Pepe skirt photo diary

This post is purely a follow up to last weeks moment of skirt glory. Thank you so much for your comments, I was overwhelmed. I am guessing some of you are here because you clicked the link on Ravelry and want to fathom out the Pepe Skirt mystery.

The pattern is not published (see forum discussions on it's origin) but you can obtain the charts from HERE. I will show you a photo after each chart and share any tips I found out along the way. This is not my pattern and should not be credited to me - I am simply sharing my project as a photo diary.

Starter information:

I used a 3.5 mm hook. 
I used Rico Baby cotton soft DK (8 balls)
I use UK terms when I am describing things
I am giving guidance not a pattern translation!
You need to be a competent chart follower to complete this skirt
It is a photo diary so light conditions are different in the shots as they were taken over time, some in the day and some at night (sorry!)

Chart 1 

To make size 14 I used a foundation chain of 168. If you want to go up or down you need to use multiples of 12 to increase or decrease.

I made a waistband of 4 rows of double crochet

At the end of chart 1 it will look like this:

The last row is chain 6, dc in each space preparing you for joining on chart 2. There were 30 spaces ready for the diagonal section.

Chart 2

I pondered over this one for a long time. I wanted to start the section whilst still joined to the skirt but took the plunge and chained 25 on it's own, turned work and trebled 25 then joined to the loop, turned, double crocheted 3 and trebled to the end.

Today it looks like this:

The red marker is where I finished chart 1. You can see the start of the diagonal section at the right hand end of the first row.

When you have finished all the way round and have used all the loops up, join the two diagonals with dc on the wrong side. Chart 2 finished. 

Chart 3 is easy. Just rows of trebles in groups of 4 with 3 chains between each. Here is a good place to lengthen or shorten your skirt. I made 4 rows of chart 3 and left the other 4 rows but I am short so think about your waist to knee length.

Chart 4 begins with a row of double crochet. Then you can work the drops individually. 

Chain 3, treble 7, turn (repeat)
Chain 1, decrease 1 using trebles, treble 6
chain 1, make 4 treble clusters.
chain 3, treble 3.
then ss along the edge of the droplet to start the next one.

The next part of chart 4 looks complicated but is easy. 
Chain 8 between each droplet, it pulls in a bit but looks better in a few rows time. Follow the chart using trebles for the line marks and chains for the dot marks.

Looking good?



So continuing on ...

 ...then you start the pineapple motifs on every other droplet using double trebles.

I hope you don't run out of yarn 3 rows from the end and have to wait in suspense while another one arrives from wool warehouse. Which is what I am doing right now... they were £2.29, I used 8

OK it's here Completed.

Good Luck folks! Link back to here if you found it useful so others can share too or click yes to 'Was this helpful? in the entry on ravelry.Thanks
 Jo xxxx

Phone case

An easy-peasy make to show you today. I have a work phone that kicks around in the bottom of my teaching bag and it needed some woolly protection. Rounds of double crochet in a winter colour palette was the perfect solution.

I have been enjoying my new coffee table book which was bought for me in January as a gift. I got the colour range from the cover.

I am deciding whether to add the buttons with a loop or whether to just leave it as a sock.

The yarn is a combination of little tapestry hanks that someone gave me. Do you have some kicking around?

Anyway it was a quick and satisfying make which was free and fun. Two of my most favourite things! 

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xx

Hooray! Coco and Skirt

My Minerva make this month shows that sometimes old goes with new.

I always get inspired by people who can match old and new in their homes, there are often brave choices but the people who get it right really do make an impression. My besie has a modern kitchen with a painted pine bookcase and an art deco sideboard and it all looks fab. So Jo, what is your point?

My point is, I made the view 4 mini skirt from my vintage go-to-skirt-pattern and finally caved in to buy the coco pattern from Tilly and the buttons to make a great outfit. See, old and new. 

It is so easy to wear with thick tights and boots. I made the wool skirt from a house clearance remnant (thanks Caroline) and the top is made from Ponte Roma from Minerva.

The pattern piece for the funnel neck did not have a grainline so I cut it on the grain with the rest of the fabric as the layout instructions showed but it was all twisted so I took it off and cut another one on the bias with a fold. It used lots of fabric but the collar is perfect now.

The skirt is lined but I love using bias tape to hem a skirt in a wool fabric because there is only one fold then and it gives a flatter finish.

I made deep cuffs for an interesting sleeve finish.

Strange face on that one!

Thanks Minerva, that was lovely quality Ponte Roma jersey. This is also my first Vintage pledge make for 2015 hosted by Stitching Odyessy. Got my March one nearly ready to go too.

Love Jo x

GBSB trousers

So did you like the trousers in episode one of The Great British Sewing Bee? 

White tree fabrics sent me this gorgeous Liberty print called Wiltshire which is a cotton lawn ideal for lightweight summer trousers.

I saw a free pattern attached to Sew home & Style magazine in the March issue and it looked quite perfect. The whole magazine was great actually. My lovely neighbour bought me the February one for my birthday and I was lured into getting the following edition.

 

They don't have a waistband, I used bias binding on the top of mine. 

There is an invisible zip on the side so the front is smooth.

So get out to a newsagents/supermarket, grab the magazine and free pattern, dust off your machine and choose your favourite Liberty print. 

Looking forward to this week's episode. Come on Amanda, she is a fellow White Tree Fabrics blogger! Jo xxx

Just a Little Something Everyday

Morning Folks...You may have noticed that my tag line is 'I make something everyday' and indeed I truly do. Sometimes it is a completed project and other days, when parenting and work are my priority, I might just add a few more rows to a cardigan or another square to a blanket. The thing is I just can't go to bed unless I have made something.

Some days I grow something, cook something, fix or mend something, make a card or a present, finish some big project or just make a start on a new one. The key for me is just to enjoy 'making' 'tis what I do best! So here is my little make from February which I did not show before because it was a secret and my bloke reads my blog at lunchtime! 

Just a little something. Jo xxxx

Dance in Winter

 You may already know that I am in a tribal belly dance group, The Severn Sisters. Severn, as in the River Severn in Shropshire. Sometimes there are seven of us, but not always! Our usual kit normally consists of lace tops and lots of hip layers, basically, more is more.

Picture by Ian Woodward from the hooded lens

Sometimes we dance at festivals and local events. Can you possibly imagine having your belly out in this weather? We danced once in Ironbridge on a pouring wet day and we were all freezing. So there was a request from the Sisters to make a dance dress to keep us cosy but still feeling beautiful. We saw some on our favourite tribal group Black Veil.



The pattern comes from an unlikely source. It is the pattern I used for my pyjama top. I tried to take it in at the waist side seams and sleeves. I lengthened it, then spilt up the sides so we can tuck our skirt frills over our hip belts. This is a prototype that took two hours last week to whizz up on the overlocker in stretch, crush velvet. 

I needed to do a bit more work to get some of the wrinkles out. I need to make it tighter or eat more cake but I am nearly there.

...one week later....better?
  

I think this photo perfectly illustrates my dressmaking fitting issues. My backside is never in the same size as my waist fitting and I am short in the back with a sway too.

In the end, I used two front darts and two back darts to make the body smooth. This is it without skirt frill tucked in and it certainly is warm.

Tomorrow night we are dancing so I hope it works out OK.

"Always dance like nobody's watching..."
(Mark Twain)

Jo xxxxx

Hooray! Crochet Skirt

Hooray! I made it. I challenged myself. It was a new year craft resolution. I said to my own brain, if 95 other people on ravelry have worked this out then I can too. It was a challenge but it was enjoyable, if that makes sense. I loved the way it changed every week to a different pattern. There was no boredom, just fun!

I made the waist with deep elastic. Measured a loop of elastic to fit my waist, folded it into quarters and marked the points. Then marked the quarter points of the skirt waist and used a stretch stitch on the machine to apply it, stretching the elastic to the skirt as I sewed.

In all honesty, it is a bit too big. The pattern is in multiples of 12 so I would take 12 off next time but with only a chart pattern written by a Russian woman that had absolutely no dimensions on, I struck pretty lucky.

Did I forget to mention I LOVE it! I was too busy being analytical there for a moment. I feel like Joni Mitchell every time I wear it.

So would you wear one? Would you wear one without a petticoat?

Later this week I have a photo diary of my skirt in the making to help along anyone who wants to give it a go. I miss making it already.

Don't it always seem to go 
That you don't know what you've got 
Till it's gone 
They paved paradise 
And put up a parking lot


Jo xxxx