Denim Brumby Skirt

When Megan Nielsen released her new Brumby skirt pattern I thought it was cute but I wasn’t sure it was for me. I love the big, fun pockets, but I wasn’t sold on the wide waistband. I really never tuck anything in and I knew that this skirt would make me look like I had a flotation device around my waist/hips if I didn’t tuck my shirt into it. I also prefer my skirts and pants to sit low on my waist. I can’t remember the last time I wore something fitted at my natural waist and I was scared that if I made this skirt I would feel like I was wearing a corset. Kind of ridiculous, I know.

Then I saw this version from Lauren at LLadybird, and this one from Inder at Inder Loves Folk Art, and this version from @maxantonia on Instagram. It was really the last one that sealed the deal for me. Maxantonia changed the order of construction so that the side seams were sewn last. She did this so she could adjust the fit and get her skirt to sit lower on the waist. Her final result was exactly the look I wanted from a Brumby skirt. (Also, her silk midi version is gorgeous!)

I didn’t get my skirt to sit quite as low as I wanted, but I like how this fits me. I made a size XL, which corresponds to a 34″ waist. (My waist is about 33″ currently, so I fell between the measurements for L and XL.) I made two small changes when sewing– when I sewed the waistband facing to the waistband I used a 7/8″ seam allowance instead of 5/8″. I also used a 3/8″ side seam allowance instead of 5/8″. I made both of these changes to get the waistband to sit below my natural waist.

My skirt is made from some mystery denim that I got on my first (and so far only) trip to Vogue Fabrics. It’s nice and lightweight and it was perfect for Version 1 of the Brumby skirt. I lengthened the skirt by 2″ before cutting and when I tried it on during construction I decided it was pretty close to the length I wanted. I didn’t want to lose the deep hem so I made a facing and hemmed it that way.

I did the topstitching using gold colored all purpose thread and used the triple stitch on my machine. I had some topstitching thread, but it was too thick to pass through the eye of my sewing machine needle– are there special topstitching needles? I need to investigate that before I start work on my Ginger jeans!

I used Megan Nielsen’s free app as I was sewing this. I usually open pattern directions in the kindle app on my phone or ipad, but this was fun for a change.  I followed along with this blog post when it came time for the exposed zipper. I think that the glue stick is my new secret sewing weapon! I used it a bit when I made my Archer and I used it to hold the zipper in place on this skirt. I let the glue dry overnight which really helped a lot. It didn’t budge when I went to sew the zipper in place.

I had one little issue when making this skirt. I didn’t read all the directions ahead of time (why would I do that?) and I missed the step where you are supposed to fuse interfacing to the center back pieces where the zipper will eventually go. That direction is in the side seams section, which I skipped over since I sewed those seams last. I had my skirt gathered and attached to the waistband when I realized I was supposed to have interfaced the zipper area. I applied my interfacing after the fact and it’s kind of a mess, but it’s the inside and no one sees it anyway. I just have to remember to do that interfacing earlier when I make this skirt again.

I haven’t had a denim skirt in my wardrobe for ages and I love that this fits in perfectly with my blue and white summer theme! There are a lot of possibilities with this pattern and I’d love to make the midi version out of something flowy, but I think a linen version is next on my list.

~Teri

p.s. I got this t-shirt at Kohls of all places. Isn’t it cute?

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