Jade is New to Me

My mother is the best cook in our family. (no offense aunties!) Really she is. I may be biased but I don't think that's it. Majority of my friends can vouch for it's deliciousness and she is always called on for recipe advice and cooking tips. Growing up watching her, I realized that she pretty much uses much of the same ingredients on everything lol. Lemon Pepper, Seasoned Salt or Garlic Salt, Parsley Flakes, Pepper, Pepper, Pepper (lol), and PAPRIKA. My mom puts Paprika on EVERYTHING. On meats, I understand her obsession, it gives the meat color. But I'll be making Macaroni&Cheese and if I turn around and look back, she'll be sprinkling paprika on my mac!!! I keep trying to tell her that Paprika doesn't ACTUALLY have flavor but she ignores me and continues to be the best cook I know.

I say that all to say... I made the Jade skirt from Paprika Patterns.

lol I can't remember for the life of me, who's skirt immediately made me go buy the pattern but I had never heard of Paprika Patterns before that day. The pattern is labeled intermediate and I can agree with that if you've never sewn with knits or done an exposed zipper. The pattern came with a Mini and Midi view/length. I picked the Midi view because I'm tall out here and I figured the Midi length on me would be what I really wanted.

I cut the size 4. I used the fabric I had leftover from this dress. It has a 4-way stretch and was probably NOT the best fabric for this skirt lol. It was really really fiddly and stretched out very easily. I used tricot for the lining and both fabrics together aren't the greatest combination. I really wanted to use this fabric though because it was already horizontally ribbed and I thought the diagonal folds would be really cool. And I think I was right!

I followed the instructions as they were written (for the first time in a long time lol smh) and I didn't understand how they were supposed to work while I was reading them but as I was doing the construction, I started to understand what was supposed to be happening. The way that they have it, most of the seams on the inside are enclosed. I loved that the hems were enclosed early on because having to hem at the end always slows me down. The diagonal overlays weren't difficult at all and I was able to practice easily on my new roll of swedish tracing paper.

The only thing that I did not do per the instructions was the exposed zipper installation. The pattern calls for a 5.5" zip but I only had a 4" and an 8". I tried to remove some of the hardware from the 8" but those things were really stuck to the zipper tape. I guess that's the beauty of YKK? Anyway, I ended up just using the 4" and not extending it up through the waistband. I usually do black for my exposed zippers but I decided on white this time because I want this skirt to force me to go brighter instead of a darker overall look.

I like the skirt and I think it can be dressed up or down. I think next time I wear it, it will be with a flowy high-low cropped top.. yea? Idk if I'll make it again. I will have to be smarter with my fabric choice next time. It can be a great stash-busting pattern for sure. 

Have you tried any new pattern companies lately?? I usually stick with the BIG4 but's it's been cool jumping over to the indie side a little.

Be back soon! :-)