Hopscotch skirt

After last weekend's sewing spree for N, it was only fair that little Z get a new garment too.  Now that I am sewing most of the girls' clothes, Z actually doesn't get as many hand-me-downs as she did before.  Since I am obsessed with fitting, I tend to sew skinny N's clothes a few sizes down, and then lengthen.  Sometimes this works for Z the following year, but sometimes they don't fit her.

In any case, N now has two winter-appropriate skirts, and Z only one, so I set out to make her a skirt.  I chose the Oliver+S Hopscotch pattern, which I have used a few times now to make a top, but whose skirt pattern remained untraced.

Z requested a purple skirt, and I found a piece of linen/rayon blend fabric in the appropriate color, purchased from the Joann remnant bin for a couple bucks.  I think it was about 30 inches long.  OK, so linen isn't usually considered a winter fabric - but the  heaviness of the fabric and the color seemed appropriate to me.  Plus it won't be long before all those remnant bin finds won't be large enough to sew anything for the girls anymore, so I am trying to use them all up.

I decided to cut a straight size 4.  Z wears a 4 in ready-to-wear, though I usually do a 2+length or a 3+length in O+S patterns.

The length of the 4 was right on, but the proportions around her waist are a little off.

Only the back of the skirt is gathered, and since the front is wider than half her waist measurement, the side seams are actually not at her sides, and the back of the skirt poofs out funny.

Being 3 years old, she can pull it off.  But I guess I won't have to size up in this pattern for awhile - I'll just keep sewing 4s with length for a few years.

The pattern, as you would expect, is very nicely constructed.  I had had it in my head that this must be a time-consuming sew, maybe due to the waistband, button placket and those intricate pockets.  The pockets did take a little fiddling before I understood how they came together.  Even so, I managed to sew the whole thing in under two hours, while my husband brewed beer in the kitchen and made the whole house smell like brownies.  (I love beer brewing nights because I can sew all evening without guilt that I am neglecting him!).

The fabric ... I don't think I will use it again.  It was very easy to sew, but even after prewashing, some sizing remained and it gave off a skunky odor when I ironed it.  It is also kind of coarse and scratchy, though I do love the weight of it, and Z doesn't seem bothered by the scratchiness.

I bought the buttons locally.  I do stock up on buttons, somewhat, while back in the U.S., but I usually like to match my fabric to buttons after sewing the garment.  In Moscow there was a great little fabric store that had a wide variety of lovely buttons in lots of colors.  Here the variety is much smaller and most of what is available is very cheap looking.  But I thought these flower ones were cute, and I bought some in white too.