovely Jess from All Stitched Up came to visit and we had a mooch around the fabric shops of Leeds. It has a slight stretch, and is backed with a soft, thin jersey. I was wearing my first Nita at the time, and very much sitting on the fence wondering I could tackle a second in a fabric like this. Big thanks go to Jess for encouraging me to go for it - I needed the back up with this one!

The pattern itself is super simple to sew up, but making it in the faux leather proved to be pretty challenging. Although it was fine to sew when right sides were together (with the soft jersey backing on the outside) it was an absolute nightmare any time the right side was exposed during sewing. The tacky leatherette side dragged against my machine, creating some nasty misshaping when I tried to topstitch my front facing in place. Unpicking this left some dodgy marks too (see below), but luckily they're hidden away on the wrap side that sits underneath.

This is so not a forgiving fabric for making mistakes with!

I hadn't planned on doing it, but at this point, I realised I'd have to line the skirt to secure the folded facing edge (and avoid the topstitching). I used some leftover black crepe from my stash, which worked quite nicely. I hand-basted the lining and outer together to avoid any further machine-drag issues. Then followed this up with more hand stitching to finish the waistband. This was much easier than I thought - it just took a sharp needle and a bit of patience.

Hand basting layers together

The inside waistband, hand stitched to finish

Pressing wasn't too bad. Where I could, I used a cool iron on the wrong side of the fabric, and for the front and belt I managed to get some use out of my cooking books - knew they'd come in handy for something!

Resorting to unusual pressing techniques!

I made View A this time (the mini length) but still wanted to stick with the D-ring fastening of View B - I think the hardware and faux leather perfectly complement each other. I added an inch to the length of the skirt so I had a bit more room for manouever when hemming... but when I got to it, I was stumped by how to actually hem it, if at all! I knew I couldn't topstitch it like a normal hem because of the dragging issue, so tried hand stitching, but that just threw the fit of the front panels right off, creating unsightly kinks on the diagonal wrap edges.

Close up detail

So its currently unpicked and hanging loose - not the end of the world. Now I see why a lot of hems are unfinished on high street garments made in similar fabric. I probably should've tried out some of the nifty tricks for sewing with difficult fabrics from the start of this project. I'm really interested to know if anyone's tried the tape on the presser foot trick? Does it really work?! I've since bought a walking foot - a real investment, but if you're in Leeds, buy one from the sewing machine repairs shop in the market for about half the price! I've already tried it out on some hard to handle stretch fabric and it was G R E A T so I'm hoping it will work magic with faux leather too!

Sorry for the creases! I'd been wearing it for half the day by this point