Flirting the Issue Duvet Skirt

The final item from my Summer Essentials sewing list is the Flirting the Issue skirt from Anna Maria Horner. This is a free pattern/tutorial you can download as a pdf here. It is very simple though and probably many of you could whip it up in no time. Just a rectangle of fabric and a rectangle of lining, side seams and join the lining and main fabric together at the top, then you make four sets of casing for elastic, thread through the elastic and hem. I made life more complicated for myself as I had the not very genius idea of making it reversible. (At the time I thought this was such a clever idea). It just got complicated trying to match

the hem of the lining with the main fabric hem. I had to unpick and re-do it.
The main fabric used was a duvet cover from the charity shop. In my great wisdom I decided piped patch pockets were an essential to this skirt. There is something about the fabric that to my mind calls for some definition...I don't know why...but I decided piping was the answer. I had just enough scraps from my pirate trousers to edge the pockets. Sadly not enough to edge the hem. Then the lining fabric was a piece I found in another charity shop for a couple of pounds. It is a lightweight fabric, probably polyester but I am not sure. Once I had started cutting it I decided it was too nice to hide away as a lining and hence the reversible skirt idea was born! However you can just glimpse the floral pattern through the stripes, especially if you know it's there. I like the floral side with the pockets but the stripey side to me seems more stylish and cute. The floral fabric is heavier and so (to my mind) doesn't fall as nicely from the casing as the lining fabric does.

This is a fuller skirt than I would usually wear but I am hoping it will make great holiday wear especially as I am off to Devon at the weekend. There is plenty of room in the pockets for ice cream money, so what more do I need? I hope to enlist my age eight personal photographer to get some holiday action pics of this skirt and the rest of the SESA clothes over the next week as they are forming the mainstay of my holiday packing!

I am planning on making this skirt again in a grey or rust colour for autumn if I can find fabric with the right amount of drape.

Yay - finished objects or New/Old School Style

I have been sewing in small pockets of time for the last month, based on my Summer Essentials Sewalong Plan. And finally I have two finished objects to share. Yippeee - it is so nice to have actually been able to finish some things. I don't know what you will think but think both these items have a vintage air to them. Like many other Me-Made Month participants, I identified the need for plain tops in my me-made wardrobe. The top is Simplicity 2259 (again, sorry about that, really must try and find another pattern). It is made from some not-very nice white fabric I found in my bin bags stash. Seriously, it isn't very nice fabric, maybe it is some kind of cotton/poly blend but it is a little stiff and creases quite a lot. I would love to be able to make this top in a nice cotton lawn or cotton pique, but I am trying not to buy new fabrics and to use up the stash, so the not-very-nice fabric it is.

Lace detail

I started making the top back in May hoping to have it finished to wear in Me Made June but other things got in the way. First of all I made a peter pan collar to go on this but I made it wonky and the fabric was so thin it showed all the seams. So that went into the scrap bag. Then, I had a plan to make it with a small box pleat down the front. Then, when I rolled the neck edge and hemmed it, it looked a little clumsy so I covered it up with lace instead.

This was about the only white lace I had in my stash, most of the lace I have is creamy or coffee coloured. I have looked at this piece of lace for ages now (only about three years), wondering how to use it. I like it on this top, and think it gives it a bit of a retro look.

A view without cardigan

The skirt I made from a piece of fabric I also found in my bin bag stash. I love this fabric. It has a barkcloth texture and I am guessing it is 1960s or 50s. Despite washing and hanging out on the line over several days it still has a faint eau-de-musty to it. I kept the skirt really simple, just a rectangle with a casing and elastic for the waist because I was so reluctant to cut into this fabric! I also lined it with a very lightweight leaf patterned fabric a friend passed on to me. This may sound nice but really, believe me, the leaf pattern is old-lady blouse and not in a good way. It does make good lining fabric though.

I had hesitated over making the skirt because I liked the fabric so much. But I rationalised that it is better to give it a new lease of life than be stuck in a cupboard.

The only thing I spent money on in making these two items was the elastic and at some time I would have bought the thread. Plus two pieces of fabric rescued from being hidden away in the cupboard.

Finished Tate Skirt

Finally I finished one of my Summer Essentials Sewalong projects. A denim skirt made from a pattern in last summer's (2009) Sew Hip magazine. As you can see from the magazine image the skirt was a bit shorter on the model but I wanted mine to be just below knee length - her skirt also looks a bit tighter than mine. I like the way it turned out as it is a skirt that I can wear and still chase after a three year old in! The instructions were clear and easy to follow though I did sew two bits together the wrong way round and have to get out the unpicker. The skirt has a front apron style pocket, lined with red polka dot farbic and red buttons. (I do like a bit of red). I tried it on with my t shirt tucked in to show off the buttons and the shape but felt a bit uncomfortable. It made me realise how much I tend to cover my stomach most days (just my own hangup here). The higher waisted skirt also then made me consider my torso and the old short waisted dilemma as described so well by Ali. It just looks wrong to me in the above photo and brings back alarming memories of my A level English teacher who always wore shirts tucked into her tweed skirts and who would bark at us about John Donne and Chaucer. (Eek, quick, stop thinking about that. Actually , I have to tell you that I saw that teacher last summer when I visiting my mum. We were at the local shops when I saw her and guess what really mature thing I did? I hid behind a postbox till she was gone and I made my son hide too.)

Anyway....back to skirt, I think I need to do some experimentation with different tops on this tucking in lark. I couldn't help but think of Tweedledum and Tweedledee when I looked at my picture and they are not really my number one style icons. I ended up wearing it with t-shirt out - the good thing though was that the higher waist means I can wear my shorter t shirts that I cannot wear with skirts that sit on the hip.