Friday 29 June 2012

My first skirt!


Using some more of a Liberty print fabric I bought on Goldhawk Road I've made my first skirt! I decided that I'd treat myself gently and try an elasticated waist skirt before attempting one with a zip and I'm very glad I did! I made this skirt once, took it apart, re-measured and re-cut the fabric , then re-made it. The reason for this? The little cloth tape measure I was using was wrong, yes that's right the tape measure was wrong, and that's not me making excuses for myself it really was! After I made up the skirt the first time it was far too wide (making it extremely bulky).  Looking for who to blame (because of course it wasn't my fault!) I looked again at the tape measure and started to suspect the length of an inch wasn't quite right. Sure enough I got out a ruler and.. the measurements on the tape measure were way out! So, I put the faulty tape measure in the bin and brought home my trusty work tape measure (every archivist needs a tape measure!).  I unpicked the skirt, re-measured and made it quite a bit narrower.

Then I followed this great tutorial for making the skirt. It's got nifty side panels that you leave out the elastic, thereby reducing the bulk at the side of the skirt.  Pockets! My first time putting in pockets and, after a few attempts, I got it right! Well.. almost right somehow I managed to sew one of the pockets to the back of the skirt so I had one facing forwards and one back. To sort this I just unpicked it from the back of the skirt so the pocket now hangs loose and can sit forward facing.  I'm so happy I've put in my first pockets as I just love pockets!  Not only can I now put pockets in everything I make (if I want to of course) but I can also add pockets to thrifted skirts and dresses I buy.

the weird greasy looking mark is actually on my camera rather than my skirt


close-up of the pattern on the fabric