Here's a cute little pinafore that was not my intention to make. However, I have made it, and I'm very pleased that it exists. And even though I've already worn it several times, ridiculously, I feel weird about wearing it during Me-Made-May (and thus taking a photo of it), without having properly 'introduced it' here on my blog. Is that odd?! So, Ta da! Here it is and I now can go back to wearing it.
When planning my broken twill denim Lander pants, I was a good girl and diligently bought the full quantity of fabric recommended (2.5m, FYI). However, after cutting them out, I found that if I were careful, I had enough fabric leftover to make another, adult-sized garment. My first thought was to make another Helen's Closet York pinafore (which I've made before), however I felt that this denim would be a bit thick for that one, so turned to the Tilly and the Buttons Cleo pattern for a classic denim pinafore style.
You may or may not recall that I've used the Cleo pattern previously, with self-drafted pockets in a hefty black denim. I really love that pinafore and wear it a lot, but I took some lessons away from it and made some tweaks this time round. Firstly, I decided to make the shape slightly A-line from the hips downwards, and secondly I chose a length somewhere in between the options Tilly includes in her pattern. I think the length of my black version looks great, but I wouldn't feel comfortable in it without tights, and I predicted that it'd be more suitable for performing child-wrangling tasks with a slightly longer length hem.
The last change I made was to draft a new pocket shape: partly because I had an itch to scratch in the form of a neatly topstitched, round-cornered patch pocket, and partly because I wanted to make mine a little different from the legion of Cleo pinafores out there in the world.
Thoughts:
As I thoroughly stated in my denim Lander pants post, I REALLLLYYYYY love this broken twill denim. I'm thrilled that I could squeeze two garments out of the amount that I bought; this pinafore kind of feels like a freebie! However, I can't remember if I monkeyed with the side seams beyond making the shape more A-line, but this version feels looser than my black one. I'm not sure if I should summon the patience to unpick the facings around the side seams and bring it in a whisker, or if I should leave it 'future-proofed' against a little potential weight gain. I'm also not entirely sold on the length. Yes, it's more practical, but I do feel it looks more frumpy than the black version, and I'm 70% sure I should raise the length a little. What are your thoughts? But those are just some tweaks I need to consider, generally speaking I believe that this is a great garment, and, like with my Landers, I can't wait to see how the denim fades over time with wear and washing.
6 comments:
I definitely did not look at any of those pictures and think they looked frumpy! I really like the length and think these really suit you. Also: perfect top stitching 👌🏻
I would wash it several times before shortening, in case of the dreaded “denim length shrinkage “, or is that just an issue for me?
I think the length looks fine. Sounds practical too. Love your rounded corner pocket, and I like the idea of making it a it more A-line. I have fallen back in love with my Cleo this Me Made May, and want to make another one in denim. Mine is patterned needlecord which I love, but I need a plain one to wear my patterned tops with!
I think it looks cute, and I love the colour of that denim. Gotta love a "freebie" from clever pattern cutting.
Love your Cleo, and admire your incredible topstitching. (Tutorial please!) I honestly think that the shorter length looks more flattering.
Not frumpy at all, I really like the shape and length. It's nice with or without tights, but you could raise it a couple of inches if you're after a more youthful/ funky look.
Post a Comment