The Charlotte Skirt

Recently, p'raps due to the immense amount of time on my hands, I've got seriously into sewing. Before summer I'd started a short dungaree project but when my sewing machine died, it remained half finished, on a hanger, on the back of my door all summer. Cash strapped,  I decided I needed to make a wise investment in my hobby and to save my sanity. But seriously the thought of spending even £100 on a sewing machine seemed irresponsible.

I did some serious research and questioned whether a John Lewis Mini - was toy or a brilliant basic. Gladly, after I purchased it has turned out to be the latter. I had read numerous thing about the difficulty of set up and not being able to change feet or it only taking light fabrics all of which played on my mind, but so far... I haven't found a single error. For £50 it's easily the best sewing tool I've bought.  You can't fault it for it's price point. Okay, so it is very basic. But what's wrong with going back to basics? It can't do buttonholes, only has 10 stitches and comes with no light. But it's super lightweight and is manufactured by Janome, so I discovered, so it's a brilliant hobby machine.

The dungarees are finished thanks to the JL Mini. It was a breeze to get it finally done, took just a couple of hours and was a relief to place the buckles on and try it on. Annoyingly, I started said project before my fitness spluge - so they're more of a 'relaxed' fit!

Like many I am a pattern and fabric hoarder, I felt it was time to search my reserves and cut a fresh pattern. I opted for the Charlotte Skirt by By Hand London, A great little indie pattern company - offering up fashionable, wearable patterns.

I was seduced by the packaging - the bright pink sleeve and beautiful illustration. The pattern was as you would expect. The instructions were straight forward and easy peasy to follow. I chose a pair of old yellow gingham curtains I'd picked up from a charity shop for £4 a pair. Bit faded in places but part of the charm! I completed the skirt in a morning - I perhaps would have done it quicker if I could find a good screwdriver to change the feet on my JL Mini! Which incidentally you can do. I sewed a perfect invisible zip on my skirt after changing to a zipper foot. YAY!

Andrea x