Butterick B5756
I’m making a skirt using this Butterick pattern (B5756), which I got a while ago. I like skirts with a yoke. I’m making version C (the green skirt pictured, at right, on the pattern illustration) but a couple inches longer because I like a mid-calf length. My fabric is a cotton voile, which I got at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco – on one of its rare sale days last year. I knew I wanted some Bemberg lining, which is breathable and anti-static. (To read more about why it makes such an excellent lining check out Bemberg-the King of Linings at Tailor on Ten.)
Earlier this week, I took a break from work and popped into Britex to choose a skirt lining color. (Lucky me – I can walk from my office to Britex in about 12 minutes.) I left my swatch at home but I had a photo of the fabric on my phone – granted the colors wouldn’t be exact but hey, it’s a lining color.
I told the salesperson that I was thinking of going with a light yellow to match the background color of my fashion fabric, this cotton voile, which has an Art Deco look to it. (If you look closely you can see a family there. The darker blue is the hair of the parents.)
But he told me that a lighter color would just wash out the colors. I asked him what color he would recommend and he said he’d go with the darkest color – the blue.
“Would that affect the the colors – like make the yellow look green?” I asked.
“No, I’ve done this before,” he said. “It won’t affect the color. Besides you don’t want a light color because it’ll get dirty.”
All excellent points, eh? I’ve only lined a few things: a wool jacket, some vests, and hats – and all those things were with medium-weight fabric, not a lightweight fabric like voile.
So then I thought, OK if I go with a darker color, then how about red? So he pulled out a couple reds, one was more orangey so we rejected that. Then he cut some swatches, which I then took home with me.
Here are the swatches, which Britex staples to a nice card.
And here’s what the fabric looks like with this white fabric behind it. It does seem a little washed out.
Here it is with blue against it:
And here it is with the red.
I’m leaning towards the red. Which color would you pick to line this skirt? Blue or red?
I’ll be a third vote for the red! I love the print of your fabric! =)
Thanks for your vote! Red is a happy color and I think it’ll go well. Wish I had time to work on it but I’m visiting family. I actually brought the cut skirt pieces with me but haven’t had a chance to sew. But it’s great to see everyone on the East Coast. 🙂
I would tend to vote for the red, too, judging by your photos. Can’t wait to see the finished skirt! The print is gorgeous!
Red is one of my fave colors so I’m going to go with red. Now that I’ve had a chance to ponder. I really liked the print as an abstract design but after I realized there was a “family” in there, I confess that I liked it less. So it’s been sitting in my stash for a while. I think it’ll make a fun skirt. 🙂
Yes, the red seems to make the colours most ‘true’. The blue darkens them up a bit and the white is not good at all. I vote red!
Red it is! It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out. I always thought of skirt lining as matching the main color of the fabric.