Deeply dippy, part 1

It feels like forever since I posted anything I've made here. And that's not to say I haven't been stitching up the usual storm in my studio. I just haven't had the time to photograph everything. Missed the sun -- bad hair day -- no one to help me take the pictures -- excuses, excuses. So it was on this sunny, but distinctly chilly Saturday morning that I finally got around to photographing the backlog.

I'm not usually a sucker for faddish trends, and fancy my look as more classic with a twist, but I can't deny that I fell pretty hard for all the dipped hems out and about this Summer. So hard that I made two quite serious garments with dramatically dipped hems... 

For this half circle skirt, I used a delicious paisley Liberty print silk, using the more faded, alleged wrong-side of the fabric as my right-side. I preferred the softer pastel effect for the main body of the skirt, and having the bolder print come flashing through from the inside only adds to the interest of this skirt. For a piece such as this where the inside of the garment is as much on display as the outside, it was vital to me to finish everything impeccably.

French seams at centre front and centre back - I obviously would have preferred to have the seams at the sides but it was quite an awkward length of fabric I had left and it was one hell of a lot easier getting the dipped hem symmetrical this way. I actually further reinforced the French seams by pressing and stitching them down, I guess like a flat-felled seam... French-felled seams, then?

I finished the hemline with a simple broderie Anglaise trim which as well as giving it the neatest of finishes, also adds a little extra weight, making this the flowiest, most billow-iest skirt I've ever had the pleasure of wearing. Oh, how it billows...

(apologies for the creasiness of the skirt... I've worn it a fair few times this Summer and I'm afraid I had to dig it out of the laundry basket in order to take these photos. Probably should've given it a little press, but hey. I don't like ironing on a Saturday morning.)

In fact, pictures simply don't do the billow any justice...