A Little Sewing

Right after my last post, May 21, I finally finished a winter skirt just to get it off the table.

I finished the skirt on May 30 and took some pictures.

I used pattern McCall's 6654:

I made two layers, one skinnier than the other.  I used the long, slim version and made it based on my measurements.  I had to take it in about two inches.  I flared it out while cutting to make an outer layer.

I shortened the outer layer it with a hi-lo hem to enhance the layered effect. Here's how I cut the outer layer:

I attached the skirts to the elastic in opposite directions:

The inner layer is a very slick knit of man-made fibers.  The outer layer is a lightweight sweater knit.  Here's how it looks on the table:

Here's how it looks on me:

I put this away to save it for "winter" (in Florida, that's anything under 50 degrees Fahrenheit).

I have a big project waiting for me to work on it.  I will share when I'm done with it.

Flouncy Bouncy Skirt

I follow a blog and store by Deby of  So Sew Easy.- Lin here.

She has a tab at the top for free patterns, and another tab for patterns for sale.

I found this free skirt pattern on her site, and knew I would eventually make it.

What precipitated the making of my skirt? A weigh-in for insurance purposes caused me to wear my lightest-weight clothes that day. I didn't have a suitable skirt, so I took a thrift-store find from the back of my closet and shortened it: I was told by my coworkers that it was a good length for me:

My ah-hah moment was remembering the Flouncy Bouncy Skirt Pattern. It's a skirt with a full circle attached to a yoke.

I poked around the So Sew Easy facebook page - link here - to find other examples of this skirt. I decided to go with a knit stripe from my stash.

I traced the pattern pieces and placed the stripes so they would go across the front and back, yet down on the sides. That basically means I didn't have to match the stripes at the sides:

The yoke pieces form a shart point at the sides:

Deby recommended I round up the bottom of the yoke, so I used my French curve ruler to do that. I adjusted the pattern

...then I adjusted the fabric the same way:

I pinned the skirt pieces to the yokes:

I stitched with a long, narrow zigzag, pressed towards the yokes, topstitched, then pinned the sides together:

Preliminary views looked good:

I found a wide elastic the same color as my fabric.  I adjusted the length to fit, overlapped and stitched the ends, then laid it over the outside of the skirt and pinned:

I used a zigzag stitch to attach the elastic to the skirt :

I turned the elastic once and topstitched. I figured that I would not usually tuck a top into this skirt:

This is how I usually wear it:

Yes, the skirt is twirl-worthy:

What I Wear with the Purple Thrifted Skirt

I have the penultimate excuse for not sewing.  It's called "other people's stuff on my sewing table"

I really like this long purple skirt in a stable knit.  I found it at a thrift store a few years ago.  When it's colder outside, I wear a long-sleeved shirt with it:

When it's warmer out, I wear one of these tops -- sleeveless, tank, or short sleeves.  The sleeveless top was on sale at W*M, the tank top was bought at the flea market, and the short-sleeved top was found at a thrift store:

The tank top is not enough coverage for work, so I wear a slinky knit jacket (purchased several years ago) over it:

I don't wear bracelets or necklaces, but I do have some new earrings that go well with these clothes.  Click on the picture to see how I made the earring hanger:

I'm thinking of getting the pattern called Pamela's Patterns Magic Pencil skirt for future use - specifically the dark purple ottoman knit fabric.  I "think" it's enough to make another narrow skirt, if this one ever wears out!  Click here to see the pattern I'm talking about.

More recently, I found another top at the flea marked that I can wear with this skirt.  It's a printed slinky knit, and the printed "circles" go really well with my "moon and stars" earrings:

Watch out!  I think I'm getting my sewing mojo back!  With a little inspiration, my table is being cleared off.  No patterns were harmed in the interruption of my sewing mojo:

Sewing Mojo Drain

Well, the skirt project drained my mojo (see parts of the project here).  The last time I saw it - the skirt, not the mojo -  it looked like this:

This skirt has been stowed away in its own box in a cabinet until I really, really, really want to work on it again.  The skirt will be most useful when I want to wear dark colors more than I want to wear light, bright colors.

Think: winter in Florida - which, I admit, is not really saying much.  Like, two, three days a year?

Yes, I can get off track.  A little.

I did something nice for myself last weekend.  I had a manicure on Saturday a week ago, then bought new sandals the next day, and DH painted my toe nails Sunday night.  Here's what they look like with my favorite color, purple:

That's a "Florida Casual" look above; to go to work, throw a shirt over it:

I hope to get another set of bed sheets cut out this week (see original project here).  I will try to post about that soon.

Next up will be inspirations for summer dresses.  Here's hoping I actually make some summer dresses before it's no longer hot enough to wear them!

More Sewing "baby steps"

Sewing progress is very slow.  One day, I moved the skirt in progress from the cutting table to the ironing board:

A few days later, I placed the skirt in position to be pinned for the hem:

Like my husband likes to say to other drivers, "Can you Go any Slower?"

Guess not ...

Pressing open a Side Seam

I got back to work on the skirt today.  I have a lot of pictures of the progress of the skirt, and I intend to eventually compile a how-to for this pattern, New Look 6343.

In the meantime, here are some pictures to describe how I press open the side seam of this skirt.  I use "Dritz Ezy-Hem" plates, which are metal and thus help to suck the heat out of the fabric.  I also use a "ShopSmith" 2" x 48" aluminum ruler, which is also metal and also rather heavy.

I pull the skirt over the ironing board with side seam centered, hem first.  I pull it on so far that the waist is inside the tip of the ironing board:

I press open the top half of the side seam, place two hemming plates over the opened seam, and place the iron on top to hold them down until the pressed seam (and the plates) cool:

I pull the skirt waist off the ironing board until the lower part of the side seam is straight.  I press that seam open and place a shopsmith ruler over the opened seam allowances until they cool.

Here is a close-up of the pressed side seam.

Here's the other side seam, ready to be pressed.  I don't know why I didn't notice before that the length of the skirt would fit on the ironing board.

Here is the pressed side seam, cooling off.

Sewing continues

Now that the taxes are done, I can get back "into the swing of" sewing things, including blogging!

Here's proof that I was pressing around the outside of the sheet fabric.  There are two four-yard pieces that have been laundered three times, pressed, and folded:

I will return to the skirt project this week, and I hope to actually finish it.

Sewing and Eating

We all know that sewing requires food, the nourishment that gives us the strength to sew, right?

Here's what we had for supper tonight -- pork country-style ribs (which DH grilled with his special sauce), steamed asparagus (topped with butter), and a cherry tomato salad (I found the recipe here).  This is a very Paleo meal (at least to my understanding) because it contains only "real food" -- no grains, no processed carbs, and no chemicals:

Here's a light-weight knit I bought on sale at JA's a couple days ago.  I bought 1.5 yards of this sale fabric, and with 40-percent off (plus tax) it cost me approximately $12.50.  I think that's pretty good!  It will become a top of some sort.  Isn't it pretty?  It will go with all my purple and fuchsia pieces, and maybe even some red or black pieces:

I hope to get back to work on my skirt soon.  You believe me, don't you?  Most recent pictures of the skirt are here.

I also plan to make an actual container to hold the paper napkins that sit on my kitchen counter.  I want to make a short basket based on Debbie Cook's Ikea-style bins.  Look here to see what I mean.  DH doesn't know it yet, but he will help me make this.

If DH want another set of custom sheets like you can see here, we have to find a very good price for extra-wide fabric, which is usually called quilt backing.  I still have to write the tutorial for making sheets, but you can click here to see the instructions that are with the pictures.

As if there weren't enough projects in the planning stage around here, we bought a huge wedge pillow at BB&B (with a coupon, of course!).  It comes with a flimsy pillow cover, but we prefer two pillow cases on all our pillows.  When I get around to making this pillow cover, I will share the instructions.

Omar's Sheets

DH jokes that when I sew for him, I'm Omar the tent-maker.  He is big and tall, and everything I make for him uses lots of fabric.  I worked on a project today that used lots of fabric, hence the reference to Omar.

I mentioned this project recently (click here).  DH joked that this project would never get done.  Sometimes, it feels like SOP -- my projects taking forever, that is.  This time, however, the project was finished in one day's time.

The fact that the fabric was ready, the time was set aside, and the bed was stripped, was quite the inspiration:

The end result is this - a fitted sheet and a flat sheet for a king-size bed:

Side Note:  I'm sorry if you think this bed isn't dressed, but it is.  You see, in Florida, we don't need lots of covers.

I took lots of pictures because I plan to write a tutorial for my sheet instructions.  If I have enough fabric left over to make pillowcases, I will write a tutorial for my pillowcase instructions, too.

Oh, yeah - I also worked on the skirt, and took lots of pictures of that process, too.

More news -- I added my tote bag instructions to my Tutorials page!

Eat Paleo, Wear Red, and Sew a Little

Here's a picture of a typical type of dinner we eat on the paleo diet.  This was from one night earlier this week.  It was basically a roast and a catch-all of vegetables that had been cooked in the crock pot:

Where I work, many people choose to wear red on Fridays, in support of our troops.  It's a habit that would be hard for me to break.  Here's the outfit I wore today -- M5893 with a thrifted shirt worn as a jacket:

Last, but not least, I sewed the lower skirt pieces to the middle skirt pieces.  I pressed each seam flat, first on one side ...

... and then I pressed the other side ...

... then I pressed each seam up:

I also trimmed each seam by about half:

The next step will be to topstitch each seam from the right side, but I will save that for a later day.

More Sewing Progress

No matter how small the accomplishment, sewing progress IS sewing progress.

I have been working on New Look 6343, ever so slowly.  I am using the lines of the black and white view for both the front and the back:

I recently cut out all the pieces.  Today I pinned the lower skirt pieces, and they are now ready to be sewn:

I will post my progress.