Toil or Trouble

What is with my face whenever I have photos taken?  Anyway - yesterday I did nothing but putter and play in the studio and I had a great day indeed!  

I plugged my sewing machine for the first time since the retreat - the first weekend in October! 

I bought this cute Halloween print at a local quilt shop this past summer - it was on clearance and I think I paid about $10 for 3 yards.  How could I pass it up?  It hung out all summer - but really the window for wearing a skirt that says "bubble, bubble, toil & trouble" is pretty limited.  So, After cleaning up the studio and putting away the summer fabrics - I found the Carolyn skirt pattern and got to work.

I added 4" of length to the pattern pieces and it's just about perfect.  The entire skirt was sewn with black thread, and because it's a quirky I didn't put a lot of effort into finishing the inside.  I did fold the seams under and topstitch them to keep the fabric from fraying.

Here's a close up of the print? Isn't is cute? I can honestly say that most people I work with didn't notice it was Halloween themed.  You can also see in the close up - the seam topstitched with the black thread.  Which is really a seam finishing technique.

The one most thrilled with the skirt?  The neighbors 3 year old son.  While I was putting candy in his bowl, he was pointing out witches, cats and bats.  But he couldn't find any ghosts!

Still Plugging Away

I want more of a pencil skirt - not necessarily pegged at the hem, but something that falls straighter from the hips than the skirts I normally wear. I loved the Burda skirt that was making the rounds this fall - I've left all the information in the studio - but it has a cute button flap in the front. So - learning from Carolyn I am working a skirt pattern that fits through the waist and hips. This time - I laid my pattern pieces over the burda pieces and figured out where to take straighten. I put it together quickly with some leftover denim. It's quite straight and I like it. I will stay that it's about 4" too big at the back waist. I asked JB - if I was trying this skirt on in store - would you say buy it or put it back. He said "Yea." So - I'm asking you - gentle readers - what say you - buy it or put it back? Also where should I hem it? I think it might be just a tad too long. I did putz around the living room in for a bit, sitting, standing, walking - all were comfortable. The side seams actually hang straight and I think I finally got what I was hoping for - just not sure its a good look for me. Looking for honest advice here.

Second Skirt - Same as the First

Back in December, I showed you the first variation on Simplicity 5914. I love this skirt and have several versions. Until recently it's always fit me well - now it gaps at the back.

For this version - I laid the center front and the side front next to each other on the seam lines and traced the pieces as one. I did however - trace a front with the protruding abdomen alteration as well as a separate back with a sway back adjustment. I did not however, take big enough darts in the back.

I put an invisible zipper in the side seam and used facings.

The skirt was a bit boring and brown, so I added three rows of tucks around the hem. To do this - I pressed the (already hemmed) skirt up 5" all around and then used a foot with a side rudder and stitched 1/4" from the fold just made. Then I pressed up 4" from the bottom and finally 3". It's an interesting addition that rather reminds me of adding "growth" tucks into a garment for a child.

Last - see me new Danskos? I realize they aren't the most fashionable shoes to be wearing with a skirt - but my hip and knee have been bothering me again and I can wear these shoes all day without any pain. And they are a bit dressier than my red dansko clogs.

So - my sewing friends - what do you think? Was I able to make it work?

Carolyn Skirt - Variation on a Theme

The pattern for this skirt started life as Simplicity 5914. I have had this pattern for years and made it several times. Always right from the envelope. The first time I made it The Princess was still in high school, she's been out now for 5 years. Last week Bonnie posted a super cute skirt that she made. I loved it. Had to have one. And since reading your comments about jeans, I decided maybe the way to go was to make some casual skirts for work. (And I swear I wore hose, but they were shredded and I ditched them when I got to knitting.) Anyway. The fabric is a stretch twill with a huge amount of stretch. I cut the skirt on the lengthwise grain so the stretch went up and down rather than around. I quit literally made this skirt 4 times on Sunday. Just this one - there aren't 3 other versions. Sad, no? I started with the simplicity pattern, traced the pattern taking about 2" of flare out of the seams surrounding the front and back pieces. I now you can't see it, but this is a standard a-line, 6-gored skirt. 2 pieces, center front/back cut twice on fold and side piece cute 4 times. So I only took the flare out of the front/back and one side of the side panel. I put a lime green zipper in it and tried it on. Too much flare on side/side seams. Took it off, took about 4" off the bottom of the side seams. Tried it on again, not too bad. I used a lime green gross grain ribbon to face the zipper and sewed it to the bottom to give the hem some weight. Went outside to show JB - he thought the green was hideous! Went back in the house - took skirt off, threw it on the ironing board and went to cook dinner. Sunday I decided to try again. I stated by ripping. All the ribbon had to come off, the the zipper. Then I had to press everything, dig around for a different zipper and start over. Put in the brown separating zipper. Tried it on - still too much flare - seriously?! Took out just a smidge more flare at the bottom and took the seams in at the waist about an inch and a half. Good! Dug through my cottons stash and found a print with a brown background. Cut 5" strips that I seamed to make long enough. Faced the zipper and hem with the cotton print. I also cut the facings from the same print. Very happy with the skirt. Not so happy with how the photos look. Plus can I just say - I tried this one several times in the process, when I got dressed for work on Wednesday with my control top hose - it was too big. A good 2" extra at the back waste. Dang!!

Skirt #2

So, this is the second skirt that I made during the retreat. It's the same ol' same ol' Simplicity Skirt that I make all the time. This thing just fits and I like the gentle "A" line. The pattern is Simplicity 5914, which got dubbed as the Carolyn skirt many, many years ago. And that's how I still think about it. The fabric is a cotton with a slight stretch. It was purchased at Stitches in Seattle. This little piece of fabric was purchased to make a fun skirt for The Musical One - but she didn't love it. I however do and it was it's time. Start to finish - this skirt takes about an hour to sew. I made 3 versions of it at the Spring Retreat, the brown corduroy skirt is a variation on the theme and now this one.

I did however want to add heavy white top stitching down the seam lines - but I grabbed pearl cotton which is really for making heavy rolled hems with a serger. I couldn't get it to play nice with the sewing machine - even with a huge top stitching needle. So, it got stitched with the construction thread. The skirt was comfortable to wear and I just paired it with a white tee.

Of course the big dogs had to be in the photo shoot - that's Beau sitting and Lucy standing in the top photo. Beau got bored and left before the second photo and Lucy sat down.

Seriously, How Hard Is It?

So, the other day my co-worker was wearing the cutest skirt. Tons of sass and a great flippy hem. Well it was fabulous! I kept looking at her skirt, until she finally said, I'll bring it in tomorrow and you can figure it out. I said, I think I've got it. So, Friday I took the "Carolyn Skirt" and altered it. I cut the side panels in two, adding seam allowances and half a godet. I measured out 1.75" from the side seam and up 8" and connected the dots. I also added the same godet on the back piece, but not the front. It didn't take me long to put it together. But when I tried it on, too big! Seriously! What is wrong with me? I can pinch 2" out of the side seam, which really equals 4" too big. I've got 9 seams to take 4" out of because I'm not taking out the beautiful invisible zipper that I put in. I would like to have this done before I head off to retreat. UGH! Plans for retreat include flannel pajama pants, skirts, hopefully a knit dress or two.

Why I Hate Being a Homeowner

After grumbling a little bit on Saturday, I decided to sit down and finish the brown polka dot dress. It's Simplicity 3774. I'm lining the entire dress in muslin to help give the poly more body. I also added some creamy white piping to the sleeve edges, neckline and both of the bodice seams. All that's left to do is insert the zipper - which I moved to the left side seam and then hem it. Well - that's when all h*ll broke loose! There I was finally with a couple of hours to myself. I had done all my chores (menu planning, grocery shopping, updating checkbook, balance 5 months of statements and household filing - whew!). I had the dvd of Season One of Las Vegas playing on the tv and I was getting ready to put the zipper in when the power flickered. Everything went out! UGH. I had the sewing machine, serger, and iron all plugged in and on. The electricity in my home is rather sketchy anyway and while my machines are all plugged into serge protectors, I still worry about power surges getting them. So, I go upstairs to find out what's going on. Well it's seems JB was firing up his compressor to work on the raised beds in the front yard so I can grow food. The compressor fizzled and lights went out - although nothing in the fuse box was tripped. I called an electrician (yep, on a Sunday - we know people) who thinks half the fuses died. He'll be coming over this morning to fix it. Anyway - half of the stuff in my house doesn't work. Both the fridge and freezer do, the stove and dishwasher don't. I have no power upstairs - anywhere - so I'll be showing in the dark and bringing all my morning ritual to the main floor bathroom. UGH!! On a more positive note, I did finish the blue wrap skirt which was started at the Spring Retreat. It's a variation on Simplicity 5914. After making a couple of versions, I had decided that since this skirt fit me so well through the hips and waist, it might be a good candidate for a wrap version. I cut the back as directed on the pattern. For the front I cut 2 center front pieces and one each of the sides. I had meant to cut another right side front, but forgot, so only the center pieces overlap. I rounded the bottom corners and just did a serged and turned under hem. I did use interfaced waistband pieces for more structure, I added two little turned tubes for 'closing' the skirt - one is sewn into the side seam and the other is on the front edge. To make sure the skirt really stays closed I added a snap to the front under edge and a skirt hook to the front top edge. I really want to go all 80s and wear this with a body suit and a beautiful cardigan! But I won't - I don't think - no promises yet!