A faded denim skirt

It has been a few weeks since my last post - weeks of a lot sewing and not a lot of blogging so I have a few projects to bring you up to speed on. Firstly, of course the denim skirt and my adventures in distressing. The first step was to rough it up a little. My tools of torture were a cheese grater (a bit too chunky for what I wanted), a nail file and some sand paper. It actually felt counter intuitive to attack a piece of clothing I had only just created but I dived in and this was the result:

A good start but not exactly the vision I had in mind. The next step - bleach!

I filled the laundry sink, added a slug of bleach and then promptly forgot about in the rush of getting to school. It was therefore left a little longer than expected but I am pleased with the result:

I like that the two denims are now more of an even match:

And by pure fluke I even managed to achieve that creased faded look of old denim:

All in all I am impressed with what a little sandpaper and a sink of bleach can do - a much, much better result than sticking it in the microwave or wearing it without washing!

The ins and outs of fading denim

Boy did I open a can of worms when I googled "how to fade denim". There are some serious purists out there with some quite strong opinions on the "right" way to fade raw denim. Here are some of the ways to create the perfect fade for your denim (some of them, in my opinion, completely outrageous!)

1. Microwave them -the opinion is that the microwaves break down the chemical compounds that make up the indigo dye

2. Take bath in them - yes, while wearing them. Well, all that hot water and bubbles are meant to make the denim shrink to fit your body

3. Rub them with coffee grinds - I guess the abrasion of the coffee beans helps to wear away the denim

4. Take them to the beach for a swim - the water and sand combo allows them to shrink and age at the same time

5. Wear them for a YEAR without washing - this one is definitely for the purists

6. Bleach them - makes sense

7. Use sandpaper to scuff away the edges

9. Cut holes with scissors

10. Get dirty - one website even suggested repairing motorbikes in your jeans!

So, there are a few options that are out straight away. I will not be microwaving them - it sounds like a strange concept based on dodgy science besides, there is a metal zip and haven't we always been told not to mix microwaving and metal? I will not be taking a bath in them (we don't have a bath) nor will I be taking them for a swim at the beach. I will definitely not be repairing motorbikes in my skirt and neither will I be WEARING IT FOR A YEAR WITHOUT WASHING!! What! Yep, just no. There is even a forum where people post pictures of their faded denim including information about how many washes it has had - this wearing them for a year without washing is a real thing. I found it weirdly addictive to scroll through pages of faded denim - check it out! http://www.heddels.com/fades/

So, I guess I will start with a little abrasion - maybe some sandpaper and even some coffee and take it from them

Two is better than one!

I always think when I try out a new pattern that making it a second time gives me a chance to improve the fit and make the changes that I wished I had made on the first one. So, after the completion of practical skirt number one I backed it up with skirt two - a denim skirt. I made a few changes to the pattern this time - I made it a touch shorter and added some western pockets to the back.

The use of two denims what totally by chance when I forgot to buy enough of the dark denim - whoops. I think I like it though but, to be honest, I am not in love with the newly minted, fresh denim look. I was hoping for something a little more aged with a little more character to it.... Off to search for some tips of ageing denim... Will keep you posted

Back on track

After 2 weeks of this...

and this...

I am back to the completion of my practical skirt... taadaa

I love the colour and knee length is super practical. I was pleased with how neatly the fly front worked out and I drafted a kick pleat for the back which makes it easier to move about. Now onto some fun sewing - some tops to go with it!