Rainbow Denim Ness Mini

Hi guys, I'm here to share my latest sewing project with you, not because its anything spectacular, but because its something I spent a lot of time and energy on an I felt it deserved a bit of lime light. I have been doing a lot of thinking about sustainability lately, and about the fact that fashion is one of the biggest pollutants on the planet today. Sewing of course has its part to play here, so I have been trying more and more to think carefully about what I am sewing to make sure that its something that I will get use out of, and will last a long time.





So what does that actually mean? Well for me I am taking it to mean having a focus on buying good quality fabrics, using patterns that I know suit my style and trying to make them well so that they stand the test of time. I know I sometimes can't resist a sew on the whim, but I am going to try and do that in a less frivolous way in the future.

This sew is therefore no exception to this, I came across this fabric on a Minerva Blogger post and instantly fell in love with it. Its a Robert Kaufman Denim with coloured motes in it which I bought from Minerva. Now this fabric is NOT cheap, so when I saw it and knew I wanted some I knew I needed to make a little denim mini, something I could hopefully squeeze out of 1 meter. This is where the Ness skirt from Tilly and the Buttons came in. I have used a lot of Tilly patterns in the past and they have always been great (my favourite dress ever being a Lilou dress from her book Love at first stitch) and this one really peaked my interest because it is a high waisted denim skirt pattern. I have made a denim mini before but it sits on the hip and this is a much less flattering style for my figure so I wanted to give another pattern a try.

I took my measurements and as expected my waist is one size smaller than my hips so I graded the pattern between these two points. I wanted to sew a test version before cutting into the really expensive denim so this is what I did and thankfully the fit is spot on so I cracked on. The only real issue I have is that the zip is a little on the short side, and because I have a small waist and large hips I do have to do that denim hip wiggle to get it on over my hips and I am a bit worried I am going to bust the zip one day. The pattern instructions themselves, as per all Tilly patterns was absolutely faultless. They are really consise with good images. It wasn't the easiest sew in the world as I had not done a proper fly zip before but the instructions helped me through this process seamlessly.

The big feature on this skirt though is the rainbow topstitching. I have had lots of really lovely comments about this on instagram so I am really pleased that everyone else is seeing the logic behind this. I hoped that it would really help to bring out the colours in this amazing denim and complement them and it worked so well, it absolutely was the right decision. The thread was from my mum as a stocking filler last christmas and I think its an ebay china special but its worked a treat here. Doing all that topstitching in such a bold thread wasn't easy though, I had to be painstakingly methodical and slow with it but it was worth every minute.

Pattern: Ness skirt from Tilly and the Buttons

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Denim with coloured motes in it which I bought form Minerva.

Extras: a 9' jean zip, contrasting thread and a button

Version: Mini

Modifications: I took 1 inch off the length as I am 5.2"

Fit: Size 2 in the waist graded to a 3 in the hip and to the hem

Difficulty: Intermediate, due to the more complex zip insertion, but the instructions make this a doddle

Make again?: Definitely, I want to make a friend a version like my tester and I would love to try the longer version, maybe in a grey glitter denim? 

Finally I can't finish this post without showing off this cute little guy that I popped on my back pocket. This adorable little patch came from Oh No Rachio and as if this make needed anymore brightening up he is just the ticket. Anyone who knows me is not surprised by this detail, hes so cute!

So anyway, I guess you could call this slow fashion, given that I really took my time over it, used quality fabric, and a quality pattern which fit me well. I hope it is something I will get a lot of wear out of, as I think this and my tester are probably my new wardrobe favourites, 

Are you trying to sew more sustainabily? What are you trying, and if you have any tips or ideas I would really love you to share here or come find me on instagram x