That Print Skirt

A friend took a few pictures of me wearing my new print skirt. If you're interested, you could compare the skirt on me to the skirt on a hanger. Because the fabric is so drapey, it doesn't look full at the hem (on me) like it does on the hanger. But it feels comfortable when I sit down, unlike a pencil skirt would (pencil skirt = leg hugger). Please let me know what you think about the length. The next skirt will be for fall.

Oh and I made the green shirt, from a Louise Cutting pattern (Perfect Blouse maybe?). I took it along for the weekend, even though it needed a good steaming or pressing, not having worn it in a couple of years. So it hangs kind of funny. I have my Laura Star (steam press) heating up right now.

Blessings and peace...

Yes I Did Finish My Skirt

Here's a hanger shot of my skirt, completed this afternoon. My photographer is at a Broadway show right now and I wanted to publish this post.

The skirt hem is uneven on the hanger. On me, though, it's straight all around. :)

Yesterday, my husband, telling me his plan for tomorrow (today), "Wait. Why should I *pay* to go to the Central Park Zoo? New York City *is* a zoo!" He's having so much fun. It will be great to have him back home tomorrow.
 
Blessings and peace...

Sewing Is So Mathy and Mystery Solved

On June 30, I wrote:
Next up will be a 5- or 7-gored skirt. I tried to make one with inseam pockets, but it was not wearable because I didn't allow for the pulling (the pockets open) that would occur. That pulling emphasizes my tummy. Oh, no! I don't know quite how to overcome that, so this next skirt will be with or without pockets.

I increased the width of the panels of 7-gore skirt that I'm working on now by 1/4" per side = 1/2" per panel—because of my previous skirt attempt described above. That would result in a skirt that fits and has a bit of ease.

Before stitching the seams of this skirt, I referred to my notes and stitched 3/8" seams on 5 of the 7 seams, leaving 2 seams unsewn to allow for making inseam pockets before stitching those last 2 seams. So far, so good.

In preparation for the pockets, I read the pocket notes I could find, did a bit of online searching, created a pocket pattern piece, and was ready to sew the pockets. "Wow," I thought, "this is going great!"

Only because I'm very thorough, I decided to look at the too-small skirt, just to confirm my plan for the pockets. Well, how-dee-do. I stitched the seams of the too-small skirt with 1/2" seams INSTEAD OF THE 3/8" SEAMS called for in the pattern instructions.

Mystery solved. So that's why the skirt was too small. Think that 1/8 of an inch (the difference between the instructions and what I did) doesn't matter? Read on...

1/8" x 14 (the number of panel sides, 7 panels x 2 sides per panel) = 1.75".

So I sewed the skirt almost 2" narrower than I should have. There went the wearing ease.

For my current skirt, I had added 1/4" to each panel side:
1/4" x 14 (the number of panel sides, 7 panels x 2 sides per panel) = 3.5". This would give me plenty of ease. Actually a bit more than I needed, but I decided that I didn't want to fiddle with adding less than 1/4" per side (too much work).

So, when you correct the seam allowance error (1.75") + the newest skirt allowance (3.5"), the total is now 5.25". Of wearing ease. Too much. Which I confirmed by pinning the remaining seams and trying it on.

So now... my plan is to stitch these seams 7/8", which will reduce the overall width by 2". (I will then add the pockets, then trim the seam allowance.) In other words, the newest skirt will have 3.25" wearing ease. Which is very close to the wearing ease of the previous skirt—if I had sewn 3/8" seams instead of the 1/2" seams that I sewed. These 4 panels will be a bit narrower than the other 5, but I am currently striving for something that is wearable.

Anyway, see what I mean about failure?

On June 29, I wrote (near the end of the post):
Failure means I'm learning. Growing. Improving. Alive. Doing something. Living a life.

Lesson learned: Double, maybe triple check the instructions and previous versions of the same project.

I'll leave perfection for others. What's that saying? "Perfection is the enemy of the good." "Perfection is the enemy of done." "Perfection is the enemy of completing a garment sewing project that is wearable." <- My adaptation, which I just might have to print and frame in my sewing room!

Ha ha. Posting about my failures (instead of only the successes) is certainly giving me more to talk about!

Blessings and peace...

Seven-Gore Flared Skirt Progress

I've been working a bit here and there on a seven-gore flared skirt. It's a pattern I've used several times, changing the number of gores, how flared it is at the bottom, and the length. Here's the front three panels, stitched and topstitched.

I am intentionally not matching prints.

Next I'll work on the pockets. My brain has a hard time with these, especially when I'm not following a pattern. That means I'm done sewing for tonight.

Did someone say pattern weights? Here's my largest pattern weight:

On another topic. We went to a Brad Paisley concert the other evening, and as usual, I worked myself into a state of anxiety before we even got there.

I get lost so easily; I'm definitely not the person to be responsible for getting us anywhere. Oh, and I always think for a moment, when looking at a map or even in conversation that EAST is on the LEFT and WEST is on the RIGHT. I actually have to correct myself every time. (Can you even imagine how many times in my life I've done this?)

I've always attributed this (ahem) "endearing quality" to my being left-handed—in a right-handed world.

Anyway, I always feel anxious when we go someplace new or that I haven't been to in a while or when we're taking a different route. Add going into a huge parking lot, knowing that it will be dark when it's time to leave. How *ever* will we find our car??? My husband, who drove, doesn't worry about this one single bit. I don't understand!

Sometimes I wonder whether it's because we moved a lot when I was a kid. Or because I don't know where I lived for my first four years. Maybe we're born with an internal GPS and I lost mine somewhere along the way.

I've tried a lot of strategies to lessen my "getting lost" anxiety, but I haven't found one that works for me. I tell myself, "Look, you've gotten this far. Sure, you've gotten *temporarily* lost; who hasn't. You'll be fine. Get a grip!"

We're going to another concert tomorrow evening, but thankfully, it's close by and at a location I know very well. And the parking lot—well, you just have to remember whether you've parked on the grass or the road.

Blessings and peace..

Kwik Sew 3789 Skirt

Here are my two completed skirts from this Kwik Sew 3789 pattern:

Oh, and that cowl? Blogged about here

The features that I liked about this skirt pattern are:

• Seams that were sewn overlapped
• Curves everywhere
• A flounce
• Elastic waist

I had already made five skirts this summer (before I started this blog). The finished skirt length of this pattern is 34 in., but I've shortened skirt patterns before, so this would be pretty easy, right? Not so fast, Nellie!  Let's look at the pattern envelope, pattern pieces, and fabric layout.

It's the skirt on the right
with overlapped seams

Look at all those curves! Every piece is curved, and each curve is slightly different from every other curve. The very feature that appealed most to me turned out to be the feature that added a lot of effort to make this work (H/T to Tim Gunn, "Make it work!").

I saw that the "easiest" thing for me to do—and still retain the style of the skirt—would be to remove length in three areas: the top of pieces 1, 3, and 5; the bottom of pieces 2, 4, and 6; and the bottom of piece 7 (the flounce). I tried every which way to alter the pattern pieces before cutting out the fabric, but my mind just couldn't do it.

So I cut out the pattern pieces as shown and sewed pieces 1 to 2, 3 to 4, and 5 to 6. I then sewed pieces 1/2 to 3/4, and 1/2/3/4 to 5/6. I then cut 2 in. from the top of 1/3/5 and 2 in. from the bottom of 2/4/6. Next, I sewed 1/2/3/4/5/6 to 1/2, in other words, join all of these pieces vertically (sort of, remember, everything is curved and at an angle).

I was easily able to cut 2 in. from the bottom of pattern piece 7, the flounce. I then had to adjust the circumference of the top of the flounce to match the new circumference of pieces 1 through 6. I made the same adjustment to piece 8, which is the narrow band of fabric that covers the seam that joins the flounce to pieces 2/4/6. Other than that, it was easy—LOL.

In my second skirt (after making all of those changes, I just had to use the pattern again!), I wanted to add a pocket. At first I thought I could add an in-seam pocket here:

But the angle of that seam was the opposite of what would be comfortable. Maybe a patch pocket as drawn here:

Well, that didn't take into account that 2 in. was removed from the top. There was no way to add a patch pocket that didn't cross over a seam line or would be placed in a spot that would look goofy. So, no pocket.

So, my final thought about this pattern: It is a well-drafted pattern that is just perfect for someone who likes her skirts 34 in long. Or who really enjoys altering patterns.

Blessings and peace...