Stripy Mabel Skirt: Take Two!

Alrighty. So the saga of the stripy Mabel skirt continues... You may or may not recall that I made a knee length version in this black and white synthetic double knit back in January. I was concerned that it was too tight and too long, and would end up getting constantly over-looked when deciding what to wear. I was debating about what to do about it; do I simply shorten the version I'd made or to I remake the whole damn thing adding width to the thigh area? 

I forced myself to wear it a couple of times and came to the conclusion that it was definitely too tight and not enjoyable to wear. Taking the hem up a bit wasn't going to be enough to make it something I'd reach for regularly, so I found the remnants of the fabric and cut myself out another, shorter version (though not as short as the pattern's short version) with about 1.5 cm added to each side seam around the thigh. I was able to unpick and reuse my take one's waistband and facing which made my take two a little quicker to construct. 

So how does the second version fare? It's definitely better. I've worn it a couple of times and it doesn't feel restrictive anymore. I'm not in love with how it sits on the waist though. Perhaps it could be improved by tightening it up a bit or even exaggerating the curve of the back waistband, but I feel that those potential solutions would make getting it on and off difficult. I can't help but think that eliminating the curved waistband idea entirely and creating an elasticated waist would feel generally more secure. 

Although this second version is much better than the first and will see some wear for sure, at present it's still not the comfy-as-wearing-T-shirt-round-your-bum plan I had in mind for a knit skirt! Ideally I was going for something I could wear to play groups and mess around in without a second thought, but I do find myself somewhat conscious of this skirt (as I feel in all skirts to be fair) and have to readjust how it is sitting from time to time. I don't think I'll make another Mabel skirt, but at some point I may use it as a basis to draft an elasticated waist knit skirt pattern, which is probably what I should have done in the first place. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get a pic of the second version actually being worn. Trying to get one actually delayed me in publishing this post, but with #mmmay15 just round the corner, I figured you'll see it worn (hopefully!) soon enough to get an idea of the fit!

Well, I wasn't going to waste the first version of this skirt, was I?! Using my go-to baby/toddler Playful Kitty leggings pattern, I cut the biggest size (size 92) as I wanted to get maximum use of the remaining fabric after the waistband had been removed. Dolores probably won't fit these for at least a year, but that's totally fine as I've made heaps of leggings for her for the nearer future, and have plans for many more pairs of stretchy bottoms in the pipeline. 

I attempted to make this version of the leggings pattern more interesting to make for myself by adding these appliquéd heart knee patches. The hearts are made from tiny scraps of the T-shirting left over from the retro running shorts and are adhered to the leggings with double sided bondaweb. Usually when I do  appliqué, I fuse some interfacing to the back of the area before satin-stitching round the edge of the shape, but I skipped that step this time as I didn't want to make them restrictive with too much bulk so that she can't easily bend her knees! It meant that the hearts looked a bit wavy and not as flat as they would do if I'd applied interfacing, but a good old press with the iron elimated most of the wobbly effect.