The Marie Skirt, or, the kindness of others

"Pssst...what's your address please? I have a present for you ;o)"

That was the email I woke up to a couple of weeks ago from none other than Marie of A Sewing Odyssey... Fast forward one week later and I found myself sitting at the bottom of the stairs holding my breath as I unwrapped a squishy, cushion-like parcel to reveal almost 3 metres of this to-die-for Aztec print cotton jersey!

Look familiar? You may remember when Marie (aka expert of knits and Queen of fabulously printed fabrics) scored a mouth watering stash of printed jerseys from a local market, including the Aztec print shown above. As I read her post I fell more and more in love, my mind ticking with thoughts of all the skirts, tops and dresses I wanted to make with it... I left her a comment gushing over the gorgeous sweetheart tee she had just made, mentioning also how wonderous  I had found that Aztec jersey. To my amazement, thereafter followed a series of emails between us with Marie so kindly offering to see if she could find some more for me the next time she happened to be at the market. 

Marie: I am blown away by your generosity and thoughtfulness. Pretty much speechless, in fact. It really goes to show what a wonderful community we have going on here - connecting virtually over a common passion, sharing inspiration and resources, supporting and encouraging one another, all the challenges, giveaways and meet-ups, actual friendships being forged, sending each other presents for goodness sake!! Amazing. I can't thank you enough. And you totally had the vision when you saw this being made up into a maxi dress - for that's pretty much what I did! I still have a little leftover so I'll be sure to keep you posted as to what that becomes... But in the meantime, I give you: the Marie Skirt!

I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing this skirt all Summer long. A super simple 1/4 circle construction with a wide elastic waistband, it can be worn high on the waist or lower on the hip for a slouchier, Autumnal vibe - I'm thinking it's going to be amazing with my grey cabled jumper, when I finally get around to knitting the last sleeve! For now I'm loving it with a cropped kiddy t-shirt (the one I'm wearing is straight from the one and only Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee!) and my Swedish clogs. Perfect for the warm windy weather we've been having here in London.

[I've been getting kind of irked by having to constantly photograph myself in things I've made... having to think about how I look... feeling borderline narcissistic... so much more fun to take the piss!]

Thank you again, Marie, for making this my dream come true skirt! I'll be in touch shortly for your address so I can send a little thank you gift your way...!