FO: V1247 skirt in denim

Ha, Sonja and Tamsin...you were right!  It was Vogue 1247 shown in the previous post.  It's that binding, isn't it?  A true clue.

I don't often buy patterns but I did buy this after seeing Solvi's red version here.  Also check out Winnie's skirt here.  I made my first version just over a year ago in thrifted green cord and I like it but always had it in mind I would like to make it in denim.  So those sewing deities aligned when I went to visit a scrapstore.  Imagine my glee when I found they sell end of roll fabrics.  I bought 3.75 metres of denim for £9.  It was literally the end of the roll.   Tee hee.  Sadly the people I was with had no idea of the price of denim fabric, but I hope you can be happy with me!


When cutting out, I added a couple of inches in length as this skirt sews up short and there is only so much middle aged leg I am willing to flash.

The pattern calls for a lot of binding of seams.  I used gingham binding that the lovely Jessica sent me in a parcel.   I love the simplicity of this skirt, it provides a basic that I can  wear with lots of different things and is robust enough for the toils and turmoils of daily life.  

 Plus, regular readers know of my pocket love, and this skirt has two great pockets.  Ideal for hiding keys, phone and choking hazards from RG.
 I made the pocket inners from some John Kaldor fabric from my mum's house.  I only have about a fat quarter of this so I am using it for linings and facings.

Frilliest skirt

I asked Little I to pose for photos.  Look, straight away, no hesitancy at all, she stepped into a sewing blogger pose.  Is this the result of watching her mother take self made garment photos for the past few years??  Um, I guess it probably is. 

I love this tutu-style skirt.  It was a very simple make but the fabric is just fabulous.  Due to its unfinished frilly nature, I didn't bother hemming it.  I bought the fabric from a shop called Meme in Exeter.  They are in the process of closing down their 'real life' shop and transferring to being an online retailer. 

As a result there was a sale on in the shop. 

This fabulous textured fabric was £12 per metre, reduced from £24. The assistant said it was polyester.   I only needed half a metre.  I had ventured into the shop originally looking for denim with a bit of stretch in it, but it wasn't the type of fabric shop that sells stretch denim.  They seemed to specialise in feminine pretty prints and floaty chiffon types of fabric.  All very pretty.  All screaming out (in a discreet lady like way) to be made into partywear for almost six year olds.

I was tempted temporarily to make a frilly skirt for myself, but then sense prevailed, and I made the skirt for Little I.  I just wasn't sure I would wear such a frilly skirt as often as she will.  Plus she does go to a hell of a lot more parties than me!  Plus she has better shoes and tights to match it.

But I am compromising and planning a grown up ruffled skirt for myself!  I was swayed by seeing a woman walking along, in her forties wearing a 3 tiered light brown skirt, knee length, with a sequin trim on each tier.  It was a perfect mix of grown up and frills. 

Recently ...and a finished skirt

Roll up and see the unsuccessful photos! These are the best of a sorry bunch.  You will see Rocket Girl getting in the act too.  It has been school holidays for 2 weeks and one day and my attempts at recording my sewing and blogging were highly unsuccessful.  My attempts at entertaining three children of widely varying ages were slightly better.  I finished my Vogue 1247 skirt at the start of the holidays and have been wearing it a lot since then.  I was inspired by Solvi's red version . (Funnily enough Ali just posted about her Solvi jacket inspiration).   It feels very novel for me to sew a skirt that is NOT using the skirt block from the Sew U book. 

Fabric: A thrifted green fine green cord fabric that cost £2.50.  I bought it from the same charity shop as my floral cord and wondered if it had come from the same person's donations.  It is a very bright emerald green. 

Notions: The pattern calls for binding on the seams, I used some binding bought on ebay rather than attempt the task of self binding from corduroy.  That would be just daft, wouldn't it?  I used a thrifted green zip (cost 20p) from the same charity shop as the cord fabric.   

Sewing: I added about four inches in length when cutting out as I had been warned by other sewers that this skirt is short.  Then I had about a two inch hem.  The skirt went together easily, it was fun to follow a different construction method to my usual skirt making.

Verdict: I feel I have roadtested this skirt literally as I wore it to drive 200 miles with three kids and no other adults! It was comfortable for driving in and the pockets were a god-send for dropping car keys and coins into in a rush at the service station.  It gives me enough movability to run after the fast moving Rocket Girl and the bright green is cheerful.  It has withstood pizza making, playgrounds and easter egg hunts.  It is in the wash now but I plan to share picture of the inside soon.  Before I made the skirt I had thought it has one big front pocket but it in fact has two front pockets. 

Finally, I have to show you a peep of the wooden cabin we drove all that way to stay in.  Ahhhhhhh, it was fab, fab fab.  Holidays - what a great concept.

Works in progress

 Despite not posting much recently,  I have been busy with sewing in little bits of snatched time. Did you read Tilly's  recent post about sewing in fifteen minute segments.  I feverishly commented that this was my sewing existence with Rocket Girl on the scene.  Here's what those fifteen minutes have been adding up to.    I am making some bibs for RG and some for my friend's son's Christmas present. 

I have almost finished my winter skirt. Just the lining left to hem now.   My proposed autumn sewing plans were cast aside when I bought a length of floral cordory in the charity shop.  At £2.50 I had to buy it.  After much consideration of skirt patterns, looking at some Ottobre ones, I went back to the tried and trusted Sew U skirt from the first Built by Wendy book and used her slant patch pockets to make two front pockets.  The Built by Wendy knits book has come in for a lot of new attention recently in the sewing blogosphere but I am going to put in some love for the first Sew U book which has trouser, shirt/blouse and skirt blocks and such very, very useful pocket pattern pieces.  Those pocket pieces enable me to create my own skirts with details I like.  Plus sewing in short bursts means I cannot really try out new patterns - that just seems too scary.  

Polka dot lined pocket

I had enough cordory to make Little I a skirt.  It is a bit more exciting than mine, featuring ruching, lace trim, ric rac, oversized shiny buttons and a polka dot underskirt.  Can you bear the dotty, shiny, ruch-y (is that a word?) excitement? Oh, to be five years old.   It is nearly finished and deserves a post of its own. 

Me Made May days 18 - 22 - lessons learnt

A catch up, and some lessons learnt.  Photographing outfits is like a long critical look in the mirror, I can see faults and mistakes.  So I am going to take action this month and get rid of the unflattering.
On friday I wore my tartan Simplicity 2259 top but took no photo.  Saturday was a bit of a wash out I wore my stripey tee shirt and tried a purple cardigan given to me by a friend who no longer wanted it.  I think dark purple doesn't suit me, it seems to drain my colour. In analysing her own me mades, the lovely Donna recently commented that navy seems to drain her face, well, I think for me it is navy AND dark purple! I think I am going to pass this cardigan on again to someone else.  The thrifted jeans are labelled size 10 but they are huge, as we all know sizes vary but they are  ridiculously big round the middle.  I am not saying I am a small size ten either, some brands size ten are too small for me.  Though it just occurred to me that they are DKNY jeans and maybe they are a US size ten?  Ah, the penny drops...it makes sense now.
Action? Take the cardigan to the charity shop! Unless anyone reading this wants a purple Next wrap cardigan size UK 10?  


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Oh dear,day 19 ..saturday unbrushed hairday.... me made stripey tee shirt, thrifted scarf and jeans, cardigan passed onto me by a friend





Sunday day 20  - me made Portfolio dress, thrifted cardigan, ancient converses

 Sunday - I wore my Portfolio Simplicity 2245 dress made in red fabric.  While I love this pattern and my denim version, I have some issues with this dress: I made it too big, so big I wore it at 8 months pregnant (nb : it has no stretchiness), now it looks very tentlike on me. I also realise the fabric choice was a big mistake.  The fabric came from a bin bag I was given from someone else's collection.  It has no drapey quality at all - it just sticks out really. I have been thinking (yeah, thinking, I do that sometimes) maybe this fabric is upholstery fabric, hence the heavy quality, lack of drape. I was so carried away at the time by the fact it was free, labelled Liberty and a pretty faded red shade, that I ignored the weight of the fabric.  Action?  Hmmm, the dress fits and hangs so badly I am considering cutting it up for bag making.  Ali posted in April about discarding and giving away me mades and touched upon what to do with them.  I have an emotional reluctance to get rid of this dress because when I sewed it I was so convinced it would be great.  But it is much worse looking than in the photo, so I think it has got to go.

Day 21 - me made skirt from vintage barkcloth, thrifted tee and cardigan



Monday, Day 21: skirt made from barkcloth found in the same bin bag as the dress fabric above.  I made this skirt when I was a little bit pregnant so I just added an elastic waistband - it is now in need of tightening up as the skirt slid downward during the day! I am thinking in a few months I will take it apart and add darts, zip and waistband.  This is such great fabric.  The thrifted cardigan is too big, but I love the colour.  Action? I could take it in and resize it. 

 And onto today, tuesday, day 22 - tah-dah, an FO.  Amy Butler Anna tunic in polka dot red. The fourth time I have used this pattern. I made it here and here and here.   It is quick and easy to make up, especially as I cheated on making the button loops and used ribbon instead.  I used some cheap polycotton from ebay. Not the nicest fabric but ok.  I mean it's red polka dots - how can you not be happy with red polka dots on?

Day 22 - NEW F.O red polka dot Amy Butler Anna tunic, old thrifted jeans, me made nappy bag  

Lingering Layers Skirt

So, I made it through Christmas, without an early baby. You have no idea how many jokes I have heard about whether it/he/she would come early on the 25th and I would have to call it/he/she, Noel or Holly.

Christmas day was knackering due in part to the 2am wake up...yes, 2am, from T age 8 and half. "I woke up and saw Santa has filled my stocking, I can't go back to sleep" This went on for an hour....till Mr Minnado took the unusual but slightly desperate step of taking T out for a walk, giving me an hour's much needed sleep and trying to wear T out. So then at 4.30am he came back and woke me up to tell me he had had a walk and now hot. Then of course he woke his little sister up. What can I say other than it.was.a.test. of.maternal.devotion. (Not sure I passed, as at breakfast T said "You did say some swear words when I couldn't sleep") We held out till 6am and then let them open the stockings....looking back I am happy he still believes in Santa, and keep wondering if this will be the last year?
Anyway enough festive ramblings, last week I was able to reconnect the camera with a new usb cord. (thankyou ebay ) I am catching up on the last few FOs. The Lingering Layers maternity skirt sewn back in late September.


Here is the photo from Handmade Beginnings. The skirt has kind of petal shapes at the top and a jersey panel for the bump. There is also a version without the jersey panel for non-maternity wear. Ideally you can alter the panels so the skirt's life is extended after pregnancy.
As you can see my version is much less feminine and floaty.
I made a few changes to the pattern:

• I obviously left off the ruffle.


• I also added inseam pockets which have slightly spoiled the side line of the skirt but are so comfortable and useful that I don't mind.


• I added a centre front and back seams instead of cutting on the fold, in order to make my chevron stripes.

I used some stash fabric that started out as white with a duck-egg green stripe, found in a remnant bin. I had dyed it grey about 18 months ago.
I had a small piece of this stripey fabric to work with and had to play around with the pattern placement to get enough pieces out and also to play with the stripe placement.
The grey jersey panel was an remnant from t shirt making last year.
I ran out of fabric for the back yoke and so used a grey spotty piece instead. The back view shows how this fabric does crease through the day. Once I had put the skirt together I realised it needed lining as it was too see-through. I had to attach the lining from the curved seams as I couldn't line the stretchy tummy panel, if I had it wouldn't be stretchy anymore! Tricky and fiddly - I sewed it first it on the inside and then sewed it from the right side with a stitch in the ditch.








Back in September when I made this skirt it was too big and kept falling down, but it fits okay now. I am annoyed at the creasing issue of the fabric but I can live with that for a casual everyday skirt.

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.

7th June and 8th June

Day 7:
Me Made Simplicity 2599 top, tate skirt - an outfit I am comfortable wearing. It got too cold by lunch time though and I had to swap my skirt for some trousers. The top is so nice to wear as it is made from some cotton lawn, really light and lovely, originally blogged here.
Verdict: I could wear this every day. (Though that could get boring and a bit smelly) I find it almost impossible to be sad in this top.

Day 8:

I am trying to wear some of my unworn me-mades that languish in the back of the wardrobe. Me Made stripey vest blogged here and refashioned denim dress. Scarf made by my mum about ten years ago. I have never worn this dress. I bought it last summer in a charity shop and shortened it and made patch pockets for the front. Every time I try it on I am worried the poppers will pop open as I wear it. It is so cold that I put jeans and boots on underneath. But that may change if I get warmed up!

Verdict: The vest is a great staple, especially for wearing underneath other items. The denim dress? Unsure, ask me later.

Me Made June, Days 1 -3

So first three days of Me Made June have passed already. It's half term here and it has been hard to find time for blogging. I hope to catch up next week. In doing the Me Made June challenge I want to try and test out my me made clothes this month and look critically at what does and doesn't work.

An over exposed pic but the only one that shows the length of this dress - see Day 2 for details.
Day One:
Simplicity 2599 top and Tate skirt, sewn from Sew Hip Magazine.

Look - an Action Shot

I made this top at the beginning of May from a brown floral print cotton that came out of my Devon binbags. I have not blogged about it yet, I will try and do that once half term is over. (I do like spending time with my kids honest) The skirt is one I wear a lot. It has big pockets which I love but when I look at it in photos it seems a bit too wide. Especially with this top. But, this was a great outfit for the purpose of a day mucking about with mud, walking the woods. The big pockets are great for car keys and holding the stone collection we always gather in the woods.

Verdict: Yay..goodie goodstein outfit.

Day Two

Hmmm..... where to begin? This dress was refashioned from two t shirts. I based it on the Home Stretch Sew U pattern. It was easy to make but after wearing it I have realised it needs a few tweaks:

• It is too long. That should be straightforward to fix.
  


• When I made it, I took the bodice sides in, copying the bodice shape from Sew U but it still kind of bags out around the bust making me look bigger-chested and much saggier than I really am. This is not a look I am keen on!



• The dress is very dark navy, I think it could be good for winter or season changes.
  
  My main problem with this dress was the fact that I was really aware of my rounded tummy while wearing it! Especially when out in a museum and I took my daughter to a special child and parent toilet with a child height mirror. A child height mirror which started at an adult's waist and went to about mid calf. Ugh, what a perspective. I am considering the possibility of magic knickers now. (And exercise, less cake, etc, etc) If you were to look back at my me made clothes in this blog you may notice that I tend to always sew and wear things that cover my stomach area. Wearing this dress really did challenge my own neuroses. No one else noticed or cared. (Or if they did they are English and therefore probably wouldn't say anything anyway).
  
  So Day Two was definitely a learning experience. On a positive note the dress was really comfortable to wear and felt lovely.

Verdict: Just don't know...seemed good in my head and on the hanger, not so sure in real life.

Day 3:

Refashioned skirt.

I am glad that Claudine in the flickr discussions suggested a spinning pose for today as it meant I wore this skirt solely for its spin potential. I remade it about 6 weeks ago and hadn't worn it. It is fuller than I usually wear a skirt but I really liked it. The photo below shows what it was like originally. It was too long and too narrow for me. (It also came out of my binbags of fabric) It is a beautiful cotton fabric which I loved. It reminds me of lying down and looking up through a tree on a sunny day.

I cut it where it got wider and made a new waistband and side fastening. I was able to keep the hem and side seams.

Verdict? I like it. I just need to find suitable tops for it. I think it could look sweet with a retro style cardigan and blouse...
Off to do some sit ups now...just joking..off to bed really.

Easy Summer Skirt aka pillowcase

I had my birthday in May and recieved this book from my friend Lovely Sarah. I thought I would try the "Easy breezy skirt" which is a skirt made from a pillow case.

It is really simple, you just cut open the shorter seam on the pillow case, try it on to check the length, and make a casing, insert elastic. Bingo...one skirt.

I was inspired by Alessa's links to scalloped hem tutorials to try and add a scalloped hem too. I read both the tutorials and then just traced my scallops onto the reverse side of the fabric using a tumbler. Here are tutorial links here and here

I used an Ikea pillow case that I bought a while ago together with matching duvet cover from the charity shop. Now I just need it to get warmer as it is too damn cold to go out in my new skirt!

Skirtaholic epiphany

So in my list of summer essentials I had said I would make a green patterned skirt. The fabric was some Ikea fabric I bought before Christmas. But then I had a moment of thought last week and I counted my skirts and found I have 16! I was shocked as I had thought I had about 8. Five skirts are Me Made and these are all A line, with some kind of print or picture on. Hmmmm, I am scratching that green patterned skirt for sure as I cannot justify having another A line, pictorial/graphic print. I am trying to make myself learn new skills and improve my sewing knowledge so I am going either a plain dark skirt in a new pattern or something else entirely.

I have been trying to be less of a consumer and yet here I am the (not so proud) owner of 16 skirts. I conducted a highly unscientific poll (by text) of friends as to how many skirts they owned. The answers ranged from "Two, but I have a lot of trousers", "Four that are wearable, not counting the packed away clothes" to "Twenty but I only wear four" and "Twenty skirts, 19 dresses" - so this puts me in the middle. I have been reading this library book,
"Ms Harris' Book of Green Household Management" by Caroline Harris. In this she makes suggestions for a "Lifetime wardrobe" "We've somehow got used to purchasing almost a whole new wardrobe each season - and then we're encouraged to de-clutter and get rid of everything we don't wear, taking the rejects to the charity shop to assuage our guilt. At its worst, it's a kind of binge-purge cycle." She goes on to suggest this for what skirts you could own, "...a warm one for winter, one for spring and autumn and a light one for heatwaves, plus one for smart occasions..." Hang on, that's four! I love the idea of only owning four, but don't know if I can honestly do this in reality.

I still feel 16 is too many for me so I have taken two to the charity shop, I have put three aside to sell on ebay and one aside to cut up and refashion. But then I got down to ten and there is one that I am sentimentally attached to, one I am saving in case I have an office based job again, and a couple that are so lovely I just want to keep them. I have put one in the dressing up box. As a child I loved dressing up and we had a trunk of clothes including two 1950s cocktail dresses of my grandma's - how I regret letting those be given away once we were grown up. I have this idea that now I have a daughter she may like some of my clothes for dressing up in or even to wear (who knows when she is grown up some of my stuff may be desirable vintage??) So, I am wondering if anyone else out there has too many skirts or is saving clothes for their children?