Jess' Nascha Mini Skirt

I recently made up the Named Patterns Nascha Mini skirt for myself as a trial version. For a full pattern review check this post. I made this version for a friend who has been a wonderful support during my never ending (just kidding, or am I?) PhD candidature. It was a slightly late birthday present for which she chose the pattern and fabric.

I made up a size 36. Jess' measurements put her in between two sizes, but I checked out the finished measurements and picked the smaller size based on her preference for fitted clothes. Jess picked a tartan wool blend from Clegs and a navy lining. I spent some time getting the tartan to match up on the centre front/back and sides. I did a pretty good job horizontally but I fudged it vertically. 

After making up the skirt once before the instructions were SO much easier to follow. I'm so glad I made up a trial version for myself, I felt much more confident inserting the exposed zipper and lining. 

The fit is pretty spot on. I did one fitting with Jess, but no changes were required! Woohoo! And  doesn't she look lovely in her new skirt? Thankfully, the skirt seems to be very well received. Happy Belated birthday Jess! 

Named Nascha Mini skirt

For my birthday last year my lovely sister bought me the Named Nascha Mini Skirt pattern. I've been wanting to make it up for quite a while but the warm weather prevented me. I see this skirt as a winter mini to be paired with tights. I offered to make a wonderful friend a garment for her birthday and she asked for a Nascha Mini Skirt. As I hadn't made the pattern yet I decided to make myself a version to iron out any issues first.

I traced the pattern in size 40, which matched my hip measurement perfectly. I then proceeded to cut out some wool fabric and lining I had in my stash only to remember that I hadn't added seam allowances! Argh! I then recut some wool blend fabric from Clegs and the lining from the last of this silk. I was careful to check whether pattern matching was possible as Jess chose a tartan wool. It's a surprisingly simple pattern for pattern matching.

At first sight the instructions appeared be detailed. however, quite a few steps were challenging and written in confusing ways. I felt that they often missed key words. For example an instruction read "Finish bottom front edge" and I'm left asking "of what?" The skirt? the waist facing? the hem facing? Thankfully the diagrams are generally good so with a few re-reads of each instruction they can be made sense of.

In terms of the construction, I really enjoyed sewing this skirt. I've never made a lined skirt where the lining is fully encased by the waist and hem facings. The way the front diagonal pieces came together was a lovely piece of origami and the finish is excellent! In fact there were times when the instructions called for finishing seams that seemed unnecessary. For example, finishing the waist seam which is hidden inside the waist facing.

My only issues were topstitching the diagonal front folds, there is a lot of bulk at these seams, and topstitching the zipper to hold the lining in place. Next time I will hand sew the lining to the zipper. Next time I'd also consider inserting welt pockets in the back. I wont try this in Jess' skirt though, to much to lose if I fudge it up.

The fit is good, perhaps just slightly too loose. It tends to want to creep down at the back. In the below photo you can see that the skirt sits very low on me. Otherwise I'm super happy with this new addition to my winter wardrobe and I think it pairs really well with my recently made bow blouse. Now to make Jess' version.