Beignet Revealed



What was I doing?



Long ago I started working on the Beignet Skirt with a little help from my neighbor A. We got the fit fine tuned, and I cut it out of this really old denim that has a tiny floral print. (I’m pretty sure this denim has been around since TMO and the Princess were little.) Yea - it's too cutesy to wear all the time, but I wanted to try it out. The only change I made to A’s alterations was to add 2" to the length, because otherwise it wasn't really long enough for me.



So Friday I pulled it on with a sweater and my boots. It amazes me that I've been sewing for so long and yet - I still don't know what size I am. Apparently yoga will change your body, even though I haven't been doing it for long and I'm not very consistent at this point.



Back Pulled in.



Anyway - even with help, this skirt is too big. One thing that has finally been beaten into my hard head is that I look better if my clothes fit! Now I'm not talking skin tight - but 2" of ease at my waist is not a good look for me. I find that I push my stomach out when I'm standing in an effort to help keep my skirts up. Not sure why - they aren't going to slip past my hips any time soon! But - still.

In the second photo - the one on the right - I have pulled all the extra to the back of the skirt and it looks so much better! I have a lovely piece of brown brushed cotton and 12 perfect buttons - so I'll make it one more time. I love the shape, the buttons didn't gape, it was comfortable. I'll take 2" out of the front only including the sides seams - because the back fits perfectly!

However - this version - is now going in the good will pile. I won't even take the 12 buttons off it first!

Hit or Miss?

Ever since Angie posted all the photos from the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2010 Line.  I have loved this skirt.  I needed to have one of my own.  I had a pink tweed from long ago and thought it would work.  I threw it in the washer and dryer, then I underlined it with some lavender batiste.  I added 6 inches to the length.  I lined the skirt with a green lining and added the fringe selvedge edge to the lining - but it's short enough that I'm the only one who knows it's there. 

I started with the same ol' same ol' Kwik Sew skirt that I have made at least a million times.  It works.  It's fairly full and fits my hips well.  I always feel fun, flirty and feminine when I wear skirts made from this pattern.
I finished the skirt last weekend and when I showed JB his comment was it looked like somebody's curtains.  I wore it to work on Wednesday.  I wore a cream turtleneck and for most of the day I had a light green cardi on too - but then I got hot.  The other reason for making it longer - was so that hopefully it would work with my really cute heeled wingtips.

 

So - honestly - is it a hit or a miss?  Honestly.  You won't hurt my feelings.  Truthfully - the skirt is heavy and I felt 'dumpy' and 'frumpy' all day.  JB said it was cute when I was dressed for work, but later he asked what the knitting gals had to say - they said shorten it - about 3".  So I'll try that.  

Again - I'm asking for honest opinions here - work or no?  and if not - why not?  Thankee.  

Feeling Sassy

So this summer during one of my pity party fabric shopping trips - I came away with the this pretty purple and lime green floral pique.  I made another version of the Carolyn Skirt.  I love this skirt and while not a straight skirt it always fits me well. 

I also had my new boots - because while the calendar says Fall - the weather in my neck of the woods has not said Fall. 

 I felt very sassy in this outfit. 

Everybody's Doing It.

Well maybe not everybody - but certainly lots of people. Angie even had a tutorial. It wasn't nearly as horrible as it sounded. First I wound 2 bobbins with white elastic thread. Then, I stitched row after row of straight stitches. Separated only by between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch. It's not exact and it's not always straight. Fabric came from Marjie last summer. She had it - didn't love it. I already used half of it to make a skirt for me that needs hemming. So I used the rest to make a skirt/dress/swimsuit cover up for the Princess. It looks tiny - but it fit over my hips so it'll fit you fine ;)

Fun and Flirty

Last Saturday after my monthly ASG meeting, I had errands to run. One of those errands was going to get more vacuum cleaner bags. I managed to pick up a few new sewing notions while I was there. Also, the vacuum store is right next to Pacific Fabrics. I went in looking for some skull quilting cotton to make a long overdue project bag - instead I bought this lovely red and white floral quilting cotton.

I immediately put it in the washer when I got home and hung it on the clothesline. This is the softest cotton.

Sunday afternoon found me down in the studio. After finishing the orange skirt - except for the hem - I decided to make a quick version of KS3337 (seriously - buy this pattern - although in the first photo I look a bit like a huge triangle).

After putting the skirt together, I decided that maybe it was a bit thin and needed a lining. So off to the cupboard I went. I found a nice piece of white poly lining - most likely from JoAnns and cut out a lining. I sewed the invisible zipper between the fashion fabric and the lining. Then I decided to cut a strip of the fashion fabric and used it to hem the lining. I put the strip right side to wrong side of the lining and sewed a 1/4" seam, flipped it to the right side of the lining and then top stitched it down. Then I went back and added some tiny cotton "tatting" trim. The lining is about 2" shorter than the skirt so this little design element is just for me. But - it so dang cute I had to show just about everyone today!

Mexican Tablecloth Skirt

This is the Mexican Tablecloth Skirt. There's not a lot left to say about it. I wanted the lining to just barely peak out of the bottom, but I think it's a bit too much and I might need to take a tuck in it. Hard to tell.

This is a bit shorter than I usually make my TNT (although really I think you have to make variations that aren't just different fabric) KS 3337 skirt because the fabric shrunk when I washed it. Bu it's not indecently short and it was comfortable to wear all day.

The guy who works at the coffee shop in my building came out and said I looked absolutely adorable today - so JB must be wrong about it looking like a tablecloth. More sewing to come.

Here Doggy Doggy

I finally wore it!

This morning I was slightly uncomfortable.

This skirt is straighter and shorter than most skirts I wear.

The blouse was tucked in - all day.

And I didn't have a cardi to throw over it and help cover up.

But - climbing the 310 stairs every day is helping to flatten my tummy. Here's the back view. It looks wonky after being worn all day. I could still take the side in a bit more - but I don't want to. It's okay - I'll attempt to make more of this style. I did get several compliments. It was worth all the trouble to get it done.

Final Decisions

So the title harks back to this post from last year. Yes, last year. Remember at first I thought the border print (while very cute and fun) was entirely too childish for a woman of my age? Yea - well I did it anyway. The pattern is Butterick 5333 - which may now be OOP (out of print). I had made the muslin before Spring Retreat 2009 and had help fitting the bodice and and through the hips. Apparently - all the walking, stair climbing and calorie counting is doing some good. I'm not sure you can tell but the bodice is too big - I can pinch out a good inch under each armhole and through the waist. However - as you can see from the back - it might still need a smidgen more room to lay nicely over my rump. And yes - it did in fact take an entire year to hem it and hand stitch the lining down. I have no idea why. I think I was pretty disillusioned with it after finishing and truthfully - I stuck it in the cupboard (the fabric cupboard not even a "magic closet") and lost it for a bit. Once it was found it started screaming to be finished. Mother's day at the horse races was the perfect excuse to wear it. I would love find some green sandals to wear with it and possibly a cardigan that pulls the colors. There is a very pretty clear purpley blue in the flowers. We'll see. It's comfortable and looks better than ready-to-wear. But it's not perfect.

Houndstooth Done!!

Yea, I know - and you're just going to have to wait.

It wants a nice, crisp white button down to wear (tucked in no less) and a pretty cardi. I'm going shopping this afternoon.

Look! She still makes clothes!

Many of you know already that we are headed to Mexico for a lovely vacation in March - the very beginning of March - actually! Well - I ordered a new brown swimsuit and my "uniform" of choice when we are beach vacationing is a swimsuit, skirt and sandals. As I learned on our cruise a few years back - I needed to either get a solid suit or make more solid skirts. Well - I went with both! This was a down and dirty skirt that I quite literally whipped out in a couple of hours last Sunday. I should have been working on my Ravelympics knitting - but let's just say I'm a quitter! This is Kwik Sew 3337 which I have used at least a million times! Seriously. Each one looks different I constructed the entire skirt - with the exception of the zipper completely on the serger. I even got totally lazy and just serged the hem. I put some fake "wooly nylon" in the loopers and just serged it with a short stitch length. It's cute and will be fun with a tank top of just about any color as well as a solid suit!