Mabel in Black

My favourite red jersey skirt (M&S for a fiver in the outlet shop, worn here with my biker jacket) has been worn every week and is looking a bit sorry for itself. Fortunately the Colette Mabel pattern was purchased when on offer and I picked up a metre of lovely heavy black jersey (probably Ponte Roma) for about £7 at the Vietnam fabric market last month....It was always going to be!

I cut a small, grading out to medium on the waist and added an extra 1.5" to the length. I don't like things too short and I wanted this skirt for work. This pattern is so economical that with some creative folding I managed to get it out of half a metre of fabric (so yep that's a skirt of £3.50 then....I win!!).

I sewed the main skirt first and found that it gaped a little in the small of my back so took the back seam in by 3/8" at the top. To make it a bit more snug I sewed the side seams at 4/8" on the waistband and 5/8" on the lining. All the stitching was done with the knit stitch on my machine and a ballpoint needle.

For the hem I turned up by 1/2" and used a decorative stretch stitch on my machine (because I couldn't be bothered to wind another bobbin to use twin needles!).

All the sewing took 1.5 hours...

I love this pattern. Simple, quick and economical. And I think the waistband makes it look much nicer than my tatty red skirt (not to mention the fabric being much better quality)!

There's going to be many more of these to come, it's just so quick and easy to make, not to mention comfy to wear.

Oh, and the spotty pink top. That's an unblogged Colette Sorbetto that I made for the Vietnam holiday - cotton poplin left over from lining my Kwik Sew jacket, and a bit of bias binding... And the model. That's Hetty. She arrived at Christmas. I think I still need to do a little bit of adjustment to get her to my size...