Red Beignet - budget style. This cost me $2.50 (and a day's work)

Pattern: Colette Beignet -  here

It takes a whole day to make this skirt.   Know how I know that ? Because I spent yesterday making it.  The final button was sewn on at about 6pm.

But its worth all the time and effort because its such a cute skirt.

I made it from thrifted fabric and wanted to use stash to keep the cost as low as I could.   I used some mauve/lilac lining from my stash.  How gorgeous is this?  I just wanted to hang it from my walls like artwork:

And then I searched through my stash for buttons.   I had 4 options.   I put it to the vote for my closest friends, and the vote was split half/half for the navy blue buttons and the black with white stitching buttons.  With the roman coin look a close third.  Luckily my personal favourite was the navy so that was easily decided. 

I did get an unsolicited recommendation to use large white heart shaped buttons.   Wow - that would look cool.   But that would have meant a purchase and that wasn't in my brief for this project.

Maybe the next one needs to be black with white heart buttons ?!

The finished product on a wintery Sydney day.   My first outing with opaque tights!

Frigging cheap fabric.   Creases like nobody's busness !

lore
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Colette Beignet - and amortising advice

I made this skirt a couple of weeks ago out of purple corduroy with pink poplin lining.  It was my first Colette pattern, but will not be my last.  I made a size 6 as all the wisdom in blogland recommended to use your measurements.  On normal patterns I'd come down a size or two but this was exactly the right fit for me.   So I'll reinforce others' advice - measure yourself and trust the pattern to do the right thing!

I did make one adjustment, I cut the length longer, just used the cutting line for size 18 rather than size 6.  This gave me the perfect length. 

It came out gorgeous but I totted up how much it cost me.

$22 for the corduroy
$4.80 for the lining
$5 for the buttons
(and the pattern was $19 including postage - but we never count the cost of patterns, right?)

so lets say $30 because I'd prefer to round down rather than round up. Now that's kind of up there for a home made item, but still nowhere what you'd pay to buy it (even if you could) in the shops.   And its been crafted with love and supported an independent designer.

But now I want to do it on the cheap and make it again from thrifted materials.

I bought a few metres of some great vibrant red drill from a Vinnies in Rockdale   And buttons and lining from my stash.  Who knows where they came from or how much they cost.  But they've been there so long they have a nil value now.

So this one will cost me about $2.50

and if we amortise, that means two skirts for about $15 (if we round down again).

Now I'm happy !   I shall attempt to finish it today, as its a high maintenance pattern for such a simple look, but I've gone to the trouble of tracing the pattern etc already so its just a matter of cutting out and making.

Watch this space !

lore
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