Today I’ve got a quick and easy pattern to share with you, but one I’m really happy with. It’s the Alix Skirt from Fibre Mood. This one appeared in edition 13 of the Fibre Mood magazine.

I made it up in the bold gingham linen from The Fabric Store. I seriously cannot get enough of checks at the moment and this fabric was just begging me to be made into a skirt the moment I saw it! The checks are approximately an inch or so each (although not exactly, as they are actually rectangles, not squares). I kind of wish I could get my hands on linen with even larger scale navy checks though. I’m really feeling this trend!!

Although the Fibre Mood Alix skirt pattern is already very simple, I simplified it slightly further for my purposes. The pattern includes a button placket at the front as a separate piece. Because, in my case, that would have involved having to pattern match, I just added the placket to the front skirt piece and cut these as a single piece, not as a skirt plus a placket.

No need for pattern matching!

Speaking of the placket, the lovely wooden buttons came from Cross and Woods.

The other main change is that I decided I wanted to put elastic in the back of the skirt.

If there is one thing lockdown and working from home has taught me is that I want comfort and flexibility in my clothes. My weight does not stay the same (ever!) and I have really gotten to a point where I am sick of remaking my wardrobe every few years to account for fluctuations. My new focus is ensuring that I am sewing patterns that can continue to fit my body even if (when) my weight fluctuates over a couple of sizes.

Thus, my desire for elastic at the back!

To do this as simply as possible, I selected a size which gave me about 4-5cm of ease at the waist (I made the size 46) and then this extra space enabled me to add elastic in at the back only with no isssues. I had also planned on modifying the size of the pleats if necessary to ensure that there would be enough for the elastic to “gather” at the back, but this turned out not to be needed.

Also, by way of a couple of very minor changes, I narrowed the belt loops but made two more of them (as there is surely nothing worse then when you don’t have enough belt loops and your belt doesn’t sit on the waist of the garment properly).

In addition, my version is slightly longer than as designed as I liked the length it came out to on me unhemmed, so I just added the smallest hem possible!

Voilà!

I told you this would be a simple one.

I didn’t even need a single sub-heading for this blog post! I guess there’s just not too much even I can say about a few rectangles, even such lovely ones!

To me, my Fibre Mood Alix skirt has turned out simple, but classic.

I can see it as being something that stays in my wardrobe for years and years (especially with my elastic adaptation). And, after all, the idea of garments that fit me well, have longevity and are made from high quality fabrics, is pretty much the essence of why I sew!

And did I mentioned that it has lovely roomy pockets???

The fact that it is linen makes it very trans-seasonal too. Linen and summer are an obvious match but the fact that, unlike cotton, linen won’t stick to tights, gives it great layering potential too! In fact, given the miserable spring we are currently having in my part of Europe, to date, I have only worn it with tights!!

All in all, this was one of those quick sewing wins that made me feel absolutely fabulous.

Plus, I look as though I simply need to be at a picnic in it!!!

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If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.