Memade Orla Kiely Skirt

I picked up 2 different Orla Kiely fabrics at Fabrics Galore, London recently.  I can't resist the bold prints of Orla Kiely and I'd never come across their fabrics for sale before, so I snapped them up!  They are truthfully furnishing fabric I think, relatively heavy weight. But I couldn't resist making a skirt out of the first one.  I pre-washed it to check it washed ok and it did - it frayed massively (note to self, should have overlocked the edge before washing) but it was fine, phew!  Let the plans commence.

I recently made up this Butterick pattern in denim and have worn it non stop, so it was the obvious choice. This is my first sewing after 3 weeks holiday, so i was dying to get back behind the machine with a relatively quick, indulgent and fun project.

So it was a straightforward make. I worked hard to pattern match behind the pockets and I did my best on the pleat from to have a complete pattern repeat either side, which works quite well.  I was unsure with the waist band whether to do the pattern across or down - but doing down, it would never perfectly match the skirt due to the pleat, so I went for across.


 I wanted a different style of pockets so it wasn't too intrusive with the pattern so I free-styled that and chose to put some piping at the top of the pockets as a feature:

The only other deviation from the pattern that I also did with my previous version was to add some shape to the waistband.  The pattern piece is a perfect rectangle- which personally I don't think works - I m not sure anyone would have a perfectly rectangular waist when the band is so thick.  So my technique here is to sew the front waistband to the front skirt  and shape off the waistband following the line of the skirt (so effectively cutting a triangle off each corner).  I repeat for the back, then sew the front & back together in one go.

The final details I wanted to share are on the inside.  I had a dust bag for an Orla Kiely handbag so I cut that up and used it as the facing fabric for the waistband as well as the inside of the pockets.  No one else sees it but it makes me happy to have the iconic stem print on the inside too.

I did alot of topstitching - I was undecided but the fabric felt like it needed it for stability, especially down the side seams and around the front pleat, so I also did some top stitching on the waist band too.  Probably not everyones cup of tea, but I m quite happy with it- gives it a more informal vibe and I m hoping strengthens the seams too.

And finally,  I used bias binding on the hem.  The fabric frays heavily so needed properly finishing and was too thick to double turn up- so this seemed like the best solution.

I m so happy with this skirt.  I love the pattern and the colours and the style of this really fits me perfectly.  I love skirts that fit snugly on the hip, have a bit of body and also have pockets and this ticks all three boxes.

Messyessymakes
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