It’s been my goal to work through my stash as much as possible, instead of buying new fabrics to only have then sit and wait to be made into wearable garments. These skirts for DD3 have put two lengths of denim into her closet for wear, and gotten them out of the dreaded stash! Yay! DD3 doesn’t really wear a lot of skirts, but I think she’s probably finished growing, so making up these two made some sort of sense. I have purchased various sorts of denim in a variety of blue shades for DD3 over the years because she prefers custom jeans to RTW. She is short-waisted, but her waist-hip length is 5cm longer than the usual 23cm RTW typically is drafted to accommodate, so every pair of trousers or jeans or shorts or leggings rides low, which she dislikes.
However, skirts never seem to present a fitting problem. Hopefully she will wear these as a casual alternative to shorts next summer season. She wanted a plain ‘jean’ style skirt, and so I pulled Burda 8680 out of my pattern stash.
The first version is the View A from a black stretchy denim from EOS. I initially used this denim to make a pair of capris for DD3, but didn’t cut them in a single layer, and the grain of the right front was off and caused a lot of twisty annoyance during wear, so they were thrifted. I suppose I could have made them into a skirt back then, in perfectly 20/20 hindsight as I type this, but I didn’t. Someone else is wearing them; hopefully, happily.
It’s a rather plain, utilitarian pattern. I added the belt loops and didn’t bother to add back pockets for her phone.
She was nonplussed about the omission, as the front pockets on this pattern are plenty deep. I finished the interior with gingham scraps leftover from a Dorothy costume I made for her three years ago.
But I did add the pockets on the second shorter version in blue denim.
And, for a lark, because I felt like hammering studs, I added studs for all the pockets. It was a very simple make, and the fit is really good on this pattern.
mid-thigh length (inseam is about 4 inches hemmed). DD3 is quite conservative in her choice of style, and doesn’t like short shorts. I chose this pattern because of the 5-pocket jean styling, and because it’s drafted for non-stretch fabrics. Both my fabrics are stretch denim, but I wanted the extra wearability factor, which (I hope) will mean they will still fit her next year. She’s only 11 years old, but she’s as tall as I am and wearing the same size as DD1, who turns 16 this month. She’s going to be a taaaaaall girl. (I’m jealous in a proud sort of way.)
I originally cut the bodices for both girls a full size 152 because they are very close in size. Sewing for DD2 is a bit of a challenge because she’s very petite and it’s difficult to get the right proportions in a garment for her. The size 152 fit her perfectly, although I could have made a 1/2 short waist adjustment. But otherwise this dress is perfect. The skirt is 27 inches long, not the 36 inches Burda wanted for the full-length look. I wanted a wearable dress, not a special occasion dress. 
For DD3’s version, I cut the neckline on the straight grain, and boy, did it gape. She sat beside me during the wedding ceremony, and I took one glance sideways and wished I’d tacked the CF. As it was, I had to re-cut the bodice after the first fitting because the seersucker didn’t look so great with the neckline cut on the bias, and the bodice was HUGE on DD3. I’ve slip-stitched the overlap in place for these photos. I should have done a petite adjustment on her dress, although I did cut it down to a size 140 for the final version, but I didn’t, and it’s not horribly noticeable except when she wears the dark satin ribbon in these pics. For the party I’d made a light blue duppion sash similar to DD2’s that was a lovely compliment to the pale yellow. This is my first Burda Style kids pattern, and I’m really impressed with how the patterns fit through the shoulders.
The only other fussy little thing I did was add sash holders to keep them in place. I used self-fabric for the Swiss cotton and narrow satin ribbon for the yellow. 
Well, this dress is a good example of how I mix and match patterns to get what I’m wanting. Do you do this pattern slash, burn and mix & match thingy, too?
Mezzo Couture 