Isabel’s (somewhat late) birthday skirt

For Isabel’s birthday I made her a summer version of my chalk lines skirt, by far her favorite thing to borrow from me. I had forgotten how long it takes to put in all the piping, and I didn’t have it ready for her birthday. But three weeks later, I’m very happy with this linen variation on one of my favorite skirts.

The mid-weight linen actually made a really good substitute for the light wool I used last time. This is the fourth time I’ve made this skirt – there was the original, someone bought one from my Etsy store back when it was active, and I made a heavier, slightly longer one from a taupe wool, which didn’t work quite as well. I’m not sure if it’s the longer length or the heavier fabric, but it’s not quite as cute as the black version and feels a little more professional. I never really have an occasion to look that sort of professional. If I want to look serious about my work I put on a lab coat (also if I want to keep bio-hazardous materials off my clothes – it’s a practical sort of professional). But this linen version, copied directly from the original skirt, worked really well.

The only change I made from the original was to switch out the big exposed zipper for a half length invisible one. I’m not entirely happy with that change. The exposed zipper was always a little out of place (I used it because that’s what I happened to have in the way of zippers the day I made the first skirt), but the invisible zipper is stiffer, and leaves a tiny bump when it ends. If I make this skirt again I’ll either go back to the exposed back zipper, or put an invisible zipper in the side seam, which is a pain to do with the piping, but looks better.

I put up a tutorial on how to make this skirt when I first started the blog, which you can find at http://www.oneaviandaemon.com/how-to-make-my-chalk-lines-skirt/. I also took some photos of the process this time, so you can see how the many pieces of the side panels fit together:

I have been told that people don’t necessarily want to celebrate their birthdays by modeling for my blog, so I took photos of myself before giving Isabel her skirt. Which means you can also see the project which has been taking up most of my crafty time lately: growing vegetables!