Bonnie's Plaid Skirt

I had some left over pink and purple wool plaid from this skirt so I made Bonnie a skirt. 

I actually started Bonnie's skirt last winter.  It was too big for her last year, so I put it in my alterations pile and promptly forgot about it. I pulled it out and low and behold it fits! 

All I had to finish was the hem.

I used Butterick 4593.

I used an invisible zipper.

Here is a shot of the back of the skirt. 

I used some lining I had in the stash. 

  I used hem lace for hem. 

 

Sewing a dry clean only skirt for an eight year old girl probably isn't the best idea.  We had a long talk about how this skirt can't go in the wash.  I think you can tell Bonnie enjoys the life of a model.



I Made Pants!

At least I can say I finished one of my resolutions for 2012.  I made the above pair of pants from a pattern I made from a pair of ready-to-wear I own.  I made the pants from evil, evil wool gabardine.  Yes, it looks innocent enough, but if you get it slightly off grain, it looks like crap.  The pants are pretty successful.  They certainly fit.  You can see the pocket lining in this picture.  It didn't look that obvious when I looked in the mirror.   

The fabric is from one of my stash inheritances.  This was a 100% stash project.  I like to think of it as free, though I must have bought the lining, thread, and seam tape at some time. The buttons were from a jar of buttons my cousin gave me. 

 Here is a close-up of the pocket.  I stabilized it with twill tape.

 I tried to sew button holes, but couldn't get them to look right, so I gave up and sewed the hook and eyes.  The buttons aren't functional. 

 I hand-stitched the lining to the fly.  I never can remember how to construct pants flys.  I had to go get a pair of my pants to jog my memory. 

I did a hong-kong finish for the waist band and then stitched-in-the-ditch from the right side. 

 I used hem tape for the hem. 

Here is a close-up of the the fit - hmmm you can still see that pocket lining.  

The blogged about my top here.

More Pics

This is the McCalls 5367 skirt I blogged about on Sunday that I have styled differently. Yes, I follow way too many fashion blogs written by women who are much younger than I am.

I am wearing a hot pink sweater with black lace trim from Macys. I am also wearing a black lace top from Lord and Taylor.

The shoes are Sofft from the Walking Store. This are slip-ons. I wasn't sure if I could wear them without stepping out of them, but they are really comfy and I wear them a lot. I'd like to take a moment to sing the praises of tights. They keep your legs warm in the winter, last about 80% longer than regular hosiery, and are saviors for women with "corpse-like" white legs in the winter.

This is my photographer: my husband Bill. I interrupted his leaf raking. He looks a little cranky. I guess Bonnie was "unraking" as fast as he was raking.

Time for Fall

I finished this skirt a month ago, but haven't had the time to get it photographed. The kids are back in school and work has been intense. I worked on a jacket that ended up being a "no way to save it" project. It was a lot of wasted effort. I decided I needed a a no brainer, pretty much guaranteed success project. I used McCalls 5367. It looks like it is out of print.

It was a 100% stash project. I used a pink, purple, white and black wool plaid. I think I got the fabric on a trip to visit my Grandmother in 1988 while I was in college. It is OLD. I was excited to finally use the fabric, but I still have a yard and a half left over. Somehow that is sooo frustrating. It's like I haven't really made a dent in the stash at all. I'm going to try to make Bonnie a skirt with the leftovers. Unfortunately, it is definitely a dry cleaning only material - not the best for a 7 year old.

Instead of the kick pleat I added a row of pleats to the bottom of the back of the skirt.

It's pretty easy to pleat plaid. Thankfully, this plaid was on grain.

I lined the skirt in royal purple rayon lining.


I used a regular zipper and hook and eye closure from the stash.


I hand stitched the lining to the inside of the zipper.

I added a thin waistband and stitched in the ditch leaving the selvage to the inside of the skirt.


I am wearing Burda cowl top I blogged about here. The shoes are from Macys. I love them, but I can't really wear them because they are about a size too big and really squeak. They look great in pictures though.

This is my sixth version of the skirt.

#1 White linen

#2 Gray wool plaid with flounce

#3 Green wool plaid

#4 Denim with black flocking

#5 Rayon Plaid with fish tail

Just in time for Christmas

After the gray skirt, I was blessed with a nice easy project.

Introducing the holiday green wool plaid skirt.

This fabric is old - at least 20 years old. I'm not exactly sure where I got it, but I've had for a long time. I finally get a chance to use it, and I still have enough left over to make another skirt! It's the fabric that never goes away.......

I used McCalls 5637 again. It's the same pattern that I used for the

gray skirt and white skirt.

Oh my. Disregard the seamy white underbelly.

I added a kick pleat again. You can't really see it too well here. I matched the plaids. (Go me!)

I didn't use the facings. I stabilized the waist with selvage again. It works pretty well to keep the waist from stretching out.

I put in an invisible zipper. OK. I'm sold. I love these zippers. They go in easily and look great.

I bought the lining from JoAnns. I had to make ANOTHER emergency run to JoAnns for seam lace. I bought the last pack, so I guess I'll be back soon.

The Gray Wool Skirt: A Sewing Odyessy

Do you ever have one of those projects that was supposed to be a quick and easy project that turned into anything but? My new winter skirt is just such a project.

In the picture above, I am wearing the purple cowl I made with the new skirt.

I started out with the thought that I would make a simple wool skirt that I could wear with tights. I selected a gray wool boucle with a fine white plaid. This would be mistake #1 - plaid means matching and cutting it out takes 2 times as long.

The wool was part of my inherited stash. I thought it was a wool blend - but after sewing it, I think it is all wool. It pressed beautifully and had that "wet dog" smell that real wool has.

I used McCalls 5637 again. I used it to make the white skirt.

Sometimes when I am sewing something I have sewn a thousand times before, I find that I am sewing on "auto pilot". Just like driving, sewing on "auto pilot" is never a good thing. I was mindlessly cutting out the skirt, matching plaids when I found I really didn't have enough fabric to willy nilly hack into the fabric (I certainly had enough if I had done even a little preplanning). I broke sewing cardinal rule #1: make sure you have enough fabric before you start cutting....

Time for a little sewing creativity. In order to get a skirt out of the fabric, I decided to add a gathered flounce to the bottom of the skirt. I also had to put in a seam down the center front of a plaid skirt (all the sewing purists have feinted dead away...)

I decided to see if my ruffler would work for the flounce gathers. Note to seamstresses sewing boucle: rufflers do not work on boucle.

I also tried to set in a lapped zipper. Another note: Lapped zippers do not work on boucle.

I made a trip to JoAnns to get an invisible zipper. I had purchased an invisible zipper foot from G Street a couple weeks ago. It worked beautifully. I even managed to match the plaid!

I didn't use a waistband for the skirt. I lined the skirt in burgundy poly lining I got from a $1yd bin from a long closed Vietnamese fabric store that used to be Arlington, VA. I stabilized the waist with a strip of selvage from the lining fabric.

I got to the hem and realized that I didn't have any even close to matching seam lace. Grrr. I did have every other color known to mankind. Off to JoAnns again.

Thankfully after all the aggravation, I think the skirt turned out reasonably cute and wearable. I think it is a little shorter than I would like, but after everything I can live with it.

Navy Wool Skirt

I finished a Navy wool skirt from OOP Vogue 2829. It is the same pattern I used for the snakeskin skirt. I made it a little longer.

It was a pure stash project - the pattern, fabric, lining, thread, hem lace, zipper and hook and eyes. I have no idea where I got the fabric.

For psycho sewing detail - I added Hong Kong finish to the waistband (you never know who is going to look at the inside seams of your clothing).

One project down - 23 to go to meet sewing resolution #1.