Welcome to the first instalment of a mini series all about skirt sewing!

September/October are the perfect time for sewing skirts. In the northern hemisphere, you’re heading towards tights season. In the southern hemisphere, you’re cruising towards summer. So really, the potential need for skirts at this time of the year is global!

And I recently realised that I don’t actually like a lot of the me made skirts I own. I sewed quite a few skirts in my early days of sewing before realising that gathering around the waist just looks terrible on my body!

Plus, I’ve always had a bit of a silly aversion to investing in skirt patterns. I feel as though a skirt is half of a dress pattern. I’m not getting as much ‘bang for my buck’. For the most part, my ‘skirt-making’ to date had consisted of ‘self-drafted’ dirndl skirts or pleated skirts or, if I’m feeling fancy, adding a waistband to a skirt taken from a dress pattern.

But, I realised, perhaps I am being unfair to the poor old skirt. After all, for many of us, skirts are a key ‘gateway drug’ to sewing. My first ever make was Miette skirt.

So, upon looking at my closet skirt selection in dismay, I decided ‘enough is enough’. Time to properly give skirts a chance! And so I have been on a bit of a skirt sewing spree for the upcoming autumn/winter season.

For the next few weeks, it is skirts ahoy over here at isewthereforeiam HQ as I try to found out whether skirt patterns really are worth our while!!

So kicking off the skirt series this week is the Deer and Doe Azara Skirt! And, it may just be my favourite skirt I’ve ever worn!!

Linen for Autumn…

Whoever said that you can only wear linen in summer was wrong.

Just plain wrong.

(Hehe, who would have thought I would actually disagree with Heather Lou for once…)

I give you, the autumn linen skirt of my dreams…

By the way, this Azara skirt was inspired by seeing someone on the street wearing a similar skirt, with a white shirt, and thinking “I need to have that outfit”.

Does anyone else do that?

Skirting issues…

When the pattern was first released, I remember seeing it and thinking that it was a classic design elevated to something more modern by those gorgeous square panel lines. But, my reticence to buy skirt patterns held me back…

Well, I’m a convert. This Azara Skirt has convinced me that a well-drafted skirt pattern is absolutely worth it’s while! Hehe, I guess that’s the central premise of the Skirt Series already addressed, may as well go home now!!

My Deer and Doe Azara Skirt

My Azara Skirt is a size 44.  This is version A, the button front option. There is also a version with a clean front and invisible back zipper available.

Based on the size charts, I needed a 44 at the waist and a 40 at the hips. I had wanted to grade between those sizes. But when I actually sat down to do so, the unusual pattern pieces confused me. Since a clean finish on those square edges is all about accuracy and detail, I wasn’t sure I could modify the pattern successfully. So, since the waist measurement was most important, I went with the 44. I figured I could always take in from the side seam if necessary. In the end, the ‘extra room’ in the hips definitely does not bother me at all!

And the fabric is The Fabric Store’s linen in Brick. I was wanting something a bit terracotta-ish. The Fabric Store has so many different shades in these tones that it was hard to pick online. And I know I should order swatches. But I’m just far too ‘instant gratification’ for that to work!

So I took my chances. And it’s a lovely colour. In my humble opinion… Perhaps slightly ‘redder’ than I was ideally envisaging (duh, maybe the name ‘Brick’ should have given me a hint there), but I think it’s great for the season!

Azara Skirt Tips

Technique-wise, I have a few little tips to share. First of all, I added slash pockets to my Azara skirt.

Because I think that everything should have pockets if it’s at all humanly possible. I was worried that they would mess with these clean lines of the Azara skirt, but in the end, I think it’s complementary. Also, my pockets are soo big! The joy of self-drafting. I could almost fit a bottle of wine in there…

Also, to emphasise the lines of the skirt, without going over the top, I chose to topstitch the square seams and side seams in a matching thread.

The Azara Skirt is fully lined and the joy of a fully lined skirt is that, by sewing the lining first, you can practice certain techniques. Practising the square corner was definitely invaluable. In doing so, I realised that I found it much easier to get a clean result following the technique I learned while sewing the Kabuki tee. So if you’re trying to sew those square coreners nice and neat, the best tutorial I’ve ever seen for sewing square corners is this post by Paper Theory Patterns.

I also modified the technique for finishing the hem. The pattern called for you to hem the lining and the skirt separately and then leave them as two layers, which would be attached at the centre front and waist, but not at the hem itself. Well, I’m never going to pass up an opportunity to get me a totally clean finish, especially where it is a piece of cake to do. So I took a few measurements to figure out the final length I wanted and then sewed my lining and skirt together along the hem, prior to attaching them at the centre front seam.

And voilà perfectly clean insides. I think I’m in love…

BTW, it totally amazes me that it’s possible to have a skirt which has such a nice shape on my body without a single dart or pleat in sight. These side panels are just a little bit magical, my sewing friends…

I would love to make a new version using contrasting side panels – so much colour blocking potential…

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.