Hollyburns

In late 2015 I stumbled across a sewing blog and read years’ worth of posts in one evening. I’ve been obsessed with the idea of making my own clothes ever since. One skirt in particular stood out to me and my brother kindly bought me the pattern for Christmas.

I have a little bit of sewing knowledge from making costumes for the past 7 or so years, so starting out on the Hollyburn skirt by Sewaholic didn’t seem too daunting. It has just 4 pattern pieces, including the pockets.

My first version was the midi length in a teal cotton drill. The colour faded immediately in the pre-wash, I ended up with a pale line running down one of the front panels and didn’t notice until it was sewn together. Now that the rich colour is no more it just feels not quite as nice as denim might have been. It’s underwhelming.

The zip went in relatively easy, not too bad for a first attempt. There’s a bit of a gap at the top that I intended to fix with a hook and eye but there seems little point now that I’ve lost weight and it doesn’t fit anymore.

One thing that I was pleased with on this skirt was learning about under stitching at the pockets. I’d never done it before and it was fairly satisfying to press everything and see the neat result. I also hand stitched the entire hem with herringbone stitch which took a while.

Shortly after the blue cotton drill version I made the “shorter” (knee) length in linen. I cut the front piece on the fold to eliminate the seam so that the cats on rooftops print wasn’t disturbed and rotated the bank panels so they were cut on the same bias.

I’m pretty sure this was home furnishing fabric but it worked ok and was easy to work with as a beginner. I think the midi version needs a slightly drapier fabric to be flattering but the linen is fine for the knee length.

I’ve made a third version for my sister for Christmas 2016, in sea sirens alexander henry print. I had to reduce the width at the hem by about an inch (or two since it was on the fold again) to fit the pattern piece on the quilting cotton.

Overall, I loved making the pattern but my skirts don’t get worn often. The pockets are my favourite part, but I’m not sure the overall style suits my body shape very well. My waist is my widest part and having the waistband cut me in half there doesn’t flatter. I might try the longest version in a drapey fabric in the future.