Channeling My Secret Inner Designer

I’m not a pattern designer, I don’t pretend to be one and I really don’t want to have the ability.  There’s so much thinking and life consuming work in designing a pattern to then sell to the masses and I’d be devastated to see someone interpret my design differently than I intended.  Or worse, see someone struggle with my design and not be able to help.  Instead, I buy the patterns and mostly follow the rules, until something whispers in my brain and I have to change things just a tad.  Because I’m human.

A few posts back, I raved and raved about the Halfmoon 101 Jeans from Halfmoon Atelier.  They are far from skinny jeans.  They remind me of 90s jeans.  No stretch.  Real denim.  But with a rise that doesn’t touch my throat.   Because short torso and high waist equal a strange corset-like monstrosity.  These are nothing like that.

As I made my second pair, I got to thinking how great it would be to have a denim skirt that fit through the hips the same way.  And I started perseverating  on how I could make that happen, as I started ripping out all of the man’s older, ripped jeans.  That really is some nice denim and it frustrates me that it’s hard to find. My second pair of jeans was made from off the bolt denim and as it gets worn, I swear it’s getting harsher and more burlap-like.

Sometimes, I have some divine intervention that steps in and my wild ideas turn into exactly what I wanted. I was so excited to share, I didn’t even wait until daylight.  I stood on a stool and hit my head on the ceiling so I could capture these beauties.

It took a lot of thinking and lots of studying skirts I already have so I could see their construction.  I pulled out two denim skirt patterns that I already have but both use a different fly method and I just couldn’t figure out how to transfer that method to this pattern.  Eventually, I winged it and I like what I have.

This is from upcycled denim so it has some dark patches and the fronts are actually two different brands, which I didn’t realize at first.  I’m debating making another.  As I’m writing this, I’m wearing the current one to see how it relaxes as it gets worn.

I didn’t hem this.  I’ve been on a non hemming kick.  I topstitched right at the edge so it will fray and then stop because that’s the kind of casual mood of this skirt.  It doesn’t have a lot of room for climbing big steps.  Climbing on the stool for pictures was risky enough.  But that’s how I like a denim skirt.  I don’t like them all shifty and acting like a silo around my body.

Come back soon and I’ll tell you all about my new favorite sewing machine foot that made this a breeze!