The #MIYMarch skirt – MIY Granville

It’s Spring, the clocks have gone forward, there are flowers everywhere, the sun is shining and its the first post of the year where I don’t need to wear black tights!

Throughout March I have been taking part in #MIYMarch organised by Wendy Ward, usually with Instagram photohops I tend to play along for the first few days then run out of steam but this time I managed to keep going right to the end and it has been fun to find something for the prompts and see what everyone else has posted!Alongside the photo prompts is the  MIYMaker challenge, to make something using one of the MIY patterns. I have had the Granville skirt pattern for a few months now with the idea that it would make a perfect skirt for summer so it seemed like a good time to sew it up!The Granville is a wrap skirt closed with buttons. The wrap-over element feels completely secure – you basically cut the front piece twice  – so no worries about wardrobe malfunctions on a windy day! Wendy’s book, ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Making Skirts’ includes this pattern as well as instructions to make it with different closures or add pockets.

I cut a size 14 at the waist grading out to between size 16 and 18 at the hip – I don’t think I needed to grade out quite as much as I did – so I have adjusted the pattern back to a 16 at the hip for next time.The fabric is a viscose twill – it has a lovely combination of drape and body – which I think is perfect for this skirt – the two wrap front pieces combined with facings could make it quite bulky in a stiffer fabric, but this works really well. I can’t quite decide how I feel about this print – I bought it in the sale at Ditto Fabrics earlier this year with a vague plan for a dress, then realised I would never ever wear a dress with that print all over it! I felt as if it might work for a skirt though – with a solid top to offset the floral craziness. While I was sewing the skirt I still wasn’t sure if I liked it or not but I found myself wearing it to work as soon as I finished it, so I guess it is a win! The print worked well with a black jumper and tights at work this week and it will be perfect with a white t-shirt and sandals in summer!So this is my first official Spring sewing project – and my MIYMaker challenge entry! Fingers crossed…