The Brumby Skirt
Meet the skirt that’s been a solid four months in the making. It was actually finished, even worn, last October before I decided to make a minor adjustment which relegated it to the alteration pile. In my world, the alteration pile can be a place where clothes go to die. Ok, exaggeration. More of a place where clothes go to get forgotten…for a really, really, REALLY long time. But – happy ending – this skirt made it out to the other side and I’m very glad it did.
The pattern is Megan Nielsen’s Brumby Skirt. It’s simple and lovely but how about those pockets!? Let’s all give them a round of applause because they’re actually the very thing that pocket dreams are made of. The waistband for this pattern is contoured and I’m pretty sure that somewhere along the sewing way, I mucked something up. You can see in this photo below that the top edge started to stretch out which made me think I might have cut it slightly off grain. In any case, after a few wears I decided that 1) it would definitely need to be replaced and 2) I didn’t love the wide waistband.
To (eventually) fix this, I removed the centre back zip and closed up the seam. I then cut a narrower waistband and added an extra third of fabric to the back waistband. In this, I encased a width of elastic and basically turned it into an easy slip on/off dress. Super comfy.
All up it took me just over an hour to fix which then resulted in me having an intense session with my alteration pile which then resulted in me feeling pretty virtuous. New skirt equals productive day equals happy Lisa.
The fabric is our Ring Around Jacquard linen in this gorgeous rust colour way. There’s a little bit of magic in this fabric because, depending on the light, the spots can appear obvious or super subtle.
In all these photos I’m wearing my Coni Tunic cropped as a top and made up in our Granite Crinkle linen.
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Hi Tessuti,
I was wondering if the skirt featured on your latest blog is going to be available as a pattern
Hi Roma. The pattern is available but it’s not one of ours. It’s from Megan Nielsen. Here’s the link – https://megannielsen.com/products/brumby-skirt-sewing-pattern
You should give a shout out to that gorgeous hound too!
Yeah, I probably should. He’s needy like that 😉
I much prefer this skirt with a smaller waistband too. And sometimes slip on things are so nice!
Hello this skirt is really lovely!! Did you add length to it? And which view did you make.
Hi Clare. I made version 2 eliminating centre front seam. Can’t recall if I added length (I made it a while ago now!) but pretty sure I didn’t, though it does have a wider hem.
I have been thinking of making another Brumby, and I really want an elastic back, so you have inspired me! The narrower waistband looks great. Love this. Thanks for bringing it to the forefront of my mind. And I’m with you on the mending pile.
Thank you so much for this post. I cut out this pattern yesterday (my copy is an older limited size version and I’m just off the size range) I enlarged the waistband but it didn’t feel right when I tried it against my waist. Plus an exposed zip won’t look good with my fabric – parrot print!) Now I have the perfect solution without the agony of the alterations. You made my day!
Could you please tell me how much fabric you used to make this Coni Tunic top.
Hi Sally. From memory, it was around 1.2m.
Hi there, love the Brumby skirt alteration as I prefer a narrow waist band and the flexibility of the elasticated back. My query is, did you cut a straight waistband or trim down the curved pattern band. Many thanks
Bernie
Hi Bernie. I cut a straight waistband for this modification
Thanks Lisa, was hoping you did!
Hi Lisa please can you share more about how you altered the waist line to add the elastic ?
Hi Jess. It was much like this tutorial here.