After I made my gray striped Peppermint Pocket Skirt last summer (read about it here), I wanted to wear it all the time. What’s not to like about a super-comfortable skirt that goes with everything and has ginormous pockets? Apparently it filled a gap in my wardrobe that I didn’t even know was there. A month later I made a Damn Good Dress with our customer-favorite Rainbow Check handloom cotton and enjoyed every moment working with that fabric. All those happy colors!
After that I was ready to make to make another Pocket Skirt, partly to keep sewing with the Rainbow Check fabric, and partly because it was a great pattern and I knew I would love the result. Now the skirt has reappeared in my wardrobe along with the warm weather, filling my spring with joy.
As I mentioned last time, the Peppermint Pocket Skirt is a free pattern designed by Paper Theory and available on Peppermint Magazine's website. It’s a very quick sew — the rainbow one only took about three hours to make. I made some of the same modifications as I had for the gray skirt including shortening the length. I also put in a drawstring again because I prefer that to an elastic waist. To do this, I made the top casing more or less as the instructions suggest, with the addition of a small hemmed opening inside the waistline at the front left seam.
Laying the pattern out on the fabric, it was fun to decide how to place the colors on the skirt. I kept the color flow around the front and sides similar to that of the uncut yardage. As I’ve mentioned in other articles, it’s often not possible to perfectly match checks on handlooms because these fabrics are not made with machine-like regularity. Just choose a spot that might be conspicuous on the finished garment and match there as best you can. I matched the horizontal blue-to-purple color change near the pocket openings on all four vertical seams, as you can see just below my hand in this photo:
It can be hard to know what thread color to use when sewing a colorful fabric like this. I often choose a gray tone that coordinates well with the overall color scheme. That's what I used for the French seams and the waistline casing (below).
For the hem I raided my thread box and changed color several times as the checks moved around the color wheel. Because I hemmed by hand with tiny stitches that blend into the cross-dyed weave of the fabric, this was really more for fun than necessity.
Though I do like sewing projects with complicated construction and laborious details, a quick and easy project can be just as enjoyable. This skirt is another winner. I wear it at least as much as the gray version that started it all and it gets compliments every time. The colors really do make me happy and ensure that the skirt goes with almost everything. Make one for yourself and spread the fabric love!
