FINISHED: Blue Linen Chardon

I found myself on a sewing roll during May. Part of it was the motivation of Me Made May to wear handmade everyday, but the other part was my goal to sew down my fabric stash. If I have too many fabrics at once I tend to feel overwhelmed and find it hard to start projects. Having a smaller stash helps stay mentally focused.

I knew I wanted another Chardon skirt by Deer & Doe for spring, and I had just received a large order of linen from Fabrics-Store. I determined late last year that I only need to purchase fabric in what I consider to be my colors (blues, greens, purple/magenta, neutrals) and so I ordered 3 pieces of blue linen, all relatively the same color but slightly different. I can't remember which color this is, but it's medium weight and either royal blue, strong blue or olympian blue. Pardon the Me Made May photo. :-)

I added 1 1/2" of length to this version after finding my plaid wool version a bit short. I can't tell that it made that much of a difference to be honest. After making this version I went back and added some extra ease to the waist for more breathing room. The pleats do not release right away so there's a fair bit of structure up there.

I stitched the pleats using a triple stitch which I found to be more durable that a regular straight stitch. I may go back and top-stitch these the more I wear it.

I used a centered zipper. For some reason it ended up being shorter than I wanted (how does that happen?!) so I have to shimmy to get this one on. 

I used lightweight fusible for the facing and used an overcasting stitch around the edges rather than folding up to reduce bulk. I also stitched in the ditch of the pleats to hold down the facing.

Simple hem with Gutermann Mara 100 thread.

Linen wrinkles, ya'll, but I just love it. I love the rich colors and how it feels against the skin. I remember putting on a polyester garment one day after having worn natural fiber garments - I literally felt suffocated. I will take wrinkles any day over wearing synthetics. 

Pattern: Jupe de Chardon by Deer&Doe

Size: 46 plus ease added

Fabric: blue medium weight linen from Fabrics-Store

Thread: Gutermann Mara 100

Needle: Organ 80/12

Changes: length of version with band + 1 1/2" length; ease added to size 46