Category: The Bloom Skirt

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A Fresh Bloom

image of The Bloom Skirt-Narrow Fabric Hack

Recently, I had a little sewing dilemma with a new Bloom Skirt I was planning and had to quickly come up with a how to cut narrow fabric hack.

I had been gifted the most delightful vintage Italian brocade (thank you Sarah @OliveRoadLondon) but it was a little narrow for my skirt pattern. With a useable width of just 86cm (34″) the cloth was not wide enough to cut the front panel which normally is cut to the fold.

The obvious solution is to just add a front seam to make a 4 panel skirt. And if I had been working with a ‘casual’ fabric like denim that would have been a great idea. I could have made a really nice feature of the seam which would have looked like a deliberate design decision.

THE DILEMMA

This fabric, however, is a really gorgeous brocade and I didn’t feel that a centre front seam was going to look right whacked down the front of my skirt. And, obviously, the plan wasn’t to cut it in contrasting fabrics like the sketch above but the seam was still going to be more noticeable than I wanted. And yet, the fact remained that the only way to get the skirt out of the fabric is to cut 4 equal skirt panels instead of the front panel on the fold.

THE SOLUTION

As there is, in fact, no sewing law in the world that says you have to place those panels so the seams fall as expected at the centre front, centre back and the side seams, so I decided to rotate the skirt by 45° so the seams are ‘off-set’ and sit in a much more pleasing (to me at least) position.

You probably don’t really need a tutorial now you’ve seen the images, it’s all quite self explanatory, but I’ve started so I’ll finish*

CONSTRUCTION

Construction of the skirt will be the same as usual, but as the seams have moved keep in mind the pockets and zip will obviously not be placed in the side or back seam.

CUTTING

  • Completely ignore the front skirt pattern and cut your skirt using just the Back skirt pattern but cut 2 pairs instead of 1 pair.
  • Cut the waistband and pocket bags as originally directed.

POCKETS

The pockets can’t be placed at the side seams because there isn’t actually a seam at the side any more. They need to be placed on either side of the front panel. Use the template included in the pattern to mark the pocket notches on the panels.

TIP / I’m going to suggest you check the pocket bag placement before permanently sewing in place. I left mine in the original position and, while perfectly useable, they are a smidge low for me. If I make another I will raise their position by about 2cm (½”ish). I should point out I’m 5’2″ with short arms, so this may or may not be a problem for you. If you’ve already made a Bloom Skirt, slip it on and twist it around so the pocket is sitting roughly where the new seams will be and just see how it feels.

ZIP

As we no longer have a centre back seam, but now have 2 seams offset to each side of the Centre Back, you’ll need to pick a back seam to insert your zip into. I’m right handed so I have inserted mine into the seam on the right hand side (as worn), but again there is no sewing police so it’s your choice really.

SCALLOPS

I didn’t add the scallop hem to my skirt. Apart from being short on fabric, I don’t think my fabric particularly lent itself to sewing them, this brocade being quite bouncy and full bodied – not impossible but not a quick win either. And the scallop pattern wouldn’t fit across the width of the cloth anyway.

If you find yourself wanting the fancy scallop hem but lacking fabric width, consider cutting them on the opposite grainline so the paper pattern runs along the length of the selvedge – do check you are not going to have issues with the direction of any print design or fabric shading though.

The other option would be to keep the pattern on the original grainline but add seams to make each scallop section the same width as each panel.

SHOP The Bloom Skirt

I was really pleased with how my Brocade Bloom Skirt turned out, she’s be worn quite a few times already and I do hope this gives you a few ideas to experiment with your patterns!

* For my non-UK sewing friends: I’ve started so I’ll finish – is a little quote from Magnus Magnusson on Mastermind, a famous Brit quiz show.

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How to Make a Waistband Narrower

image of Learn how to change the depth of a waistband

Learn how to change the depth of a waistband pattern

The Bloom Skirt has a gorgeously wide statement waistband.

I’m not a big fan of mealy, mean little waistbands and so deliberately designed Bloom with 6cm deep waistband as I wanted her to feel glamorous and quite formal. Personally, I’m still fantasising about making one in an Emerald Green Silk Taffeta Bloom Skirt. I haven’t found the perfect fabric yet, but it’s a very enjoyable hunt!

But if you feel the waistband is too wide for you, or for your fabric don’t worry; the joy of sewing is that you can customise and personalise your sewing patterns until they look and fit how you want them.

Sometimes you might just fancy a little change just for the sake of change and something as simple as altering the depth of the waistband can give your skirt a whole different feel. The check skirt below definitely feels a little more casual with the narrower band.

I’m a very firm believer that sewing patterns can, and should, be just a starting point to sewing your own style. And I’m massively in favour of any changes to the pattern if it means you’ll use it and wear it more! Luckily, it’s the easiest thing in the world to change the width of a waistband, in fact this might be the easiest pattern alteration tutorial I have ever done.

I don’t recommend making your waistband wider than the 6cm finished width as you’ll need to start adding some shaping to the waistband but, a narrower waistband is a piece of cake.

You can of course just trace the original waistband, change the width and remember to add all the notches back on.

But this method is a non-destructive way to alter your sewing pattern, so you can always untape it and go back to the original width for a different cloth if you fancy.

A note for my fellow short people; you can use the same method to shorten the skirt pattern.

Learn how to adjust the depth of a waistband

Tools

  • Your waistband pattern
  • ruler
  • tape
  • Paper/pen/pencil
  1. Decide how much narrower you’d like your waistband. The blue check skirt has a finished band width of 3.5cm, making it 2.5cm narrower than the original pattern. You can of course make it any width you fancy.
  2. When I’m talking about finished measurements that’s the width of the completed waistband (or garment) when you’re wearing it and without any seam allowances. The thing to remember is the waistband pattern folds in half, for the outside and inside sections of a band. So you need to remove twice the amount (or the amount twice, depends how you look at it really). A very long way of saying; for the waistband to finish 2.5cm narrower you will need to remove 5cm in total from the width of the pattern.
  3. With the waistband pattern facing upwards, draw 2 adjustment lines 5cm apart (or your chosen amount) centrally and parallel to the grainline. (The red lines in picture with the shaded area being the bit I’m getting rid off).
  4. Fold one line to the other and tape to hold in place. We’ve literally folded a wedge out in the same way if you wanted to shorten a pattern.
  5. Remark the grainline and the centre fold notch and you’re good to go.

If you are not sure about how wide you’d like your waistband to be, before you start changing your pattern make a quick waistband toile and try it on. Think how will you be wearing your skirt? Are you going to a wedding or an event so quite formal or will you be sitting down all day or going on holiday and looking for something more relaxed? Take a look at skirts you wear and ones in the shops and have a little measure of the waistbands you like when you try them on.

What feels right? There is no right and wrong when you make your own clothes, you can decide and change anything!

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The Bloom Skirt

The Bloom Skirt sewing pattern

I have some exciting news to share with you today.

Meet The Bloom Skirt our latest pattern!

This is another pattern I’ve been wearing various incarnations of, well forever really, it’s the perfect pattern for so many fabrics as it showcases a gorgeous print.

25% off Bloom 

Enjoy 25% off Bloom with our special introductory offer for The Bloom Skirt Sewing Pattern

no code needed / valid on our website & Etsy store until 11.59pm(GMT) Wednesday 4th September

The Bloom Skirt is a beautiful modern classic, with a full 1950s silhouette and gathering at the waist to create volume and drama. All the while being practical and comfortable so you can enjoy your day whether you are wandering in the Riviera, toasting gin at a glamorous event or quickly popping to Sainsburys for more bread. And, yes, she has pockets.

  • Version A features a contrasting hem band with a gently scalloped edge for an unexpected detail.
  • Version B is a classic full skirt with straight hem. 

The Bloom Skirt is a satisfying make with lots of versatility and sleek, unfussy details & perfect if you lean towards minimalist styling or are working with a large print that you don’t want to interrupt with unnecessary seams.

Skill level

Bloom is an excellent skill-building sewing pattern with minimal fitting so you can concentrate on learning sewing techniques. I’ll guide you through how to sew in-seam pockets, insert an invisible zip, understitching, stitch in the ditch technique and gathering with our excellent instructions and our extra free photo tutorials for even more support.

And just take a look at that scallop hem!

Yes, you will need a little patience but I’ve purposely designed her with wave shaped scallops as they are much more enjoyable to sew than the traditional ‘clam shell’ shaped scallops because there are no sharp points to worry about!

Suggested fabrics

Any light to medium weight woven fabric will work. Keep in mind the scallop hem detail will benefit from, and be easier to sew, in a stable fabric, such as a cotton poplin.

Look for fabrics that gather nicely such as cotton poplin, cotton lawn, linen, chambray and lighter weight denims, satin & taffeta. Keep an eye out for a future tutorial and I’ll show you how to change the gathers to pleats.

The handle of your fabric will dictate how your Bloom Skirt looks. A stiffer fabric such as brocades and satins will create a statement skirt that will hold its shape. Drapey and floaty fabrics such as viscose and crepes will give a softer looking silhouette.

My fabrics

Green skirt – Version B Lengthened by 2″ and made in an Ikea tablecloth (cotton but quite firm)

Blue /white – Version A / no mods and made in Organic Cotton Poplin from James Tailoring that I hand painted

Black and white – Version A / no mods and made in an Ikea curtain Panel (lightweight cotton but looks like linen) and linen scallop band.

Denim – from the deep stash but I’d guess around 8oz weight but with a nice soft handle.

THE DETAILS

PDF PATTERN – UK SIZES 8-22 (paper patterns will follow later in year) – View the size charts here

  • Version A – Scallop shaped hem band.
  • Version B – classic full skirt with straight hem. 
  • Signature Maven in-seam pockets
  • Centre back invisible (concealed) zip
  • Deep waistband sits at the natural waistline to define the fit & flare silhouette, but easy to adjust to your perfect width.
  • Fastens with snap fasteners for an unobtrusive finish.
  • Designed for woven fabrics.
  • Really easy to lengthen or shorten the pattern – The Bloom Skirt would look incredible as a full length maxi skirt in a brocade for a fancy night out!
  • ✂️ This is an excellent skill-building sewing pattern with minimal fitting so you can concentrate on learning sewing techniques.
  • See the Bloom Skirt Tutorials
  • Share your makes by tagging them @mavenpatterns #BloomMaven

PDF PATTERN

  • Prints on A4 and Us letter paper
  • Print at home pattern with layers to print just the size(s) you need
  • Illustrated Maker Instructions with clickable links to tutorials
  • Includes a measurement chart for the large skirt pattern pieces giving you the option to save paper and not print all of the pattern
  • A0 Copy shop file (with layers)
  • A0 printing – we recommend Orbit Imaging – Simon prints all my paper patterns.
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I want to Paint It Blue – Fabric Painting

cover image for FABRIC PAINTING - I WANT TO PAINT IT BLUE

or How I hand painted this fabric.

Fabric painting – this post comes with a warning.

Fabric painting is hugely fun and addictive. Once you start painting your own fabric do not hold me responsible when you can’t stop!

What’s not to love about designing your own unique fabric? The paint was only £3 a pot and the brushes were about £5. If you work on stash fabrics or a pre-loved garment it’s potentially a very inexpensive way to update or create a really special garment.

Now, I’m just going to pre-face this post by saying I am not an expert at fabric painting or surface decoration. I got an idea into my head, thought about it quite a lot, bought the fabric paint and slapped it on some fabric.

Fabric Painting – Tools + Equipment

  • Fabric Paint in Royal Blue from Handprinted. I bought 3 pots, and used every single drop to paint the fabric for a full skirt.
  • Paint brushes from Søstrene Grene
  • Plastic sheets
  • Masking tape/brown paper tape
  • Frixon pens/fabric marker/ do a test for your fabric!

Protect The Area

No polite way of saying this – I am a messy worker. So protect the area and yourself. I covered or moved anything I didn’t want paint on and wore old clothes and an apron.

Protect your table as the paint will bleed through fabric. I taped old plastic wrappings that we had kept from fabric deliveries to the table.

Test Piece

I was a bit impatient to start painting and didn’t really have time to clear everything and paint-proof. So I did a quick test first on some scrap fabric to scratch the itch and to get a feeling for the brush stokes and how heavy/dense I wanted the strokes to look. I did a vague design by drawing with a Sharpie on pattern paper, which I could see through the fabric and gave me a guideline to follow. The ink did bleed through the fabric, rather obvious but reminded me of the need for plastic underneath the fabric. I’m not sure if the Sharpie plan was a good one, I have a niggling feeling the black sharpie ink could transfer to the fabric during fabric painting.

Fabric Painting Prep

I washed and ironed the fabric before laying it flat and wrinkle free on the table. Taped it down and made sure to keep it on grain. And, bonus points to me, I remembered to lint roller it. And remembered to put plastic sheets over the areas of fabric I wasn’t painting at the time to protect them from paint splatters. Because, as we have established, I’m messy. You could use a hairdryer to dry the paint a bit quicker but I didn’t have one with me.

I want to Paint It Black Blue

So my plan had always been to paint the fabric specifically for a Bloom Skirt, so I took quite a while to draw the skirt pattern pieces directly onto the fabric. I can recommend doing this if you are thinking of doing any kind of print placement. After which I marked a design/guidelines directly on the fabric with a Frixon pen so I could avoid crossing patterns over seams and having to pattern match at the zip and kind of line up the ‘stripes’. It was a bit vague and I didn’t follow it very precisely, and the pen did come off with the iron later.

I knew wanted a hand painted, painterly effect so you could see the brush marks, but sharp and graphic too. In the end I just starting painting and decided not to overthink it any further, not at all usual for me the queen of overthinking. That’s my best bit of advice, just start painting and don’t try to control the result too much. I played with different thickness of brushes and pressure for a variety of brushstrokes and just enjoyed the process.

And then patiently (again, highly unusual for me as I was a bit excited at this point) left it to dry overnight before I could move it to make room to paint the other bits of fabric. By this point, I was having such a jolly time I’m ready to paint anything and everything blue.

Fixing The Fabric Paint

Once dry, the fabric paint needs ironing to fix it.

So, I did a shout out on Insta as I wasn’t sure how long to iron for (it’s 2 weeks later at this point and I’d thrown away the pots) and there was lots of great advice given in the comments of the reel HERE.

There was a few suggestions to use a tumble dryer, but I don’t have one, but do have a menopausal shoulder so ironed it for as long as I could be bothered while listening to a podcast. Keep in mind this is a sample skirt for The Bloom Skirt pattern so I’m probably not going to wash and wear it as much as normal garment (if at all). I can’t confirm how it will wash at this stage but I’d suggest being a little more pedantic about fixing it correctly than I was!

My top tip would be to check your iron is actually still clean after not only pressing the fabric but after making said skirt because the ink transferred to the bottom of the iron and then onto some white linen. Totally my fault, I was very slapdash about using a pressing cloth and fixing the paint and checking the iron was still clean which is actually quite an obvious thing to check when pressing freshly painted bright blue fabric paint!

Overall, I’m delighted how the fabric turned out and looking forward to painting more at some point. Give it a try, it’s great fun!

*The Bloom Skirt is coming soon!

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