So, after I thought I had finally recovered from my last bout of sickness guess what nature decided to throw my way again? More sickness! I came down with some sort of severe cold/bronchial infection type deal and spent another week being miserable. I guess that's what I get for going to a wedding before my immune system had a chance to heal.
I'm finally feeling (and sounding!) like myself again, so I decided to get a few shots of the new skirt I made up over the weekend. I bought this border print fabric at JoAnn recently (I grabbed it before they even took it out of the shrink wrap!) and immediately knew I wanted it to be a full, gathered skirt. Since I was feeling crummy and tired of laying around I knew this simple project was just what I needed.
I didn't use a pattern. Since I had 1 yard of the fabric I knew I was limited, so this is what I did:
- Tore a strip 3" wide across the top and then cut it to my waist measurement plus seam allowance.
- Figured out how long I wanted it to be, measured down that length plus about 2" for the hem and tore straight across the grain (seriously, I barely even used my scissors!).
- Divided that piece in half widthwise, giving an extra inch for the back piece, and tore down that length for the front and back.
- Tore the back in half to leave a center back seam for the zipper
- Interfaced the waistband
- Sewed it all together!
Can you tell I'm addicted to tearing woven fabrics across the grainline? Best stress relief ever! And it's an easy way to make sure everything is on grain, especially since this skirt is made up entirely of rectangular pieces.
I also tried sewing a lapped zipper for the first time ever. I wasn't sure what the big deal was at first, but now I'm hooked. I just need to remember to make extra room for the lap next time. It was kind of a last minute decision so the gathering had already been done and wound up running into the zip, making it a little bit wonky at the top. On the other hand...it sort of blends in anyway, don't you think? I'll definitely keep that in mind next for next time. There will be more of these!
The uneven gathers bother me. I'm still experimenting with different methods of gathering and so far elastic wins (I used that one on my Darling Ranges cardigan). This one was done with 3 rows of machine basted stitches gathered by hand. I think I'm just not good at hand gathering, folks. What's your favorite method? Or does everyone pretty much do it the standard way?
So that was my me-made outfit for today. I only pledged 4 days per week this year (and now I'm thankful for that! I did a tally of my handmade garments and I still really don't have that many) so you will see that I've skipped days. Here's how my first week went:
Day 4 - Skip! Stayed at home all day and worked on my skirt.
Day 6 - Skip!
Today is the last day to get your entries in for the
Kollabora giveaway so upload away if you'd still like to enter! I'll be back tomorrow to announce the winner.
Labels: finished projects, me-made-may '13, skirt
