someone explain to me how this baby started kindergarten three days ago?

while i ponder the all too quick passage of time we're gonna finish off back to school week by talking about the skirts i made nora and etta for the first day of school.

since this was etta's first year I let her call the shots. bucking tradition (she's a firecracker my bo betta) she requested a skirt as opposed to a dress. naturally i saw this as an opportunity to try a pattern i've had for a while, but haven't yet sewn: the hopscotch skirt by oliver + s.

as always the chairman was super helpful when it came to tracing and cutting:

could he be any more adorable? no he could not.

keeping with the "use what you already have theme" i went through my stash and decided on a navy lawn i had picked up a while back from stonemountain & daughter.

the verdict: i love this pattern. it's so practical for kids (elastic back waist!) but still has grown up details (placket, buttons, those take out container pockets) that i want on my attire.

speaking of those pockets, after reading gail's hopscotch post i was nervous about getting those pockets crisp and neat, especially with such a lightweight fabric. i even considered interfacing them to give the fabric some much needed structure. but it turned out just fine (let's go ahead and chalk that up to years of sewing experience with lisel's patterns). i agree with gail that transferring the dots precisely is key. i'll also add that you shouldn't be afraid to iron it out and start again.

this back waist band of this skirt comes together the same way as the everyday skirt by lisel + co, which i really liked. also i appreciated the way the placket comes together, as it sets you up to do the final the top stitching in one go.

speaking of top stitching: make a good thread choice for this skirt because it shows. also make sure you use the same thread for the top and bobbin. i know that second thing sounds obvious, but lots of times if i already have a bobbin wound in a close enough thread color i will just use that. this is not one of those times when that is okay.

something that surprised me with this skirt: you hem then add the placket. this threw me because i'm used to hemming being the final step, preferably done while drinking a coffee stout and watching game of thrones.

i was boring and decided white buttons would be the best choice so the skirt could go with more things. but to be just a little independent and funky i used these pretty eco-friendly mother of pearl buttons from etsy.

i got 1.75 of the matching hopscotch tops done before i realized i needed to get these things in the mail, but this is what the finished outfit will look like as soon as i mail the shirts up: