Zinnia Skirt

I made myself this Zinnia skirt from Colette Patterns out of the remnants of Zak’s shirt. Unfortunately the fabric doesn’t have quite enough drape, and I didn’t have quite enough fabric so it is a little shorter than I was planning. Despite these shortcomings it is an excellent fit (size 0), and it sits really nicely on my waist.

I didn’t make many alterations. I omitted the belt loops as I rarely wear belts and top stitched the pockets down as the seam wouldn’t sit flat – the linen cotton blend is a bit heavy, but I’m looking forward to making it again in a lighter fabric with more drape, perhaps a rayon – a light fabric that would feel nice swishing around my knees.

Here is a picture of the back, with its almost invisible zipper:

The skirt is worn with a top I knit out of Heichi silk yarn from Shibui Knits in a colour called graffiti. The pattern is from Rowan’s Savannah Collection and is called Haven. I knit it a while ago, in the round and omitting the crocheted neckline.

Negroni Shirt

For Zak’s birthday I made him the Negroni shirt from Colette Patterns out of a linen cotton. I added an inch to the arms and body of the medium size to provide a little more length and didn’t include the pockets or the top button. I was impressed by how easy it was to make a long sleeve shirt, although due to the weight of the fabric added a lot more top stitching to make it sit right. I found the sew-along from Male Pattern Boldness particularly helpful the couple of times I got stuck, and ended up having to do quite a bit of hand stitching on the cuff as I did something wrong, but overall I was pretty impressed. Next I’ll have to try making one for me, and perhaps another for Zak in a much lighter fabric for summer.