I am fascinated by the fact that there is such a thing as an online sewing community and delighted to be part of it now, along with my online knitting community on Ravelry and Google Plus. One of the blogs I follow set up the Made Up initiative, relying on the sewing community to pledge finishing a project and raise money for the National Literacy Trust. And as a bookworm myself, I couldn't help but join in, pledging to finish not one but two Arielle skirts.
You see, I realised that I have a ton of dresses, store-bought and now handmade, and a ton of t-shirts. However, I have little to pair them with because I don't have that many skirts and I don't like wearing jeans (even though I have way too many pairs of jeans!) It was time to make some skirts, and the Arielle just seemed perfect.
This denim one (photographed in Cornwall on its first outing) is the first one I made. When I tried it on before sewing on the buttons I thought it was too small so I changed the seam allowances to 3/8. It turns out it would have been fine, the problem must have been the fabric, which although was tagged as medium weight on the Minerva website, it was labelled as heavy and was actually heavy (the pattern calls for a medium). Making the buttonholes for the first time was also a breeze, although I had trouble opening them up (possibly because of the thickness of the fabric?).
The buttons are super-cute little ladybirds but having worn the skirt now once I think they were a mistake as they have been a pain to slot through the buttonholes! I foresee having to sew them back on several times in the skirt's lifetime.
I also made a black cotton sateen one that creases like crazy and seems to attract all the dust and dirt around - I washed it together with a cordroy fabric I bought at the same time and it picked up a ton of fluff! For this one I left the seam allowances as they were supposed to be and it fits fine. There is something weird about it though, can you spot it? Its the wrong way round! I have no idea how that happened, but anyway, I'm not too bothered about it. Again, the buttonholes are not great (had trouble opening them) but I'm hoping this will improve with practice. At least these buttons are a bit more practical despite also being quite pretty. No fancy backdrop here I'm afraid, just my living room!
Oh, and I made another Lady Skater. Number three is slightly customised, with a sort of pleated sweetheart neckline (following the instructions on my most recent purchase, Gertie sews vintage casual). I also decided that I didn't really like the colour of the fabric I bought for it (I thought it would be a deep burgundy but its more of a rust), so I used some black fabric for the bodice to break it up a bit. I didn't like the join of the top and bottom though and decided to add a belt to cover it up.
You see, I realised that I have a ton of dresses, store-bought and now handmade, and a ton of t-shirts. However, I have little to pair them with because I don't have that many skirts and I don't like wearing jeans (even though I have way too many pairs of jeans!) It was time to make some skirts, and the Arielle just seemed perfect.
This denim one (photographed in Cornwall on its first outing) is the first one I made. When I tried it on before sewing on the buttons I thought it was too small so I changed the seam allowances to 3/8. It turns out it would have been fine, the problem must have been the fabric, which although was tagged as medium weight on the Minerva website, it was labelled as heavy and was actually heavy (the pattern calls for a medium). Making the buttonholes for the first time was also a breeze, although I had trouble opening them up (possibly because of the thickness of the fabric?).
The buttons are super-cute little ladybirds but having worn the skirt now once I think they were a mistake as they have been a pain to slot through the buttonholes! I foresee having to sew them back on several times in the skirt's lifetime.
I also made a black cotton sateen one that creases like crazy and seems to attract all the dust and dirt around - I washed it together with a cordroy fabric I bought at the same time and it picked up a ton of fluff! For this one I left the seam allowances as they were supposed to be and it fits fine. There is something weird about it though, can you spot it? Its the wrong way round! I have no idea how that happened, but anyway, I'm not too bothered about it. Again, the buttonholes are not great (had trouble opening them) but I'm hoping this will improve with practice. At least these buttons are a bit more practical despite also being quite pretty. No fancy backdrop here I'm afraid, just my living room!
Oh, and I made another Lady Skater. Number three is slightly customised, with a sort of pleated sweetheart neckline (following the instructions on my most recent purchase, Gertie sews vintage casual). I also decided that I didn't really like the colour of the fabric I bought for it (I thought it would be a deep burgundy but its more of a rust), so I used some black fabric for the bodice to break it up a bit. I didn't like the join of the top and bottom though and decided to add a belt to cover it up.
No comments:
Post a Comment