Ombre dyed Vogue 1247 skirt

I have been considering buying this pattern for some time now after seeing the reviews on Pattern Review. A lovely version of the top recently won second prize in the Best Pattern contest and it certainly looks like something I'd wear. However, what really swung it for me was seeing this gorgeous ombre dyed version of the skirt by Carolyn. I just had to copy - I hope you don't mind Carolyn ;)

I hot-footed it to Textile Traders to get the pattern only to find that they don't stock Vogue. Luckily I did find the lovely blue corduroy on sale in there, so I snapped up half a metre of that. I then whizzed over to Spotlight where I bought the last 1247 pattern. Phew!

I was very excited about making this, but half a metre was just a smidge too little fabric. I played around with the pattern pieces and eventually fitted them all on. I was hoping to add some length to the skirt, but that just wasn't possible. Then, with gung ho enthusiasm, I cut the top front piece on the selvedge edge instead of on the fold. Oh. No! I decided to carry on regardless, so now the skirt has that line at the front. I'm just pretending it's a zip or other intentional feature, don't tell anyone :)

Moving right along it was time for the dying. I used Rit dye in Navy Blue. I measured out two batches of dye and added the first one to my bucket. I dipped the skirt in approximately two thirds up from the bottom and left it in for a couple of minutes. I then removed the skirt and added the second batch of dye to the bucket. Using an elaborate arrangement of coathangers on my clothes airer, I allowed the skirt to rest in the bucket at three different depths for 5 minutes each. After each 5 minutes I changed the hanger arrangement to lift the skirt up a bit more for the next 5 minutes etc. The bottom few centimeters of skirt were left for a bit longer as I started to worry that the dye wouldn't show up. This seemed to work well on my thick fabric.

The skirt is a bit on the short side but, as long as I wear it with leggings, I really like it.