A while back, FinnStyle sent me some remnants of some fabulous Marimekko fabrics. Seriously, how lucky am I!! I could spend all evening drooling over all the Marimekko fabrics they have! They also have a huge selection of finished clothing, home dec items, and accessories with Marimekko designs printed on them.
I spent a month or so drooling over my pretty fabrics (and pulling them out to show anyone who stepped foot in my sewing studio), but last week I got brave and cut into one of my pieces.
It was roughly half a yard of this Marimekko Tuuli Black/White fabric. How I love love LOVE this print!!
From their website: “Tuuli, Finnish for wind, showcases just that as swaying tree branches are silhouetted against a white background on this fabric by Marimekko. Designed by Maija and Kristina Isola in 1971, this pattern has remained popular almost 40 years later…. “
I used the Side Panel Knit Skirt from The Sewing Rabbit to make this graphic black and white skirt for myself. On the smaller panels of fabric, the large scale tree silhouette design becomes more abstract, looking almost splatter painted.
Can I tell you how much I love this skirt? The foldover knit waistband is super comfy – and easy EASY to sew! The knit panels on the sides give a perfect snug fit, and the woven panels on the front and the back keep it from hugging too tightly under the butt.
Because you use just two panels of the fancy fabric, it’s a good way to stretch smaller cuts of fabric or to use up remnants left over from another project. To make my skirt, I used two pieces of the Marimekko 10.75″ wide by 18.5″ tall.
The tutorial gives instructions for making the skirt to fit your measurements. I modified it just a bit, adding 2″ to the front panel and reducing 2″ from the side panels. I’m crazy sensitive about the girth of my hips so I felt like a smaller side panel would help minimize that.
And guess what? I have enough left over to make a new cover for my iPad.
Thank you, FinnStyle, for helping me make my new favorite skirt!
My big idea for these photos was to go to the Arkansas Arts Center since we were taking them on a cold rainy day. And I turned my tween daughter and her bestie loose with my iPhone to take photos of me. I think the girls liked to hear the camera shutter sound, because they were definitely not waiting around for the focus to burst photo after photo.
We had fun, though. I got less self conscious as the photo shoot (such that it was) progressed, and the girls discovered that they could set up some totally staged photo bombs.
Background nose picking…
…and window crashing…
…and full action photo bomb blurring.
Tweens!
Disclosure: FinnStyle sent me fabric pieces with the agreement that I would sew them into items of my choosing and blog about them. Any opinions expressed in this post are all mine.
