skirts, skirts and more skirts!

remember how one of my goals was to make something for myself every month? i haven't managed to make anything yet this month (i'd better get a move on!!), but i did in january! i went on a bit of a skirt binge one night, cutting out fabric for 4 skirts all in the same straight skirt basic pattern.

i LOVE skirts! i wear them over tights or leggings (mostly capri length) and they're a great way to add a bit of pattern or colour to my all black wardrobe! (i wear almost exclusively black. an ex lover of mine was lying in my bed and looked over to my closet and said "wait! you have COLOURS in there!" yeah, but unless they're skirts, i don't wear them!) skirts are also simple and quick, and since they only take a yard, i can buy pricier fabrics and enjoy them all the time without feeling guilty!

i also discovered the blind stitch foot on my sewing machine, which i LOVE! it totally inspired me to make some skirts just to hem them!

so these are the ones i made. all pretty basic, all comfy but still cute. (note that my dress form is vintage and fabulous, but is MUCH smaller than i am! the skirts all hug my curves, rather than hanging awkwardly like the pics make them seem!)

it's actually funny that i fell for this fabric, because i have a serious hate on for heathered colours (you know, like sweatshirts that are heathered grey? i hate that! it's an awkward in between colour). but i totally fell for the fabric used in the next two skirts, despite the heathered tones. animal prints makes me more forgiving!






this one is a bit plain, but i love grey on black plaid!

it's almost like a cross between plaid, stripes and herringbone, when you look at it closely.



this one was a bit more complicated than the first three. the fabric is really awesome, it's a double knit where the two layers only attached together where the polka dots are. the dots are close enough to keep the layers together, but i really loved how the edges curled when i preshrunk it, and i wanted the bottom of the skirt to do that.



at the same time, the fabric isn't quite sturdy enough to just leave unhemmed, i knew it would get too stretched out. so i cut out the skirt a bit shorter, without the hem allowance, and i used the machine blind stitch to sew a wide black twill tape about an inch above the cut hem. this will keep it from stretching too much, but it's not really visible from the front side of the fabric.



since the twill is keeping the fabric from stretching, i also put a slit in the centre back so that i would be able to walk!


i wish i had thought to match the polka dots on the back seam, but it totally slipped my mind. oh well.


i also finished a skirt that i started almost a year and a half ago! i sewed the skirt, and did the embroidery back in september 2007, and then i never got around to hemming it. it was pressed and everything, all i had to do was the hand sewing. once i fell in love with my blind stitch foot, i dug this out and hemmed it in a wink!


(this is the most accurate pic, colour wise)


closeup of the embroidery. i purposely made the stitches bigger and used 6 strands instead of my usual 2 or 3, because i wanted that look for it.

the magic of the machine blind stitch!


i still have a ton of fabric earmarked for skirts, and lots of pieces waiting to be reconstructed into skirts. maybe that's what i'll make for february as well!