Wednesday, April 16, 2008

:: Skirts! ::

Skirt One: The Birthday Skirt



This one is made from some quilting cotton I bought while I was home in Rochester.  I know lots of people always know the designer and line and all but I never do.  It's green with blue and off-white flowers and it's pretty.


This skirt was my first time making a skirt solely from my own measurements.  I didn't trace another skirt (although the idea for all the pleats came from a skirt I bought years ago at American Eagle and still wear) or use a pattern or anything.  I actually found this very freeing and much easier.

It was also my first invisible zipper.  I forgot to take a picture of it but there's one in the skirt below, too.  As for that, survey says: seemed a little bit scary at first but after some playing around I figured it out and it was pretty easy to do.  The Coats & Clark brand invisible zippers claim you need a special Coats & Clark presser foot specially made for invisible zippers but I just used my regular zipper foot and it worked fine.

Skirt Two: The Pintuck Skirt



I got a pintuck foot for my birthday from my mom and was so eager for my machine to return so that I could try it out on this skirt.

It occurs to me now that I have actually never worn an a-line skirt before.  I've worn plenty of a-line dressed but no skirts.  The silhouette is a little bit, I don't know, wider than I expected?  At first I hated the skirt because of its shape and considered some alterations to make it narrower, but it's growing on me so I'm going to give it a week this way and see what I think.


This skirt was also a just-from-my-measurements skirt made without any pattern and because its fabric is so light (also quilting cotton of unknown origin) it needed to be fully lined.  Sewing the lining was no big deal but I have to admit I did spend the better part of an hour on Saturday morning trying like hell to figure out how to sandwich the invisible zipper between the lining and the outer skirt properly and I actually just remembered that there's still a small gap at the bottom of the zipper that I meant to handsew.  Oops.  I'll have to do that.


The pintucks I figured I could either do first (after cutting out the skirt pieces) or last (along with the hem) and I decided to go with last so that I could get the length right and all.  I'm always nervous doing embellishments last -- what if I mess up? -- and using my new pintuck foot added to the nerves, but it was so easy and went very quick.

Overall I'm pretty proud of this skirt even if I'm not totally convinced it's the best silhouette for my body.

P.S.  I'm participating in the Sparkle Power Sew Along, meaning I'll be making more clothes throughout April and May.  My next sew-along project is a pair of pants for me and something, I don't know what, for Evan.  Baby boy clothes are tough, but we'll see.

10 comments:

goffcouture April 16, 2008 at 4:05 PM  

I think the A-line looks great on you! I love making my own patterns when I can.

mom April 16, 2008 at 4:57 PM  

I am very impressed, Jul!

a pinkroom April 16, 2008 at 5:33 PM  

First of all, if I hadn't seen you preggers, I wouldn't have known from these pics. You look fab, girl. Second, those skirts are equally fab and I want one. If I sent you my measurements, how much would you charge because I can't bear to go shopping at H&M for my yearly summer skirt. I want a letter 9 original.

Deneese April 16, 2008 at 5:49 PM  

That's it. I'm not going to fight it any more. I'm going to find a nice sewing machine, and you and I are going to get together sans babies to work this out. I'll teach you to love knitting, if you'll teach me to sew. :)

Jill April 16, 2008 at 7:48 PM  

The skirts are great. I love the polka dot skirt. I joined Sparkle Power Sew Along too but haven't tried any skirts for myself yet. I've finished a couple of purses and a pillowcase dress for my daughter. I hope to make a skirt or two for myself soon. Thanks for sharing your skirts, it inspires me to get sewing.

KathyM April 17, 2008 at 5:46 AM  

delurking to tell you I'm just so darn impressed that you can actually sew!!! What I would to to be able to even hem my son's pants!!! You are so incredibly talented...in more ways than just your sewing abilities. And I do love the skirt by the way!

Julie April 17, 2008 at 8:55 AM  

Aw, you people are making me feel so GOOD. : ) Much needed on a morning when I just spent almost five solid hours working on my dissertation.

How come no one is sitting around just waiting to say, "Oh, those 458 words you just wrote are so wonderful. I'm so impressed" or "Hey, could you take some notes for me? I just love yours"?????

Oh well. I'll take whatever compliments I can get, though, don't worry.

Julie April 17, 2008 at 8:59 AM  

Oh, and Jenny? As for the belly? I'm thinking of marketing a post-baby workout and diet program called "GET VERY SICK FOR FOUR WEEKS." The coughing is great for your abs and the decreased appetite helps eliminate the extra pounds. I think I could make a fortune.

mom April 18, 2008 at 4:27 AM  

Does the workout and diet program work 25 years after the baby is born??

Julie April 18, 2008 at 6:45 AM  

I imagine it would. Just think: I could market two programs separately: one called post-natal and one called regular and I could make TWICE AS MUCH!