A Beautiful Piece of Art Just for Me
It was a frustrating sewing day - I broke another machine. In the last month I have broke 3 machines. My beloved Babylock Evolve is now in the shop - I did not know that I had stripped the screw that holds one of the needles until I tried to change it and could not get the needle out. It got worse from there but I won't relive it.
In my last post I made a skirt for a young lady that I am teaching to sew. I was a pattern tester for the Flora Skirt by Daniela of On The Cutting Floor. Initially I did not make the skirt for me because I didn't think I liked it for me but after making it for her I knew I had to have one for me.
I won't go into as much detail as normal because I have already reviewed this once here. I will hi-lite the differences in this one.
As before I had to remove 7" from the length of the skirt so I altered both the main skirt and the bottom pieces of the skirt. I also needed to remove about an 1 1/4" from the waist (which I forgot to do).
I had some 2.5" wide strips of denim that I had cut for a different project but later changed my mind. These strips had been sitting for several years so I decided to use them for this skirt. I stitched the pieces back together using a 1/4" seam allowance.
This was harder than I actually thought because of the grain and matching seams which I failed at both.
After cutting the pieces for the bottom of the skirt I realized the seams were not going to match. Before cutting I remembered that I would have to take that into consideration when cutting out the front pieces. Somewhere along the way I got distracted and forgot and did not have enough fabric to recut.
I was thinking about couching one of the pieces (the darker denim) with yarn but now it was no longer optional. I had to try and distract eyes from the fact that the seams did not match. Also the darker denim was so dark that I needed the yarn to lighten it up and help it to blend better with the other denim pieces.
Couching with this yarn was a bit difficult because the foot I had had a much bigger hole than the yarn so I had to go really really really slow. I also had to go back over some sections when I noticed the thread was not catching the yarn. When doing this I noticed it made a "knot" and I liked it so I started purposefully making the "knots".
I did the waistband like this on the other skirt but forgot to show it in the previous post. I did not turn under the seam allowance of the facing on the inside. Instead I serged the edges and stitched in the ditch on the right side of the fabric. Doing it this way ensures I am catching the facing on the wrong side.
What I did do different with this waist band was use a lighter piece of denim for the waistband facing interfaced with a light piece of interfacing. My denim was really heavy and I thought it would add too much bulk to the waistband area.
As before I used Sulky's 30 wt Cotton Blendables thread for my top stitching. I also serged the hem area with a decorative thread and cut off the seam allowance rather that turning under the seam allowance but this time I used Madeira's Decor thread.
I chose to leave off the pocket and the belt straps. I did not need the extra bulk of the straps adding to my waistline and the pocket drawing attention to my hip area.
I need to make one more adjustment to this skirt. In my excitement to get it finished somehow I forgot to take in the waist about 1 1/4".
The pictures below aren't that great but I believe they are good enough to show most of the detail.
In my last post I made a skirt for a young lady that I am teaching to sew. I was a pattern tester for the Flora Skirt by Daniela of On The Cutting Floor. Initially I did not make the skirt for me because I didn't think I liked it for me but after making it for her I knew I had to have one for me.
I won't go into as much detail as normal because I have already reviewed this once here. I will hi-lite the differences in this one.
How I did It
Lately I have been in a denim sort of mood because I have been using denim almost exclusively. The denim I used for the main piece of the skirt is 11 or 12 ounces which is pretty heavy and in addition to the denim I used for the bottom pieces made the skirt a little more stiffer than I prefer. I am thinking after I wash it will soften even more. In any case I still love it.As before I had to remove 7" from the length of the skirt so I altered both the main skirt and the bottom pieces of the skirt. I also needed to remove about an 1 1/4" from the waist (which I forgot to do).
 |
| Altered Pattern Pieces |
 |
| Before Couching with Yarn |
This was harder than I actually thought because of the grain and matching seams which I failed at both.
After cutting the pieces for the bottom of the skirt I realized the seams were not going to match. Before cutting I remembered that I would have to take that into consideration when cutting out the front pieces. Somewhere along the way I got distracted and forgot and did not have enough fabric to recut.
I was thinking about couching one of the pieces (the darker denim) with yarn but now it was no longer optional. I had to try and distract eyes from the fact that the seams did not match. Also the darker denim was so dark that I needed the yarn to lighten it up and help it to blend better with the other denim pieces.
 |
| After Couching with Yarn |
Couching with this yarn was a bit difficult because the foot I had had a much bigger hole than the yarn so I had to go really really really slow. I also had to go back over some sections when I noticed the thread was not catching the yarn. When doing this I noticed it made a "knot" and I liked it so I started purposefully making the "knots".
I did the waistband like this on the other skirt but forgot to show it in the previous post. I did not turn under the seam allowance of the facing on the inside. Instead I serged the edges and stitched in the ditch on the right side of the fabric. Doing it this way ensures I am catching the facing on the wrong side.
What I did do different with this waist band was use a lighter piece of denim for the waistband facing interfaced with a light piece of interfacing. My denim was really heavy and I thought it would add too much bulk to the waistband area.
As before I used Sulky's 30 wt Cotton Blendables thread for my top stitching. I also serged the hem area with a decorative thread and cut off the seam allowance rather that turning under the seam allowance but this time I used Madeira's Decor thread.
I chose to leave off the pocket and the belt straps. I did not need the extra bulk of the straps adding to my waistline and the pocket drawing attention to my hip area.
Conclusion
I absolutely love this skirt pattern. It allows you to do so many things with it. I love making it with denim because it gives it more structure and I need it because I am "hippy". Maybe one day I will try a different fabric when I make this skirt again but for right now I am stuck on denim.I need to make one more adjustment to this skirt. In my excitement to get it finished somehow I forgot to take in the waist about 1 1/4".
The pictures below aren't that great but I believe they are good enough to show most of the detail.
Lovely skirt! Interesting what one can do with this pattern!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. I do love this pattern because your only limitation is your mind and what you can think of.
ReplyDelete