Yes, it’s another Grainline Moss Mini.  Yes, you’ve seen this skirt a million times in the sewing blogosphere by now.  And I’ve made it not once, but twice before.

The deer printed fabric is canvas from Spotlight – I think they might call it cotton duck, or something similar? I have to say that it is pretty terrible quality. I pre-washed it, concerned about potential shrinkage, and the colour faded and shifted all over it. You can see some paler lines across it if you look closely. Grrr.

I finally got a bit braver and left off the lower band, leaving this skirt at the shorter length. I’m rather glad that I did – I do quite like my legs, and it’s not as though this skirt will be worn to work at any stage, so it’s fine to have it short. And short means that I can show off bright tights and boots! In summer I often prefer longer skirts, as I worry about sun exposure, and the glare from my legs is rather phenomenal too. But at the moment I’m listening to all those people who say “make it shorter Lara, make it shorter!” and am doing exactly that.

I used a metal zipper – I find them nice and substantial in jeans-style skirts like this one. The Grainline instructions are rather good, and this inserted beautifully. I cut the entire skirt at size 10, and it fits well. It was much faster to construct than I remembered – maybe third time around I am getting more efficient! The pockets and waistband lining are in a beautiful voile that I am now completely out of – I even had to introduce a seam to have enough to cut these pieces!

Next time I need to remember to overlock the edges of the centre front before sewing the seam or doing any zipper installation.  Once again I stabilised the pocket edges with fusible tape, which is really important to eliminate them bagging or stretching out.  I sewed a rather narrow hem on the machine after overlocking the edge and turning it once.  I like to reduce bulk in these fabrics.

And this is how I wore it! I’m planning on a plain black version in a heavily ribbed black woven I bought from Darn Cheap Fabrics’ $2 table when I was there last week but as per usual have a lot of other items in my queue at the moment. I did manage to sew myself a tunic last night for some sewing therapy, and have a few more items on my list for the beautiful weekend ahead. While others are watching the Grand Final…I’ll be sewing!