And alas, we have a new sewing project up! With summer in full swing, I really wanted an easy sewing project that I could just throw on and head to the beach in. And in comes the Violet Midi: An easy, breezy lightweight midi skirt, perfect for summer.

For having lived in San Diego for 4+ years now, we definitely don't go to the beach enough. We pay a (slight) fortune to live here, and for some reason we seem to not take advantage of that beautiful Pacific Ocean that is only a 15 minute drive west.

Cue the reasons: There's too many people, parking sucks, it's too hot.. Blah blah blah. For reals though. I could probably count on one hand how many times I've been to the beach in the last year. (And that's including our beach excursions in New Zealand earlier this year.. Have you checked out that post yet? Literally, heaven.)

Anyways. My husband & I made it an actual goal to make more of an effort to enjoy this beautiful place we get to call home. And to go to the beach more this summer!

Right? Skirts & dresses are perfect for heading to the beach in. You just slip them on over your suit, and you're good to go!

My go to for an easy breezy slip on is the Dany Sheath, another easy sewing project that we did a few months back. (Still my fav dress right now!)

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)

But when I was deciding on what to do for this month's project, I wanted to mix things up. I hadn't made a skirt in a long time.. The last one I did was the Emma Skirt from last Fall. (Also a favorite easy sewing project! And a true beauty.)

And while I love the Emma, the lining and knife pleats definitely give it some weight. Which is good for some occasions.. But not for beachy, summer weather.

So. For this month's sewing project, I decided to go with a fun, lightweight midi skirt. (Complete with slit, obvi.) But first.. You may be asking: WTF is a midi?

Midi pieces typically fall below the knee, but not quite to the ankle, which would be considered a maxi. I guess it's sort of a play on mid-length? Not exactly sure how the term came out, but midi just sounds better, so we are going to go with it.

The Violet Midi is essentially just a shirred skirt, with a waistband. I'm not entirely sure why I sewed that cute little tie into the waistband, I'm typically not a bow type of gal.

But I felt like it just FIT with this skirt. Entirely non-functional, since the skirt closes with an invisible side zipper. But I feel like it definitely needed that little detail to make the skirt complete. And I love it!

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)

The slit on the left side of the skirt goes up fairly high--I wanted to show off that leg! I've never really been into slits before, but I recently purchased a dress in Paris that has a pretty intense slit.. And I am into it.

Sewing up a shirred (or gathered, if you prefer) skirt is pretty much the most basic, easy sewing project out there.

I remember at FIDM, learning how to sew up a shirred skirt block was one of our very first sewing projects. I think I definitely could have gathered the skirt a bit more to make it slightly fuller..

The bow was already pushing my comfort zone, and I didn't want to end up with a giant, circus tent of a skirt.

As I mentioned above, the skirt closes with an invisible side zipper. (Not sure how to sew an invisible zipper? Don't you worry. It was our very first sewing tutorial here on The Flora Modiste, with the Teri Dress. Check out the full post and grab your tutorial!)

There are two layers of lining with the Violet Midi. The striped fabric was a bit more sheer than I expected.. So I needed that extra layer of lining to ensure that the skirt wasn't entirely see through. Because the fabrics were so sheer, I closed all of the seams using French seams.

I LOVE love love French seams. I don't know why I don't use them more.. They give off a much cleaner finish and just look so much more professional than a serger finished seam.

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)

Closing off the raw edges using French seams was probably the most complicated part of this easy sewing project.. And sewing French seams really isn't that complicated.

Yes, it takes a bit more time than just closing off the edges with a serger.. But IMHO it's 100% worth it. Especially when working with lightweight, sheer fabrics in which you can see the finished seams from the outside.

(BTW.. We will be covering how to sew French seams with this month's sewing tutorial. Stay tuned for a step-by-step tutorial next week, our easiest sewing tutorial yet, pulled from an easy sewing project.)

I typically prefer to hand stitch my hems closed.. I think it just looks more professional.

Think: The waistband, closing off the slit, and finishing off the invisible zipper.

So I decided to just machine stitch the skirt hems closed as well, with a very small folded hem. It's easier, and I think it just gives the skirt a bit more of a consistent look.

And that's really pretty much it for sewing up the Violet Midi.. Again, an incredibly easy sewing project. Potentially a good option for when I start to develop sewing patterns for sale...? Maybe?! Would love to hear your guys' thoughts on that.

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)

As I mentioned above, the fabrics that I used for the Violet were very lightweight, sheer beauties. They were both pretty easy to sew with, but unraveled very easily and very quickly. Which just meant that I had to sew the project up quicker than it could unravel.

The striped fabric for the self of the Violet is a synthetic Organdy. The fabric is sheer, crisp, and has a dull surface. The stripes on the surface give the fabric some additional stiffness, as well as some shine. A perfect lightweight fabric for hot summer days!

And the lining fabric is a synthetic Organza. As with the Organdy, the Organza is sheer and crisp. But rather than having a dull surface, Organza has a luminous, shimmering surface. Slightly less stiff than the Organdy, but still stiff enough to provide shape and support. Perfect for layering!

Again, both fabrics were pretty simple to work with.. Perfect options if you're looking for lightweight fabrics and an easy sewing project!

If you follow our sewing projects here on The Flora Modiste, you will probably notice how I have been on a trend of naming projects after my favorite characters from books. Like: The Naoko Tank, which is named after a character from my favorite Murakami book, Norwegian Wood.

Or The Alice Knit, which I pulled straight from the book that inspired me to read when I was just a kid. (Alice in Wonderland, obvi.)

And this month, we are again pulling from a series of books that had a pretty major impact on me when I was younger: A Series of Unfortunate Events.

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)

I have a pretty terrible memory.. I can probably count maybe 10 solid memories from before I was 12 years old. And one of those memories is when my parents took me to a bookstore in this tiny ass Californian town called Bishop. It was one of the last trips we took before my parents split up, and I can remember this scene vividly.

We were there for an event called Mule Days (hick, I know) and I was so bored just sitting there watching the parade that my parents decided to take me into the bookstore to buy some books, hoping it would keep me occupied.

(Hint: It did, and still does to this day. I take books to baseball games, family gatherings, everywhere.)

And on display in the bookstore was this new series of books: A Series of Unfortunate Events. At this time, I believe that there were only 3 books out, and my parents bought all 3 for me. I'm pretty positive I read through the first book, The Bad Beginning, that same day while at the parade.

The books have since been recently made into a series on Netflix.

I LOVE it so much. It so perfectly captures the silly nature of the books, I could watch it all day long. But what drew me to the books when I was younger was the character of Violet Baudelaire.

Violet is the oldest of the 3 orphaned Baudelaire children, who are all gifted with unique abilities. Violet has a mind for inventions.. She can seriously make an invention out of anything. Klaus is a bookworm, and can quote anything on command. And Sunny, the sweet little baby Baudelaire, can chew through absolutely anything. (Which comes in handy, since they get captured by an evil villain, quite often.)

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)

But anyways: Violet. Violet inspired me when I was younger because she is smart, and has a mind that is typically reserved for male characters.

Of course, as a child, I didn't know how special this was. I just loved Violet because she could get herself and her siblings out of trouble, all by just using her own mind.

I still love the character of Violet Baudelaire, and the values that she instilled on my young brain. Without really knowing it, I was reading about a strong, intelligent female character, and she was inspiring me to become my own strong and intelligent woman.

I will forever be grateful to Lemony Snicket for this character, and I can only hope that more girls will read the story of Violet Baudelaire. And more authors will write strong female characters to continue to inspire strong generations of women.

Which is obvi also an idea that I want to support here on The Flora Modiste.. Supporting and encouraging intelligent women that love to sew, and love puzzling out how to make their own clothing.

But anyways. I love love how the Violet Midi turned out, and I can't wait to wear it to the beach, over my swimsuit. Truly an incredibly easy sewing project, and one that can be sewn up in an afternoon.

Would anyone be interested in sewing up this beauty, if I were to turn it into a sewing pattern for sale? Would love to hear your thoughts!

(Love working with sheer, lightweight fabrics? Then French seams should be your BFFL. A perfectly easy sewing project, grab your very own printable tutorial below and get started today!)