Have you ever read something and interpreted it the wrong way? I’m sure we do this all the time. I know I do, a lot. I read something and swear it means one thing, but it really means something else. That is what happened when I made this pink velvet skirt. Now I have made this pattern before using my favorite palm print fabric. You can read about it here. So, you would think this would be an easy project. However, that was not the case.
Pattern
I used Butterick 6285 pattern. One of the things I love about this pattern is the pleats. It’s the reason I bought it in the first place. The pleats give it just the right amount of fullness without making it look like I’m five years old. It took me a while to make this the first time because you need to fold and sew 4 sets of pleats. Two in the front and two in the back. It took me a while to figure out which way to fold the pleats. The fabric needs to be folded inwards to create the inverted pleat. When I made this skirt the second time around I had a little more trouble.
After re-reading the instructions multiple times, I swear I was folding the pleats inward, but for some reason my brain kept telling my hands to fold them outward. This sounds weird, but just go with me here. I would fold up all four pleats and every time one or two of them were they were folded outward. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get all four pleats folded inward. I can’t tell you how many times I folded theses damn pleats! After folding and re-folding the pleats I have gave up. For some reason, my brain decided it was much easier to fold them outwards. So, I went with it. I love how the skirt turned out. The backwards pleats look good, and I like the fact that it looks different from the palm print skirt event though it’s the same pattern.
Fabric
Originally, I bought this fabric to make some pillows for our couch. It’s upholstery fabric that I bought from fabric.com. I also purchased this green velvet and this pretty peacock blue color. For some reason, I didn’t make any pillows with the pink. I guess the pink didn’t match the decor and furniture as much as I thought it would. So, it sat in my fabric bin for a while. Don’t be concerned about using fabric for a project you wouldn’t normally use. Even though this is upholstery fabric, it sewed up nicely and the added weight make it perfect for Fall. Fall is one of my favorite seasons although it seems to be getting shorter and shorter here in the Northeast. I have a feeling we are going to heard straight into winter very soon. Ugh. It’s a good thing I can wear velvet all winter long.
Shirt and Bag
I made the shirt and matching bag in the photos too, just like I did in last week’s post. I’ll be doing a separate post on the shirts and the bags in the next few weeks. I thought it would be too much to try and write about everything all at once so stay tuned for those upcoming posts.
If you would rather buy that DIY you can shop similar items below.
Photos by – Chloejane Photo + Film