After thinking about sewing a few summer skirts, I finally got the ball rolling this weekend. Here we are, summer mostly past and I am finally making another skirt.
Do you remember this fabric?
I originally posted about it on May 28th. And that seems frightening to me, that I planned on making a simple summer skirt and I am just now making it, nearly two months later. Where has the summer gone? Well, I actually do have a few ideas, but let’s not dwell on that.
This is the pattern I am using, Simplicity 4186. It is a very simple, one pattern piece skirt. There are two options, pleats that run straight up and down, and pleats that are angled out from the center.
I have no idea which skirt will look best on me at the moment. I haven’t made a pleated skirt for some time so I opted for the straight up and down pleats. That is one of the interesting things about sewing, it is always a guessing game.
Saturday night I traced the lining pattern and sewed the lining. So far so good.
Sunday night I traced the skirt pattern, and cut the skirt. I kind of have mixed feelings about the skirt. I love the fabric but I am not sure I will love the skirt yet. It was an inexpensive cotton from JoAnn Fabrics so I figured that if the skirt works and I like the pattern I have a skirt I can wear for the summer. If it doesn’t work, either fabric-wise or pattern-wise, I have at least made a muslin, and hopefully, learned something. I am always hoping that I will learn something, especially when I don’t end up with wearable goods, but sometimes I have my doubts about this.
OK, on to the skirt.
Saturday I traced, cut, and sewed the lining
Sunday night I traced the skirt pattern and cut the skirt fabric.
I still had doubts, but went ahead anyway. I made an extension for the contrast band to go at the bottom of the skirt and started cutting the green fabric. When I placed the first piece on the skirt, I did not like it. Yet, ever hopefull, I cut the remaining strips. Still not good as you can see below.
The green is much too bright and does not go with the skirt. I wonder what I was thinking when I purchased these two fabrics together. Did I not see that the green was too bright? Obviously not. It seems I was running with the vision in my head, completely oblivious to the fact that the reality of the materials were not going to yield that ever-elusive dream result.
I do not have enough fabric to recut the skirt, but I do have enough to add bands of the same fabric at the bottom. Perhaps I have a decorative ribbon that I can use at the seamline between the two pieces. Perhaps I have another piece of fabric that will work as a contrast band? Perhaps all these options were overwhelming my poor, tired, frustrated brain.
When you hit a wall, go to bed. Words to live by. And so, I did.
Today, I will construct the skirt and see if Iit fits and if it looks good on me and I like it. Then, having passed those three critical tests, it will be time to see what can be done about replacing the bottom piece and bringing the skirt to a wearable length.
Comments
2 responses to “Skirt Progress”
You could try straight strips of the fabric applied to the green to break it up and tie it together more – or applique shapes from the skirt fabric onto the band. I know you’ll come up with an interesting solution – just play with a few ideas.
Miriam
You could try straight strips of the fabric applied to the green to break it up and tie it together more – or applique shapes from the skirt fabric onto the band. I know you’ll come up with an interesting solution – just play with a few ideas.
Miriam