Battling a Pregnancy-Induced Sewing Slump with a Gold Linen Skirt

I blame the pregnancy.

Both last pregnancy and this pregnancy I’ve felt a noticeable slump in my creativity. Last time I was able to channel what little creative and DIY energy I could find into just two things: my science and my sewing. Everything else just kind of got left behind. At the time I wasn’t sure what was going on, but since it’s happening again, I’m pretty sure it has something to do with how my body adjusts to being pregnant. And, unfortunately for my sewing and, therefore, this blog, this time the two things getting all the creative love I can muster seem to be my daughter and my kitchen remodel.

Couple the lack of sewing creativity with the fact that I was given a giant bin full of maternity clothes from a friend, which basically erased all need or desire for sewing said category of clothes, and, well, my sewing machine has been pretty lonely of late. I’ve snuck in some time here and there to thread trace pattern pieces for my Vogue V8333 jacket, but there’s been almost no starting or finishing of garments since my last dress.

So, when it came time to think about this month’s Mood Sewing Network make, the only way I was going to find the energy was if I could make something that I was sure would get a lot of post-pregnancy wear. I’ve been dreaming of a (subtle) gold skirt for awhile and was drawn to this linen from Mood Fabrics with its loose weave and hint of metallic shine. Though the overall impression I get from this fabric is the subtle gold I was going for, the color and metallic shine appear to come from a bit of silver that is painted on natural-linen colored threads. I can’t find the fabric online anymore, but here’s a similar one from Oscar de la Renta.

After pulling out a lot of different skirt patterns, I ultimately decided to fall back on a recent success: an A-line skirt using the free skirt pattern that came with the no-longer-available Craftsy class Sew Retro: The Starlet Suit Jacket. Since there’s no way the skirt is fitting me right now, choosing a tried-and-true (TNT) pattern helps me feel confident that this skirt will fit nicely post-pregnancy.

No, sorry, this skirt is definitely not going to fit me right now! However, it does nicely fit my Grandma’s old dress form, so you’ll have to settle for seeing it modeled that way.

This fabric sewed up like a dream compared to my last version of this skirt. Though I promised myself after that skirt that I’d try a Hong Kong seam finish the next time I was working with a loose weave, my lack of sewing time got the best of me. After testing a scrap to make sure that it would go through my serger easily, and confirming that it did, I finished my side seams with my serger. Had it not, I promise I would have made the time for the Hong Kong seam finish! I then sewed a bit of hem lace from my stash to the bottom edge of the skirt to seal up its loose weave and hemmed the skirt by hand. I typically take advantage of my machine’s blind hemming function when making skirts like this one, but a test run proved that this loose weave was prone to pucker if not sewn carefully.

I lined the skirt with a sand-colored lining, also from Mood Fabrics. I can’t seem to find the exact fabric online (again!), but this beige Bemberg viscose lining is similar.

Finally, I closed the skirt with a hand-picked lapped zipper and finished off the waistband with a shell button from my stash.

Though a gold skirt feels a bit bold, I think this loose weave linen tones it down a bit. Plus, I see myself being able to tone it down even more by wearing it with a basic top. On my list of possible mates are a chambray button-up; an ivory sleeveless and collarless popover; a mocha-colored tee; a Breton top; and even a pink sweater, like the one I’m wearing here (a previously-made Sewaholic Renfrew). Watch this space since I’m hoping to channel this list into a few new projects over the coming months.

This post can also be found on Mood Sewing Network. I used my MSN allowance towards the purchase of the fabric.