Saturday, April 18, 2015

Baby steps - in a skirt!!

I made a skirt!  

I was so excited and then once I finished it and tried it on I sort of deflated a little bit.  There may have been a teeny-tiny gap between my initial creative impulse, surge of accomplishment and then the donning of the final product.  

It’s a nice basic skirt.  McCalls M6654. (Pics below.)  Knee-length straight skirt, elastic waistband, no frills whatsoever.  I went off-road a little and top-stitched the side seams and the waistband, just for fun.  Even made it look mostly okay although there are some wobbles that won’t bear close inspection.

I bought the fabric and pattern together as a project kit on Craftsy and was excited about the color of the fabric - it reminded me of the deep blue-green of the waters off the south coast of Australia.  Or of blue spruce.  But once I got the skirt made up it sort of said more about a late-model Ford Taurus than a natural wonder.  It’s a tiny bit bigger than it needs to be - I’m still trying to figure out the whole sewing and then serging (or is it the other way around?) process and I ended up using ⅜” seam allowances on the sides rather than the full ⅝”.  Not a huge difference but enough that I notice it when I’m wearing the skirt.

But aside from these little things my eagle eyes cannot help but note, it’s still a pretty color and I’m thrilled to have made an actual honest-to-Pete skirt.  I’m really so excited to have finished a garment I will willingly and unselfconsciously wear in public - I wore it to work the day after I finished it!  Now that I have made one tiny step in the direction of success (and away from that last disastrous project), I am excited to try something else.  

My 2yo agreed to help me model the skirt.  He just likes getting his Rangers gear in photos.

This was my first, solo, wildly awkward attempt to document the skirt.  Nothing screams “success!” like upside down selfies of your own knees and toes.

If I make this pattern again I think I will try to add short little side slits at the hem, about three inches on each side. I had a knit skirt like that back in the nineties and loved it with all my heart. Really, the love I had for that skirt was a bit over the top.

(The same night I finished the skirt I also made a batch of blondies from an Alice Medrich recipe I hadn't tried before. Delicious. Although next time - definitely more bourbon.)


2 comments:

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    -Wanderlust Rach <3

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  2. Your blog is amazing!! :)) Your words flow so well! You are a great writer who obviously has a passion for what they are writing about! It shows in your work! I would appreciate it if you would check out my blog and let me know what you think in a comment on a post you like! I would love to have a talented writers input! Keep up the great work!!! :))

    PS- if you follow one of my blogs I will follow yours back! :)))
    -Wanderlust Rach <3

    ReplyDelete