Floral Skirt Finished

It took several days to free machine embroider all the flowers. The edges have been left raw so that when I wash it the edges will fray slightly to give it a softer look. I stitched round the edges of each flower twice so the fraying won't go beyond that. I'm pleased with the result - not too "folksy" at all (grin). I'm thinking of making a similar skirt but in a riot of colours next time. I embroidered the t-shirt a while ago with beige lazy daisies so it goes quite well with the skirt.

Floral skirt

I spent a few days cutting out flowers and circles from muslin and gauze to stick all over this plain 3/4 circle skirt. The skirt is very lightweight cotton so drapes beautifully but of course is also a little bit transparent with the light behind it. That's why I'm putting flowers all over it :-)
My young friend Andrea helped me cut some of them out when we stayed at their place over the weekend. It took another few evenings to iron them all on. I plan to machine embroider over all the flowers with another shade of browny-beige. I'm hoping at the end it will look sophisticated beige rather than boring beige :-) I just hope it doesn't look too "folksy".

Denim Skirt for Andrea

This is Andrea and her Grandma (my friend Joan) on the patio at their house. Andrea is wearing the skirt that she designed - I drafted the pattern and then stitched it. It fitted better than I hoped and she said she loved it. Thank goodness for that :-) This photo was taken in March and I've just realised how long it is since I wrote a blog post! I will do better...

Andrea's Denim Skirt Finished

I was talking with Andrea a few weeks ago about the pattern drafting lessons I'd been doing and while we were chatting I said I would draft a pattern and sew a skirt for her if she came up with a design. I finished it this morning so all it needs now is a body to find out if it fits and whether she likes it! The stretch denim I used is lovely - very soft to the touch so it should be very comfortable to wear. And I've quite a bit left - plenty to make a skirt for me (different design of course). Andrea drew the zip at the side but the fabric is quite thick and I thought it might look a bit lop-sided if I put it on the side seam, so I moved it to the centre back.

Skirt from old jeans

I drafted a pattern for a twelve gore skirt for myself. I cut each panel from the "good bits" of old worn out jeans. Once I stitched the panels together and tried the fit I was a bit worried it might be a bit too straight for walking so I added a pleat at the back. I recycled the waistband from one of the pairs of jeans so that it had a "real" jeans button. The seams have been embroidered with a cross stitch embroidery stitch available on my Pfaff in order to really flatten them, strengthen them and finish the raw edges all in one operation. The embroidery took ages and I probably won't use that stitch again just for that reason. I'm pleased with the result and plan to make another twelve gore skirt with a little more flare in each panel so I can eliminate the pleat. I made this one mainly to test the fit around the waist and hips, and that was very comfortable.

Overdyed Skirt

I bought this skirt from the local op shop. I liked the style of the bold print but not the colours of cream, light turquoise and greenish blues on a navy background. I liked the shape of the skirt and the way it fitted me. It had a navy polyester lining and the print fabric was cotton. So I decided to buy it anyway and try dyeing it. I used a weak solution of Rubine to turn the cream pink and the greenish blues more purplish. I like the colours now so that little experiment was definitely worth doing. The uneven hem is an illusion caused by the breeze moving the skirt around while Russ took this photo - the hem is actually level.

Recycling, Restyling, Reinventing

On Thursday evening I went to an inspiring talk entitled "Re-invent your wardrobe" by Jody Pearl at the Salvo's Store (op shop, thrift store) in Willetton. As the title suggests, Jody recreates, redesigns and reinvents existing garments into unique wearables. Clothes that are too small can be taken apart and added to. Two tops could be combined to make one. A skirt could become a top. Mens ties may be made into a dress. At the end of the talk we had the opportunity to browse the store and buy clothing with a view to making our own unique wearables. I found a denim skirt which looked to be about my size and bought it with the idea that I would add some strips from some old jeans I have hoarded ("filed" according to Jody) for years to make it longer. But when I got it home and tried it on I liked it just as it is so I'll wear it like that for a while - I can always add the strips to it later when I get bored with it.

After that success at one op shop I went to a couple of others the following day. I loved the fabric of this dress that is way too big for me. I bought it with the idea that there is enough fabric there to make a skirt for myself. I also found a pair of jeans that were a perfect fit and look like they've never been worn. I bought another pair of jeans which were a baggy style with lots of pockets - these might become a skirt at some later date.

I made the burgundy skirt last week. I quite like the fit, but I'll probably make the next one a few inches shorter. I'm making patterns for simple skirts with the idea that I'll make lots of skirts from the same pattern. Hopefully they will all look very different due to the fabric and embellishments I use. I've got lots of ideas for making unique fabric - which obviously takes quite a long time. So I want to perfect the pattern first in order that I can be absolutely certain of the fit, and I only have to make the minimum amount of fabric necessary.