Just when you thought you’d have to wait ages for me to post something again, here I am…

*Happy grin*

When I saw this amazing border-print jersey, I knew I had to have it; the colours made my heart sing and, at £2 per metre for such a heavy, drapey, viscose number, it was an absolute steal. 2 metres for 4 measly quid? SOLD.

However, whichever way I looked at it, the damn print over-powered me.

I have a tiny frame and suit plains and little prints; this was made for a dramatic dame who drinks dangerous cocktails and flaunts her fantastic curves.

Every idea I had to downplay the print and mix it up with a plain looked cowardly.

Every idea I had to just go with the dramatic print looked like I was auditioning to be someone else.

Gods damn it.

Along with another punchy jersey that keeps taunting me, I had no idea of what to do.

Until this week and this blog post;  http://bigboolittleboo.wordpress.com/tutorials/easiest-jersey-maxi-skirt-tutorial/

I stumbled upon it whilst googling for an easy maxi dress pattern, but the simplicity of the instructions won me over.

That and, as a recurring theme I noticed in the maxi skirts I encountered, those powerful prints looked great when further away from one’s face. In fact, all the best examples used really zingy, often abstract, prints that would over-power the wearer if worn above the waistline.

I followed the instructions as above, only making a couple of alterations as I went along;

• I used a slight curve when cutting the transfer from waistband to hip. Although, since I’ve folded 4″ of the 6″ waistband inside, it really makes no odds. I also hand-stitched-in-the-ditch at the sides to keep that fold in place. It makes the waist feel so lovely and stable.

• To ensure both sides were even, I folded the fabric in half vertically before cutting the long edge. This meant I used one-quarter of my waist measurement (I have a 26″ waist, so 6.5″)

•  There’s no mention of adding seam allowance in the original blog post, but cutting everything to size and using the usual 1.5cm seam allowance works well to ensure it stretches to fit without being too loose or tight. The stitch recommendation is also brilliant.

• I hemmed it as the heavy jersey stretched too much (plus, as I suspected, those outside edges didn’t hang right, flare-wise). As I can’t get my twin needles to do a jersey hem without tunnelling (grrr), I tried my blind hem stitch and foot for the first time ever. Ta-da, pretty much invisible hem (the crazy border print helps).

Suffice it to say, I love it. For an afternoon’s work (bar the hemming this morning) it’s maximum pay-off for minimum outlay – both in terms of monetary cost and time.

It’s unlike anything else in my wardrobe, but it will go brilliantly with the plain tops and t-shirts I have knocking about. Plus, did I mention how comfy it is? This is going to be my go-to ‘eating out’ skirt for SURE.

If this isn’t the best way to be ‘maxed out’, I don’t know what is… 🙂