I've had a denim Tilly and the Buttons Arielle skirt in my head for over two years now, since I made my original, well-loved grey Arielle skirt.
I'm not sure why I didn't make one sooner. I guess perhaps since I stopped working in an office setting regularly, so pencil/straight skirts are not what I reach for when working at home. But I think a denim skirt bridges the work/home apparel divide.
I was able to cut this Arielle out of stretch denim scraps from jeans. The outer fabric is left over from my original Ginger jeans. I think I had purchased extra in case I screwed up (which I did), but the extra wasn't enough for a pair of pants. Nor could I get the entire Arielle skirt out of it because of the shape of the pieces. So I ended up cutting the facings from other denim scraps, from a yet-to-be-blogged pair of jeans. Those long skinny pieces left over from cutting out pants actually worked well here! The two denims don't match, but they're close and you can't really see the facings, so it's ok.
I used silver jeans buttons for my skirt for some shiny contrast. As I showed in Instagram, I used kitchen implements (a cast iron pan and meat tenderizer) to install them. For some reason, this is what works best for me!
I really love the Arielle skirt... the darts and high fitted waist (with no waistband, just a facing) act like a (comfortable) corset, smoothing over lumps and bumps. I do kinda wish it was slightly more pegged at the hem, but that's my only complaint.
I'm going for the sassy librarian look here, pairing my Arielle with my Cashmerette Harrison shirt. But the denim skirt also looks cute with a t-shirt and I think it'll look awesome with sweaters, too. I often wore my grey version with my Seamwork Astoria when I was working in the office.
I could see making a mini version of the Arielle out of some black denim scraps I have left over from my Beth pants. I would never wear a mini here in Bangkok where bare legs are de rigueur (well, a necessity), but perhaps in cooler weather with tights I would be ok with showing off some more leg.
Have you made Arielle? What's your favorite pencil or straight skirt pattern?
