Simplicity 2226 no. 2

Thank you for your comments on my last post regarding crazy crafting, I'm glad I'm not alone in my frenzied creative pursuits!

Recently I made another version of the popular skirt pattern Simplicity 2226 (see the last one here), this time in denim. 

I'd been picturing this pattern in denim for ages but the denim I used was a bit too heavy for the design, resulting in a very 'pouffy' kind of look (and quite uncooperative gathers in the sewing process!). I'm hoping as it's washed over and over this will settle a bit. But overall I'm pretty happy with this skirt and have worn it quite a bit already. It's got a bit of attitude and personality, which I like, but is also simple enough to pair with strong colour and accessories.
 
A little feature I had fun with was putting in an exposed zip, which I did partly because I wanted to use a nice chunky metal zip and also because I lazily thought it would be easier than setting it in properly, which it was ;-). And being dark, a lot of imperfections like wonky stitching are hidden.

My enthusiasm for blue and red is still going strong, as you can see and I thought I'd show you my favourite accessories at the moment: A ring with bamboo on the base and resin on the top (don't know the brand unfortunately) and a set of beaded bracelets from the talented people at Elk. And my top is an old favourite from Metalicus, just in case you were wondering :-)

Simplicity 2226 - breaking my rules

Do you have rules about garments that do or don't suit you? You know, like "I can't wear x style of trousers"? I am intrigued about where these self-governing rules come from. Are they based on logical assessments of our body shapes, the likes and dislikes of our mothers, friends etc, or maybe because a particular style is the domain of someone we know and so we should/shouldn't go there? Is it just a matter of what's in fashion at the time? Maybe its a mix of all of these things.

I think some of my rules make absolute sense, but others I feel I should challenge because there's no really logical reason for them - and gathered skirts ("No gathered skirts - too founcy, too girly, will make me look bottom heavy etc") was one of them. So I thought I'd challenge it with the popular Simplicity 2226.

I've loved so many versions of this (this one, this one and this one to name just a few!) that I just had to give it a go. And so when i found the pattern on sale a while ago (or did it 'find' me?? ;-) I thought I'd give it a go.

As everyone says, it was a pretty easy sew. And so it should be given that it's in the 'Learn to sew' category. Everything's pretty easy to follow. I did have a look at Anna's sew-along for some pointers, and that was useful. Like Anna I left off the hook & eye (those things drive me mad).

I used a mid blue linen that I'd bought on sale at The Fabric Warehouse. It's lovely to wear, though doesn't add much warmth in this weather. I was worried about using a heavy fabric though as I thought the gathers wouldn't sit very well.

 And, also like everyone else, my favourite feature of the pattern is the great pockets.

Time will tell as to whether I've struck "Mustn't wear gathered skirts" off my rules list, but at the moment I'm quite liking this... I think ;-)

I'm belatedly playing along with Our Creative Spaces again this week, find others here.