I have a confession to make: I’m finding myself increasingly attracted to wearing black.

Which, I know, is hardly extraordinary.

But it’s never been my thing.

I’ve always associated wearing black with the occasional catering gigs I did during Uni. My entire life, I’ve been insisting that navy is the only black I need.

And, now, well?

Black keeps kind of calling my name.

It started with my black silk Duplantier Dress last year. Then a few RTW garments. And now, it’s starting to invade my wardrobe.

Perhaps it’s a sign of maturity. I turn 40 and start wearing black.

Or perhaps it’s a passing fad. Time will tell!

So, in view of this increased attraction to the colour black, I have had some black linen, purchased as a coupon from Zyga Paris, in my fabric stash since the beginning of the year.

Black Skirt Inspo

And I was inspired to sew it up when I saw that a recent Sezane release included a simple black linen skirt with a waistband, gathered skirt and a split. Yours to own for a whopping 160 euros!!!!

So I decided to make my own.

I skipped the split from the Sezane version – I’m not much a skirt split kind of gal – they’re not the most bicycle friendly detail!

There’s not much to say about this skirt. Technically speaking, it is merely 6 rectangles.

The waistband was made the length of half my waist, plus the desired width of the waistband (to be folded over) plus seam allowance. I cut the waistband as two pieces (front and back), as having a side seam at the waistband makes it easier if I need to adjust the size of my waistband in the future.

I left a large seam allowance at the side split for this purpose – I’m trying to sew with a view to longevity of my garments in view of the reality that my size fluctuates a lot.

The skirt pieces were made by simply using the entirety of the width of my fabric, cut to the desired length (plus seam and seam allowances). I went for a nice wide hem, as it gives a bit of balance to the skirt and weighs it down a little.

Then the two final rectangles are the patch pockets. I would have preferred in-seam pockets but didn’t have enough fabric.

This all came together in a day and was a very satisfying sew. Plus it cost me only about 20 euros and a relaxing day of my time!

Megan Nielsen Protea Top

I knew that I wanted to pair my black linen skirt, with a black linen top in the same fabric. The Sezane release combines their skirt so with a cute little sleeveless crop top – something like the Ashton Top by Helen’s Closet would be perfect for it.

But I don’t love wearing sleeveless tops these days. So I wanted to combine my black linen skirt with a different kind of combo.

The starting point for what I wanted was a square neck, roomy sleeves and a cropped waist (the latter inspired by the Saguaro Set by Friday Pattern Company).

In the end, I checked out what I already had in the pattern stash and decided to start with the top from the Protea Capsule Collection by Megan Nielsen. Protea is actually a pattern for a top, skirt and dress, with either a scooped or square neckline and a couple of sleeve options, designed to be mixed and matched.

Since, of the elements I wanted, I thought that the neckline would be the hardest to achieve, I decided to start with a pattern that already had the right neckline and then hack the other elements I wanted.

I cut the Protea top to be a size 14 at the bust, but I graded out to size 20 at the hips, since I wanted to have some excess room to gather with elastic at the waist/hips.

My Protea top here is about 3.5 inches shorter than the “cut here” line for the blouse version of Protea.

For my sleeve hack, I used the armsyce of the flutter sleeve version, but then basically drew a straight line down the length of the arm to just create a loose bulky sleeve to gather at the wrist.

Everything is then finished with elastic at the cuffs and waist!

In the end, I’m happy with the black linen combo but I must admit that I don’t love the square neckline on the Protea.

On me it looks perhaps a little more trapezoid than square, strictly speaking. And, overall, it looks perhaps a bit too low-key – I would have preferred something a bit more dramatic – especially at the back of the neck. I prefer, for example, the square neckline on my Tamzin Dress by By Hand London – so if I wanted to recreate a square neck top, I would perhaps start with that pattern next time around.

It also doesn’t sit very well on my shoulders and likes to puff up a little bit, which is evident in these photos. But this results from the hacks I have made to both the sleeves and the waist which prevent it from pulling downwards and sitting as designed. So it’s entirely my own doing and not an issue with the pattern.

Although the top is not perfect, I like the other elements of it and am very happy with the all-black linen vision that I’ve managed to bring to life here. the overall look is one I am very satisfied with! The two pieces will also be very versatile to combine with other elements of my wardrobe.

Now, here’s hoping that this black wardrobe vibe sticks!!!