Fayeraysews’ Chelsea Collection skirts

The Chelsea Collection is an all-rounder and contains patterns for a blouse, skirt and trousers; here I decided to make the skirt. The style is similar to a lot of skirts I have seen on the high street, so there is a lot of inspiration out there!

I made a size 8, and lengthened the shorter skirt by 2.75” (7 cm) – I think it might have been a little indecent on me if I hadn’t (not unusual for me at 5’11”)!

I made 2 versions of the skirt, the first in a medium weight khaki green cotton canvas that I grabbed in the Abakhan warehouse sale a couple of weeks ago. The fabric is very sturdy, so holds the A-line shape brilliantly, but is not uncomfortable to wear.

Inspired by the denim versions I had seen online, I topstitched the seam allowances down with double lines of gold topstitching thread and added gold buttons. It came together a lot quicker than I expected because I pinned all the panels and sewed them together in one go.

I really love the style of the skirt and it will no doubt get a lot of use year round as I think it would look equally good with tights and boots in autumn/winter as it does with bare legs in the sunshine.

The second version I made I extended to floor length. I did this by measuring the distance from my waistline to the floor (45” in my case), and adding seam allowance (2 cm, as indicated on the pattern). I then extended the skirt panels to this length and constructed it in the same manner, this time without topstitching.

I used a gorgeous drapey polyester; not my usual fibre choice, and I was looking for a viscose originally, but this fabric had a lovely weight and opacity, and a massive bonus is that it doesn’t crease – the photos were taken after wearing the skirt all day.

I only added the buttons to about half way down the skirt and I love how swishy it is when I’m walking, but you could always put buttons all the way down the front. It’s a great way to showcase the buttons that have been lingering in your stash!