Max Mara Inspired: New Look 6345 Skirt

When I saw this fabric at the Emma One Sock website, I was immediately smitten. It's a combination of the prints and the colors that forced me to break my fabric fast. (Who am I kidding, what fabric fast?)

This is a panel print from the Max Mara Heritage Prints line. I bought two panels and it's enough to make myself a skirt and a top. It is a silk twill, lightweight but opaque.

Here are some inspiration pieces from the Max Mara collection using that print. I decided to sew a simple skirt and let the fabric print be the star.

Pattern:

New Look 6345

This is an old pattern which I have had in my stash for a while and have never actually sewn. I think it is still available at Etsy but the current pattern number at the Simplicity website is now for a different pattern.  It features three different skirt silhouettes and six design alternatives. I made view C minus the details. It is a short A-line skirt with yoke and back zipper.

Sizing:

I went with size 10 based on my hip measurement, made a muslin and found the fit okay around the hips and waistline. However I felt there was too much wearing ease and decided to make some adjustments along side seams, shaving off 3/8" from the upper edge along the waistline and about 1" along the bottom to reduce the A-line silhouette. 

Fabrics:

Main fabric
*100% woven silk twill
*lightweight but opaque

Underlining
 Because of the lightweight nature of the silk twill, I decided to underline with silk organza to add more body. 

Lining: 

  The pattern did not include lining but I like my skirts lined so I used rayon Bemberg lining from stash. 

Cutting:

To have more control over print placement, I cut all the pattern pieces over a single layer of fabric. 

For the underlining, I double the seam allowance along the vertical seams. The reason for this is I wanted to underline and finish seams in one procedure--a nifty trick I learned from "julieb" at Pattern Review. 

Using a 5/8" seam ruler purchased from Pamela Leggett made the process of adding an additional 5/8" allowance so much easier!

Shown here is the cut edge of the center back with the additional 5/8" added. 

For the lining I just used the same pattern pieces for front and back. 

 Construction:

Prepare the main fabric by underlining:

Since the organza layer was cut wider than the main fabric, align the two fabrics along the vertical edges. With right sides together, sew using 1/4" seam allowance. 

Vertical edges sewn together.

Clean up edges by cutting any loose fibers. 

Turn right side out. 

Press seams open. 

Turn organza in so it wraps the main fabric's edge. Press.

A view of the main fabric vertical edges wrapped neatly by the silk organza underlining. 

Seams pressed open. Looks like Hong Kong finish minus the work. 

For the remaining horizontal edges (waistline and hemline), I basted the underlining to the main fabric with silk thread to avoid shifting during assembly. 

 Assemble the skirt:

Sew front and back together along side seams.

Press seams open. 

Sew the assembled yoke pieces to the skirt before attaching the invisible zipper to the center back.

Assemble the lining:

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Follow same steps as the main skirt, but using French seams for cleaner look except for center back seam).

Sew the interfaced yoke facing to the skirt lining. 

Bring the main skirt and lining together by sewing along yoke waistline edges. 

Sew a 1/4" twill tape along seamline of yoke waistline for stability. 

View of the twill tape sewn to waistline. 

View of understitching along the yoke facing. 

Catch stitching the lining to the center back.

Hemming the bottom edge by hand sewing, catching only the underlining so the stitches are invisible on the right side. 

Hemming on the lining. 

Photos of finished garment

Front

Back

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Needless to say, I love my new skirt! It is simple but the fabric makes all the difference!

Style Arc Madeleine Top

  I recently purchased a viscose double-faced knit fabric from Emma One Sock. I initially planned to sew a pair of pants with it but I thought it didn't have enough body for a bottom so went with a top instead. I thought the Style Arc Madeleine Ponte Top pattern was perfect for it.

My solid fabric was the perfect canvass to show off the design lines. 

This fabric had two sides that could work as the fashion side. One was shiny and dark, the other was muted and matte. I opted to use the latter side. 

The pattern was pretty straightforward so even though instructions were not really detailed, it was not hard to figure out construction. I posted a complete review of the pattern here.

Construction highlights:

First thing I did after cutting the top front piece was to fold the pleats and pin them in place. I just used the pattern paper as a guide for the pleat placement instead of tracing on the fabric. 

This is the right side front insert piece pinned over the upper edge of the lower front piece. 

Upper and lower parts of the front ready to be sewn together. 

Sewn together.

     I wasn’t too happy with how the pleated front band was  created. Following the instructions would have resulted in some loose unfinished raw edges in the center of the assembled band. To work around that, I decided to do it this way:

Instead of sewing the center seam and just leaving the remaining edges raw and unanchored, I decided to sew the two raw edges first using flat or abutted seam,

I used stitch no. 05 on my Juki F600 machine. 

Shown here are the abutted raw edges of the top and bottom bands. 

Close-up of the abutted edges. 

Center seam between the top and bottom bands, sewn after the raw edges were abutted. 

View of the assembled band showing the right side.

This is the wrong side.

The band with short edges basted.

The band pinned to the front of the top. The abutted raw edges are hiding behind the center seam. 

View of the assembled top. 

Better view of the right side with the lower front insert. 

I hand tacked the front band to the top itself to prevent it from drooping.

I did away with the invisible zipper as I could easily slip on the top over my head. 

View of the upper back. There is no real shoulder seam or armhole. The upper back bodice is sewn to the back yoke extension of the front. 

View of the wrong side. The neck and armholes were finished with their corresponding facings.

Close-up of the neck facing, understitched.

Some Mod Shots

Needless to say, I love this pattern and the fabric and the resulting top. I could dress it up or down!