Voilà, le Beignet!

J’adore les beignets et j’adore le Beignet! Although, ironically, if I ate too many beignets, I’d never fit into my Beignet.

 

Sewaholic's Beignet. Photo by Tasia.

 

This week, I made my Beignet skirt. I have to say that I was almost put off by the $16 pattern (for one view!), but I kept seeing it show up on Sewaholic during Self-Stitched September, and it looked so cute. Plus, the reviews on Pattern Review are overwhelmingly positive. So, when I had a coupon from Sew, Mama, Sew, I broke down and purchased it.

Let me start by saying that if I could afford every Colette pattern (I can’t), I’d buy them all, even the ones I’m not crazy about. This is what patterns should be. Maybe I’ve just been sewing too much from the less-than-helpful (but cheap) Burdastyle patterns, but this was a breath of fresh air. To start, the pattern sizes are close to ready-to-wear sizes! My Colette size was actually one down from RTW, based on measurements, but given the lack of ease in Colette, I probably should have just gone with my RTW size.

Whatever the final result (keep reading!), this was a joy to make. Colette send a whole booklet with the pattern that shows you exactly how to make the garment. This one was rated intermediate, and there were certainly new techniques I had to learn, but I was never confused. The directions were straightforward, and the diagrams were fantastically clear! This is by far the garment whose construction I am most proud of. I didn’t make a single mistake! I never took out the seam ripper! And I didn’t modify anything! Okay, I made two very small changes: 1) I didn’t use a blind hem; 2) I didn’t bother snipping away the self fabric and facing before combining them (which worked fine).

So, without further ado:

 

 

Did I mention POCKETS??

 

It looks a lot less wrinkly in person. I really love this skirt. The fabric is Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton, and the lining is a cheap red lining fabric from JoAnn. This was my first time doing a true lining (I underlined the Star Trek dress without any instruction). It was easier than I expected, and the lining feels great. Plus, no slip, which is fantastic. The lining fabric was a little slippery, but nowhere near as difficult to work with as the Silkessence I used for the Gail dress.

 

 

Buttons! And belt!

 

I had to overcome my fear of buttons and buttonholes for this skirt. I had tried a buttonhole once before and gave up in frustration. This time I read the sewing machine manual very carefully and did a test on a scrap of this fabric. And it worked. I think I even lined up the buttonholes almost exactly where I wanted to. It helps that the sewing machine does all the work. The buttons were actually much more difficult.  I knew where I wanted them, but it was hard to keep them in place while I lined up the zigzag foot on top of them. But I made it work. And I got to learn how to drop the feed dogs! (I love that I know all of these terms now.)

The belt was easy, just like making purse straps, although I did sew it inside out and pulled it rightside out, instead of just topstitching like I would have done on a purse. The belt loops were pretty small, and I think if I make this again (and I should, given the $16 price tag on the pattern), I would make the belt loops bigger. I had to turn under by 1/8″ to sew on, which is frankly ridiculous!

Overall, I am quite pleased and hope to be able to afford another Colette pattern in the future.

 

 

Professional *and* flattering!

 

More pics on Flickr.

Next up: PANTS!