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Hi! How are you doing? ;-D.
I am good thank you! Thought I would do a post about the fastest turnaround I have ever had with fabric. Its also a tale about my um…. second Hollyburn skirt. I really REALLY love my Hollyburn the First! So I decided that I needed a second one in a different colour – a mustard-y colour. Lucky for me I had to go into the city to get my son’s violin fixed so in that context I was able to bypass the stash and go straight to the fabric shop 😉
Saturday Decision made – go after hubby and kids get back from swimming and music classes. My 4 year old comes with -( he loves all things fabric, glittery and sewing ;-). Choosing the fabric was easy my 4 year old is so incredibly decisive. “We are getting this one mummy now I need to go wee” and well that was that! In all fairness it was a good choice. I love the sack clothy look of this fabric. The fabric merchant said its a tweed look wool mix fabric – it washes and dries in the normal way I treat my clothes;easy care! The mustard-y colour is gorgeous. Plus I’ve had in mind a mustard -y winter skirt for a while now. Headed back home by 3pm. Fabric washed and tumble dried by 7pm. Kids in bed by 8pm. Pattern pieces for view B cut out before an early night at 9pm. Instead of a size 8 I cut a size 6 to achieve a more snug fit around the waist since I wasn’t planning on wearing this one with a belt. Meantime I realised that skirt will need to be lined- quickly ordered 2m of lining off Ebay.
Sunday Fused different weights of interfacing to see which had the best structure for the waist. The firm/heavy fusible interfacing ticked all the boxes. Found the closest matching thread in my thread stash that lives in the attic. Next I worked with interfaced scraps of fabric to determine the thread tension and stitch length. I was surprised that this fabric sewed best with a low thread tension and short stitch length. I kept trying till I got a combo that didn’t pucker or have loops. Once that was sorted I moved on to topstitching settings. My plan was to topstitch either side of the seams to create a neat super flat look.
Playing around with different stitch lengths on seams.
Monday Sewed up the pockets and pocket lining then attached to the skirt pieces. For the pocket lining I used fabric from one of my husbands old M&S shirts. Its a lovely pale salmon pink and the cotton is a lush double cotton. Finished the front seam. Attached back pieces and staystitched the waist. Sewed the wasitband on.
Tuesday Luckily the lining arrived in the post today. Pieces cut out. Even remembered NOT to cut the pocket shaping on the front skirt piece. Darn that lining is slippery!! Took forever to pin it and even then it still shifted when I was sewing! Attached the lining to the waistband. Found this tutorial on My Messings.
Weird angle showing lining attached to skirt.
Thursday Big day! Invisible zipper going in! Went in without a fuss at all. Finished off the main fabric back seam and lining back seam. Hemmed the main fabric first followed by lining hem.I was going to make view B with the tabs but when I made up the tabs and pinned them on I realised I preferred the clean simple look of the waistband. Stitched in the ditch to hold waistband in place. Missed Great British Sewing Bee ;-(
Friday Sat down when wee ones were napping to do a spot of handstitching the lining to around the zipper. while catching up with GBSB on Iplayer. By the end of the episode I had a skirt!!!!!
In less than a week I bought fabric and made an actual skirt I am wearing! Well pleased with myself.
My handstitching has come a long way since this A line skirt I made last year. I am not proud of that hem though. In a rush to finish I didn’t handstitch the hem opting instead for machine hem. It looks chunky. Ah well.
The keen eyed among you might have noticed that the waistband is about an inch less thick. Kudos if you picked up on that. Nomatter what I did the band would come away from my tummy. It fit perfectly around my waist but above it it sort of gaped. For this reason I kept reducing the thickness of the waistband till it sat nicely on my waist. Which meant losing about an inch or so. I think it works well though and its super comfortable.
Nothing much more to say except that I love it (again). Before I started writing my blog I used to lurk about other blogs and used to wonder why sewers made the same thing more than once ~ yep I get it. I think I may finally have what the sewing community so insatiably call “My TNT” Quick question ~ does it stand for “tried and tested” or Tried and true”?
One final thought I did have the same issue of a sudden immediate desperate desire to start a new project when all the big stuff was done – around the time when the zipper went in. I had to be very strict with myself (even recruited hubby to be my accountability partner) but my gaze was already wandering onto other patterns. I even started using affirmations to try and help. Do you have the sudden overwhelming urge to begin another project when you have nearly but not quite completed a project? How do you deal with it? My willpower is waning..
If you got this far thank you for taking the time to read my wondering post. On the radar I have another skirt in the works , no its not a Hollyburn 😉
Links
Sewaholic Hollyburn Skirt Sewing Pattern
Sue Parrott
February 17, 2015 12:06 amOh how cute! I love this pattern too!
Hila
February 17, 2015 10:56 amThanks Sue. Its so versatile isnt it? Next up I am going to try the shorter length in cottons for summer skirts 😃
theresastevens
February 17, 2015 2:36 amI like the look of that hem! It draws just a whiff of attention to the flare shape and the width of the skirt there. I think it’s a nice detail!
Hila
February 17, 2015 11:02 amThanks Theresa! I wasnt best pleased with my hemming efforts but I see what mean about the flare. It does suit the weight of the fabric. Mmm I didnt do such a bad job after all👍😃
Linda of Nice dress! Thanks, I made it!!
February 17, 2015 4:09 amI like how the skirt has a perfect flare in it. Looks good on you too!
Hila
February 17, 2015 11:05 amThanks Linda! That flare is what attracted me to the skirt 😃 and I feel as though I have found a silhouette that works for me ~ I doubt I would have ever bought a skirt like this but sewing my own clothes is opening up my eyes to so many possibilities.
navybluethreads
February 17, 2015 7:50 amWhat a lovely skirt. That colour is great on you and a perfect pop of colour for Winter. Isn’t it great when you find a pattern that just works? So satisfying 🙂
Hila
February 17, 2015 11:09 amCouldnt agree more! I have been on a sewing high lols! Its funny ; when I am wearing what I made I feel so confident and empowered. My posture has improved because I wear and walk with pride…dont know how to explain it but its incredibly satisifying😃.
navybluethreads
February 17, 2015 3:04 pmThat’s so great 🙂 I love seeing people’s faces change totally when they compliment something you’re wearing and you tell them that you actually made it yourself. It takes them a moment to process this and then they usually look incredulous 🙂
Hila
February 17, 2015 3:19 pmSo true! Its like watching a paradigm shift!
Bryanna Johnson
February 17, 2015 2:59 pmIt’s very pretty! Great job! I do the same thing of losing interest when I’m nearly finished with something and I want to move on to something else. I just have a rule for myself ha ha that I can’t make something new until I’m finished with the old one.
Hila
February 17, 2015 3:18 pmThanks for sharing Bryanna! I also have that rule; its the enforcing it that I astruggle with😳
Shirley Tulloch
February 17, 2015 6:14 pmYour skirt looks immaculate! Perfect choice of fabric and colour. I so admire your patience in testing your thread tension, it’s giving me a kick up the backside to ensure I do the same. I guess that’s when you know you have become a grown-up sewer, the attention to detail and following through on each little task. I’m still a baby sewer right now but learning. Love your style and sewing choices, it’s a pleasure to follow here and on Instagram.
Hila
February 18, 2015 4:59 pmThank you so much for your lovely compliments Shirley! I am still working on the patience. You are making some lovely things! I especially love the lined hoody – I am also watching the Sewing with Knits class and I cant say I have yet used nay of the concepts .. I need to get a knit project going 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
Geo P
February 17, 2015 7:34 pmLove the fabric, your young man has great taste! Mine is always going for tbe most colorfuls fabrics, he probably takes that after me 😀
I think the waistband is too wide for a straight band, it needs to be a little curved. I’ve seen a tutorial on how to do this for this exact pattern, I think it was on “a fashionable stitch”.
The skirt looks great on you, I like the stitched hem too, it works well with the fabric.
Hila
February 18, 2015 5:03 pmThank for your lovely compliment and the link to A fashionable Stitch’s tutorial on creating a contoured waistband. I read through it and I am definitely doing that on my next version of the skirt. Though I reduced the wasitband, there is still the teeniest bit of gaping. 😉
Sewing Shatki
February 17, 2015 9:42 pmYummy! It looks terrific on you!! You can have lot’s of fun w/different tops and scarves too. Fit is perfect, what a great feeling that must be! Love it!
Hila
February 18, 2015 5:05 pmThank you! Styling outfits is one of those things I am working on this year. The scarf I am wearing is a new addition in an attempt to be ‘stylish’. 😉
springystitches
February 17, 2015 11:32 pmI love this skirt! The fabric is gorgeous and it hangs beautifully! I haven’t tried this pattern but this will be rectified soon!!
Hila
February 18, 2015 5:10 pmGo for it! Its such a versatile skirt pattern 😉 I think the Sewaholic patterns are well drafted – like the Thurlows you recently posted – they look great and I will be making those soon I hope 😉
Hila
February 18, 2015 6:13 pmJust realised you made the Juniper trousers by Colette not Thurlows😅. Meant that to be Juniper.
springystitches
February 18, 2015 7:15 pmHe he! There are so many great patterns out there that it is hard to keep track! I’ll have to investigate the Thurlows now!
fabrickated
February 23, 2015 10:30 amI like this style on you.
TNT is tried and tested (UK) and tried and true (USA). I have the same waist band issue and find curved petersham and pressing the fabric to curve around it (sometimes you need to cut waist band on the bias) works brilliantly.
Hila
February 23, 2015 8:48 pmThanks Kate! You reminded me of petersham ribbon. I did use some on an A line skirt I made last year – I will try it on one of my planned hollyburns. Cutting the waistband also sounds like a great idea. I cut out another skirt (hollyburn) today in a heavy black crepe and I made a contoured waistband a la tutorial from A Fashionable Stitch, I am not sure how thats going to turn out – I struggled with the drafting the contoured waistband.