Bright Nascha Mini Skirt
Nascha Mini Skirt
I would like to start off this post by addressing the obvious:
Dang. This skirt is SHORT.
This mini ended up more micro-mini, so heads up to all of you #sewingtall ladies - add, add and add some more to the length of this pattern!
Anyways, back to the regular scheduled blog post content,
Today I'm sharing my version of the Nascha Mini Skirt by Named Patterns. Truthfully, I started sewing this pattern over a year ago but didn't finish it until now, and I must admit, the finished job isn't something I'm uber proud of - but, I wanted to share what I learnt with you along the way.
So circle back to a year + ago
I had been eyeing this pattern for a long time. I loved the way the front of the skirt looked, and thought there would be plenty of re-usability through colour blocking that front panel.
I made this skirt out of some brocade leftover from a home sewing project and some faux-leather scraps. If I do say so myself, the colour combination is quite cute, and I thought it would be a great addition to my me-made-night-out-wardrobe - which, surprisingly, was what I identified during my brief participation in me-made-may as the section of my wardrobe that desperately needed some new additions.
What I should also mention is this floral fabric is pretty special to me.
For one, it's the most expensive fabric I have ever purchased in my life, $30M CAD. I bought it the summer before Wyatt and I got our place together, and after eyeing it for weeks I picked up exactly one meter to theme the decor of our new living room. This fabric takes me back to a time where I was hunting for the best Value Village deals on lamps (why are they so expensive??) and finding tables at the thrift store to DIY for our new apartment.
99% of the stuff in our house is free off the curb or cheap from the thrift store, but this? This is the 2% I splurged on.
I made a pillow with it.
It still sits proudly on our couch.
Given how incredibly important this fabric is to me, you would've thought Rachel from the past would have had the hindsight to make a muslin to test the fit and figure this pattern out before digging in.
But nope, no she did not.
So a little over a year ago I enthusiastically started sewing this pattern up.
Being fully lined with and finished with intricate facings and a little bit of magic, this pattern is pretty complicated looking when you're cutting it out. Because of this I decided not to lengthen it and just risk the length.
(Bad idea)
The intricacies of the design are beautiful, but incredibly confusing. I got caught up in the instructions before the skirt was even a third of the way finished. Plus it looked like the skirt wasn't going to fit (it's tight) and was way too short.
I'm not great with following patterns that just have diagrams, and other sewists have found the instructions a little confusing, too - so in hindsight I'm not surprised I got stuck.
Then it sat in my WIP bag for over a year, making me sad that my favourite fabric ever was being wasted on a project that didn't work out.
About a month ago, I decided to give it another go. I tried reading the instructions again and things were, honestly, still a little fuzzy even with an extra year of sewing experience under my belt.
Plus for some reason my facings ended up too long (??)
Given the dire situation, I made it my goal to finish this skirt at all costs. My goal was not to make it perfect, or follow the instructions. My goal was to make it so that I could put it on my body and wear my dream mini skirt at least once.
So I scrapped the lining, did some creative facing sewing, and recycled a too-small metal zipper from an old Halloween costume for the back because I didn't want to purchase one. You'll see in some of these pictures the zipper is pretty hastly sewn on. This is because I honestly didn't expect the short mini zipper to work - but it did!
The end result?
It's totally wearable. But I probably wouldn't make it again.
For right now though, I've been loving this skirt. It's been an awesome staple in my me-made going out wardrobe. I love pairing it with a black top, either this turtleneck or a cami, and always get lots of compliments on it.
Without a doubt, the outside is really pretty... just don't take a too close look on the inside.
To address the fact that it's way too short, whenever I'm wearing this skirt (aside from these pictures) I'm wearing a pair of black leggings underneath for coverage and black tights over top to streamline the look. This may seem like a lot of layers, but this is my favourite winter-in-Canada tip for looking cute in the cold. You really only look like you're wearing the black tights, but the leggings add so much warmth (and in this case... COVERAGE).
If this crossover skirt design appeals to you, I think a better choice would be the Nita Wrap Skirt by Sew DIY. While I haven't made this one up myself, I dont see any reason why you couldn't hack the front to give it a more defined crossover.
Have you had a project not work out recently?