Monday, November 16, 2009

A start and a finish

Wonders will never cease! I've got a habit of posting new craft books and fabric, promising to make something with them soon and then consigning them to the cupboards and promptly forgetting about them. Well, this time, I've actually made a start - below is a picture of the cute Kokka fabric (posted about here) with the pattern laid out ready for cutting. I traced off the 'Aqua pants' from Ottobre 3/2008 in size 80cm and have since cut them out. They're waiting patiently to go under my needle just as soon as Tristan finishes his lunch :)
And a finish, of sorts. I decided to give the Sew What! Skirts book a go and decided to make a trial skirt before I cut into my precious (and exxy) Saffron Craig fabric (posted about here). Thank goodness I did! It's been a while since I've made any clothes from a pattern, and an even longer time since I've made anything for me. I made three mistakes on this trial skirt (all stupid and thankfully redeemable) and have decided that the drawstring waist is too bulky for the look I am going for. So, I will have to make a fitted waist, probably using bias binding tape and a zipper. Eek! Surprisingly, the actual drafting of the pattern was easy. So if I can get the waistline right, it should be a lot of fun to make some gorgeous skirts. Of course they won't be as easily adjustable as elasticised or drawstring waists, but they will better suit my round figure.
Anyway, here's the nearly finished skirt - if you look closely you can see the safety pin still in one end of the drawstring. I just need to handstitch the ends and the skirt is finished. It's a bit billowy, so I hope a wash will knock the size out of the fabric (yes, I'm naughty I didn't pre-wash) and it will sit a bit better. At any rate, it'll be a great beach skirt - perfect for tossing on over bathers.And, completely unrelated, here are a couple of pictures of Tristan, who is now nearly 15 months old. He loves 'helping' me bake, and, just like his big sister, his favourite part is banging the tins and licking the spoon! He's also part-time walking, although is making it near impossible to photograph him - as soon as he sees the camera he drops to his knees and crawls away at light speed. He's a cheeky little monkey, but you can see that from the photos.

6 comments:

Little Munchkins said...

The skirt looks just a teensy wide but I am sure your next version will be perfect.

I love seeing pics of your kids - they have this grin I love.

Monika said...

OMG! Are we in sync or what!! Guess what I made yesterday?? Yep, a drawstring skirt from the same book!! I too found I will need to alter the waist and maybe put a flat waistband and some darts, as the 'billowing' effect from the drawstring doesn't do my round figure any justice.

Good luck with the next one - lets see if we can luck the timing again!!

:o)

Joyce said...

I'm sure the skirt will soften with washing. Putting in a zipper is really not hard as long as you have a zipper foot for your machine. If you're worried, just baste it in first.
Tristan just keeps getting cuter!

Doodlebug Gail said...

I'm sure that after washing your skirt the fabric will be softer and will not be so billowy. It's really lovely fabric. Tristan is too cute.

Rebekah said...

the skirt looks really cute! I like the fabric that you chose for it.

Natalie said...

I like the skirt, think it is perfect for lounging around in the hot weather. Look forward to seeing the next ones! Tristan is just so cute, they grow up so fast!