https://www.eternalmaker.com
Curse you, lovely shop, for being just half an hour away, and for your general fabulous-ness...
The problem with dressmaking is that the finished object has to actually fit, if only after a fashion. You can get away with a lot if you're making a bag or a purse, or even a 3D fabric sculpture of the Eiffel Tower, no doubt. But a skirt has to fit.
As barkcloth frays like the devil, I thought I'd add to the challenge by exhuming my overlocker. It has been gathering dust since I last switched it on months ago, found the tension was all up the swanny, and flung it back on the shelf where the cat has been using it as a climbing frame. Well, maybe it just needed a large black cat to tangle its threads because when I revved it up this time, away it went without a hitch!
Having decided on a very simple skirt, I then entered the seventh circle of hell that is 'How big is my stomach?' Am I the only person who can't decide whether its better to allow a little 'eating room' or to have a more snug fit? And will it be even more snug next week, or if I leave it slightly looser will the whole thing spin round during the day until the side seam is at the front? Aagh.
You wouldn't think a skirt with two seams and four darts could cause such mental agony. I've made this pattern before and actually achieved a skirt I really like and wear a lot so I made sure I used the same seam allowances as before…. and…. it came out too big.
Aagh again.
Back onto the overlocker, SO satisfying to chunter away, eating a nice further half an inch off those pesky seams.
Time for a nice cup of tea.
Repeat all of the above with the lining.
Sew in the zip. Make a hash of sewing in the zip. Unpick stitching. Sew it in again.
More tea.
Getting there. Sew on a bias strip to finish the waist. (Liking the contrasting fabric). Realise I haven't caught in the skirt fabric to the waistband all the way round. Sew it round again. Topstitch.
Tea. BUNS. Swearing. Mr P goes out to his shed and stays there for the rest of the afternoon.
Hem! Button loop! BUTTON!
Finished! And a blind man would be glad to see it, to quote my late Mum.
I bought another piece of irresistible fabric too, so further slapdashery and swearing is on the cards but there will have to be a period of dressmaking cold turkey first…..
