A Hummingbird Skirt

Way back in the spring I participated in the Hummingbird sewalong, and did manage to complete the skirt. I love it, it's stretch denim. I have worn it so many times over the summer despite the waist being a bit large, it's really become a staple. I see more of these in different fabrics for sure. Seriously! (I even wore it the other day with my favourite sweater and tights, it was only 4°C)

 

That invisible zip was the best I’ve ever done. Practice sure does make perfect. But the skirt was a tad too short, so I added a band/binding to the hem with the same fabric as the pocket lining. I also did the top but I had some fit issues. I’ll have to check out some of the other tops from sewistas with similar figures.

In the end I had to leave it to work on other paid work (a slip cover for an armchair that I'll show later), which I only just finished yesterday. Thank God. This was the biggest “escapade” in sewing I’ve ever done! The hours spent on this were HUGE. (Yes, I DID do pattern matching, especially on the skirt pieces. Ugh.)

In non-sewing news, I'm half way through my second course (of 4) in Web Analytics. Now that Henry is in school all day I can start to catch up, albeit this is a new track for me (not software development). Next year, hopefully this winter, I'll find a job before my husband's contract ends. Oh did I forget to mention that? He had been out of work for 14 months, and started a contract in August filling in for a woman on maternity leave. I'm hoping she does what I did, and decide she'd rather stay home for another year (although in my case it was another 5+ years!)

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll post more updates in a couple of weeks in between my courses, because I have actually been busy in the sewing room! I have to show you my shift dresses, self-drafted from my dress-form. I just don’t have any photos of them right now!

The Beignet Button Dilemma

I’m stumped! I can’t decide which buttons to put on the skirt. The top buttons are the ones I initially got for the other cotton twill wearable muslin that failed. I went back for more ideas and came back with the other three. (Sorry, this fabric is tricky to photograph, and my lighting is horrible!)

Now, on a side note, as you can see, I managed to do the buttonholes after all! I was in a bit of a panic about the buttonholes. Eventually I stopped being silly just tried one. To my utter astonishment, the buttonholes actually went in a breeze! I really was not anticipating this at all. My machine did some pretty decent buttonholes, especially with some thick thread under the stitches, sort of corded.

I also tested my old Greist buttonholer attachment, and found that they looked best when stitched around twice, with a larger stitch on the second round. This time using it was much easier with the corduroy (last time was on denim and it had a hard time keeping a grip on the fabric.)

Right, getting back to buttons. Here are the close-up shots.

 

 

So this is my dilemma. Which buttons look best? What do you think?

Beignet Progress and Panic

 This has to be one of the most involved makes for me in a while, and while it’s not difficult, it is beginning to get to me. I have reached that stage where you tell yourself to just get on with it!

This is it right now, with the hem half sewn. (I am so relieved with how invisible it seems to be.)

 

But it’s the buttonholes that’s got me in a panic. Should I have made bound or corded buttonholes? They’d be stronger and look really neat, but it’s way too late for them now.

After much googling and searching for tips, clues, ANYthing on making buttonholes on corduroy, I found this post by Vicki Kate Makes on her own beignet. Holy crap, her buttonholes turned out FANTASTIC!! And they’re machine-made.

The buttons were originally meant for my wearable muslin, but the heavy cotton twill fabric from IKEA (a neighbours old curtains) ended up being ripped ON the seam due to a nicked machine needle. ARRRGGGGG!

So, they’ll go on this make instead. I can’t face searching for more buttons again!

And the fabric used for the facing is a piece of cotton home dec remnant I’ve had in stash for a couple of years.

It’s nothing special, but the purple fibres running through the fabric (grid design) matches the corduroy and bemberg lining really well. It’s functional.

Oh and those are hanging loops up there. In Sandra Betzina’s book, More Fabric Savvy, she recommends adding these to bottom pieces instead of using the clips on hangers which leave marks.

So there we are. The end is in sight. Must push on!

Burda Skirt 10-2011-119

Well it’s finally done, and I’m quite pleased with it. When I saw Mary Nanna’s version (both of them) I had to make one, but hers are absolutely marvellous. My mystery fabric (from Value Village!) is no where as lovely as silk dupioni, but after the final pressing I think it might actually have some natural fibre in it as it was a dream to press with steam! This started out as another wearable muslin, but it’s a keeper. Even my mum commented on it, and that’s praise indeed! (Actually, I did make a real muslin to check the fit before cutting my cheapo *interesting* fabric.)

 

I was worried that the pockets would be too much for me, but they’re not too bad.

Here’s the list of alterations:

1. Shortened the skirt by about 2 1/2 inches.
2. Chopped 1 inch off the bottom of the front pockets; the proportions just weren’t right with the skirt’s shorter length.
3. Added a 2nd dart to the back pieces (1st pic below).
4. Made a swayback alteration: dropped the waist by 1/2 inch at CB, tapering to 0 at the side seams. I might tweak the shaping of the waist band there to smooth out the curve a bit more.
5. The zip is moved from the side seam to the back. I’m doing this now on all skirts so I can ensure a good fit and make any future sizing adjustments if needed.
6. I changed the construction order, and attached the facings to the front and back panels separately, before sewing the side seams. Again, this is so I can make future alterations if needed.
7. It’s lined (a nice bonus), and the lining is hand stitched to the zip.
8. CB seam is topstitched like the CF seam (2nd pic).
9. The side seams were taken in by about 1/2 inch at the bottom and tapered to the hips.

 

Now, here’s something I never realized before: the lining *should* be about 1 inch shorter than the skirt fabric, and here’s why!

 

Yup, there’s the lining peaking out. Aaarrrrrgh! But it is the NEATEST hem I’ve ever done on lining, and it’s all thanks to this Industry Insider video (Hem Shears with Ease) I watched on Threads insider (their new subscription service). Just need to do it again, no big deal!

And now I think I’ll go make another one! There’s some navy ramie (linen-like) that’s been lingering in my stash for about a year. I might try to make the pockets internal though, but I’ll wait and see, and maybe bring the sides in a bit more to less of an A-line. It’s getting to be a lot of fun now, making modifications to patterns!

Burda Skirt 12-2010-124

Update (Jan 27): added some detailed pics of the second skirt.

This is a great skirt! It’s quick to sew up. I did make a muslin, and I’m glad I did, as there were several fitting issues: hip line, front horizontal darts, sway back, etc.

Here are the line drawings for the long and short versions from the magazine (I find these are still at the German site under “Archiv” – archives.)

 

The long version was designed for a felted fabric, and the front darts are on the outside; I sewed them on the inside as in the short skirt version.

The first skirt I made was more or less a wearable muslin (after the initial real muslin). On a quick side note, I just read about making wearable muslins in the preview of Sarah Veblen’s book, The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting, which is high on my priority list now. She recommends doing this for everyday clothes, just to see how they actually feel while moving around. So, for this skirt I used a very stretchy, lightweight grey denim from my stash – another Fabricland remnant. And even after sewing it up I had to take in the waist/side seams a lot; not sure why, perhaps it’s the stretchy fabric?

 

Unfortunately I didn’t line it, but I’ll probably add one soon. It’s not a bad skirt, just not the best fabric.

The second skirt was modified by rotating the front darts to the top, and slitting the front through the new darts to create three separate panels. I also topstitched the two front seams mainly to keep it flat, and flared the bottom by about 5 cm or so on all seams. Here’s the modified line drawing:

and here’s the skirt, made from a nice medium weight rayon/nylon/spandex knit. It’s got great drape. (OK, ignore my lovely socks! My Oma actually knit them and I’m very fond of ‘em!)

 

This time I lined the skirt with a knit lining, I think the bolt end said “Interknit Lining”, that I found at Fabricland for $10/m. It’s like a medium weight slippery knit, and it feels great!

I didn’t follow the Burda directions exactly, instead I followed the directions from an article in the November 2011 issue of Threads (No. 157), Easy-To-Alter Waistline, page 62, in case I need to adjust the waist/hips later on (I keep hoping to lose the baby gain, but I guess it’s an uphill battle.) I also followed Sherry’s tutorials on inserting an invisible zip and then facing it; it’s the 2nd time I used them and they’re so easy to follow. Since I also lined the skirt, I just sewed the lining to the zip almost all the way down; it looks nicely finished off.

 

The flared hem had to be hand sewn, and I used a lock-stitch that I found in How to Use, Adapt, and Design Sewing Patterns.

 

This was also the first time that I really altered a pattern for a very different look, and now I’ve done it I feel I could make this into a TNT skirt pattern. I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I started reading Carolyn’s blog, she uses her TNT patterns a lot and makes fabulous outfits. I am in awe, truly. Thank you Carolyn, for your inspiration.

More posts coming up, I’m hoping to catch up on about 7 months of sewing!

Burda 07-2009-111 Skirt

Last weekend I bought 3 pieces of denim, a total of 7 metres, from Fabricland, and I think they all have some lycra as there's a bit of stretch. I'm planning on sewing a pair of the popular Jalie 2908 Stretch jeans once the boys start school, and I think I'll need to do some serious muslin making!

But I've also been on the lookout for a simple denim skirt, as the one I've been wearing for the last 4 years is starting to look a bit worn. It occurred to me to search on Pattern Review for reviews on skirts made with denim, and I found a whole bunch. It's a great way to get ideas. The pattern I ended up using is from last year summer. I never thought about this skirt in denim, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

The buttons come from Darrell Thomas, and they cost 4 times that of the fabric, but they're great!

The top is one of the Jalie tops I made last summer, and I just cut out the modesty panel; it was pulling across the top and the armholes didn't look right.

Skirt, Jalie 2681

Finally! I've actually created something for the summer. I've been undecided about skirts, opting for shorts these last few years, but last Wednesday at our neighbourhood playgroup most of the other Mums wore skirts and they looked so cool. So I phoned C&M Textiles, they're the only place I know of in Ottawa that stocks Jalie patterns, and they had it in stock. Next morning a quick jaunt over there to pick it up, then I traced it and cut it out when DS2 was napping after lunch. Friday I cut out the fabric while DS2 napped and watched "Cars" with DS1. On Sunday I started to sew it in the middle of the afternoon after my SIL left, and got most of it done before supper. After the kids were in bed I just finished the waistband and did a quick 2-thread rolled hem.

This fabric is a very lightweight jersey, and it feels like there's some spandex, so I do need to wear the right underwear; but I don't think the bulges are as noticeable as I'd thought (or maybe my DH was being diplomatic about it!)
I'll definitely make this again, it's a very quick skirt and so comfortable. I only made one alteration for the length; chopped 2 inches off (I'm not quite 5' 2"). I'm still not totally sure about the length though, as my calves seem large; but if it's longer it seems to unbalance me. I'll have to experiment, and I've got lots of knit fabric that I bought just for practising!