Category Archives: Sewing

10:07 am - June 3, 2015 - AngelaH

MMM recap

I had intended my next post to be a mountain-photo extravaganza, but then I realized that if I didn’t do a Me Made May roundup now, I probably never would. I didn’t do weekly updates here, as some other bloggers did, and at the end I didn’t even post photos to Instagram with any kind of regularity, but I did continue to take them. So, here we go, Me Made May 2015, in one handy, approximately chronological, collage:

I’m not going to list every piece in every photo — if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll probably recognize all the knitwear, and almost everything is detailed on Instagram (at least when I posted there)/Ravelry or under the Sewing tab at the top of this page. There are a few tops up there that I haven’t gotten around to blogging, but they’re all Scout Tees. Far and away, my two favourites are my Double Gauze Scout (dark blue with white polka dots) and my Chambray Scout (very lightweight, with a pocket — centre of the second row). They’re both easy to wear, fit fantastically (I think) through the shoulders and bust, and stand up well to a full day’s wear (ie: they don’t wrinkle horrendously). It was really too chilly to wear many skirts or dresses, but as summer gathers steam I think another Madeleine skirt is definitely in the cards for me — I love wearing the feathered one I made last year, and I think a second one in a drapier fabric would be fantastic.

Knitwear-wise, there’s a whole lot of orange up there, so you can be sure I’m planning more lightweight cardigans (which I also mentioned in my last post). I also wore both Shaelyn and Flukra a lot, though they didn’t always make it into the photos, so another biggish shawl or two would not go amiss (also mentioned in my last post). One thing my handknit wardrobe is definitely lacking, though, is lightweight knit tops. I have some good winter sweaters, but basically nothing for warmer weather, which is something I really want to change. I’m knitting away on Balta right now, that’s a start, but I was really inspired by the way Natalie layered her lightweight knits (here and here, for example), and it made me reconsider how versatile a knit tank could be. It also makes me think I should revisit my Kit Camisole, which I never wear because I find it about an inch too short and don’t love the placement of the straps — ripping out the top and adding a little length before reknitting would be a pretty easy fix for that though, and then I’d have a new summer top with much less knitting!

In my initial pledge post I stated that my two goals for the month were to assess the handmade wardrobe that I have, and figure out where I wanted it to go, and that I wanted to think more how dressing in general, and why I wear what I wear and why I like what I like. Those two things are definitely related, since obviously what I wear and like will affect what I choose to make, but I did find it useful to think about them separately. For me, splitting those two things apart meant that instead of just saying “I need more lightweight cardigans,” I was able to be more precise about what that meant. So, I need more lightweight cardigans like Grace, which have some visual interest, but are otherwise simple to wear; I really like that Grace is a bright colour, but for the next one I should probably knit in a neutral (warmish grey, I think), and then alternate colour and neutral going forward, so ensure easy layering; etc.

All in all, I think the month was a success, and I’m excited about the prospect of tackling it again in a year. Mostly though, I’m excited about the perspective it gave me on what I make and why, and how that will help organize my making going forward. With my sock drawer pretty well sorted, I’m excited to shift my attention more to garment knitting, which is a slower process that I think suits where I am right now.

All right, that’s probably enough about wardrobe planning for one week. Next time: mountains!

Categories: Knitting, Sewing Tags: Me Made May, wardrobe building

12:22 pm - May 3, 2015 - AngelaH

Me Made May

For the last two years I’ve watched other bloggers take the Me Made May pledge, and followed through the month as they’ve rocked their handmade wardrobe in a really public way (so many people post daily outfit pictures during the month, which feels like a more public way to dress than just to wear your clothes and go about your day). Last year I really wanted to join in, but I knew I didn’t have the wardrobe to do so; this year I think I’m right on the cusp. I have a few skirts, a few tops, one lightweight cardigan, a dress, and some accessories. I’m not sure it’s really enough to get my through the whole month, but I’m going to try (and I plan to add to the tally as I go along).

Technically, I think I’m too late to make the official pledge, but I don’t care. Having a largely handmade wardrobe is a slow process, so maybe deciding to pledge can also be slow. I want to make this month as thoughtful and useful as possible, so I took my time thinking about what I wanted to get out of it, and here’s what I’ve come up with.

First, I want to really assess my handmade wardrobe. It’s small, so there are lots of holes, but I want to get a real sense of what works and what doesn’t, so I know what to add going forward. I also want to be really aware of what I’ve made so far, how those garments fit, and how they make me feel, because I don’t want to spend time making things unless those things are going to make me feel great later.

Second, I’ve been slowing thinking about my wardrobe in a more holistic sense (hence all those links last week), and I think this will help. I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but I want to be less haphazard about how I dress. It’s not that I think I dress badly, but I think I can definitely be more thoughtful, and the idea of putting each outfit out into the world will force me to dress in a way that I’m proud of every day. This isn’t about dressing up, but it’s more about being more precise in my choices, and even if my actual outfits don’t change much in the end (I will probably always gravitate toward jeans + t-shirt + cardigan, and I’m okay with that), I at least want to know that I’m dressing a certain way by choice and not out of habit. (Does that make sense?)

So, here we go:

I, Angela, am signing up for Me Made May 2015 with the goal of building an outfit around something Me-Made 5 days a week (this means a pair of socks won’t cut it, but a great shawl might). I will endeavour to post a photo each day on Instagram.

Left to right: My one and only successful Wiksten Tank, with Grace; and my Shaelyn shawl with New Girl.

I am surprisingly excited about this challenge, especially since L and I are going away for 10 days and I have no idea how a me-made wardrobe will work for our trip (about which, more later). I’m not going to do weekly roundups, but I will do a sum-up post at the end of the month. Is anyone else doing Me Made May this year? What do you think of this whole thing? (Honestly, as a knitter, I think Me Made March would be way easier to commit to).

Categories: Knitting, Sewing Tags: Me Made May

10:08 pm - April 21, 2015 - AngelaH

Spring Scouting

When it comes to writing about sewing, I am terrible. Part of it is definitely a practice issue — I am definitely a seasonal sewist — but part of it is also that sewing is so much quicker than knitting, which means I have less time process time during which to think about what I’ll eventually say. The result, of course, is a back log of projects, which I find weirdly intimidating to write about (as if, since they’ve been kicking around, I should have more to say). ANYWAY, this preamble is just more procrastination, so I will just jump in.

This was meant to be a test shot, but I actually kind of like the angle. Anyway: I’m not sad, is what I’m trying to say.

As I said, I am a seasonal sewist, so when the warm(ish) weather arrived about a month ago, coinciding with Felicia’s simple sewing series, I was inspired (inspired!) to revisit Grainline Studio’s Scout Tee, which I had tried before but never quite gotten right. I read lots of sewing blogs over the winter, so I was feeling vicariously confident in my skills. I pulled out the pattern pieces, made some alterations, and whipped up this pink floral top. (Would I have said this fabric was my style before this shirt? Maybe not. Why did I have it in my stash? In a fit of spring fever a year ago, I bought four metres of it! Thank goodness I like it so much now).

This spring fever Scout is a very, very wearable muslin. It does billow a little in back, so I made a few tweaks before making a second one.

I love this fabric. Love it. And it’s even better for being navy — my go-to neutral — since that makes an otherwise whimsical print very easy to wear. I am a big fan of elbow-length sleeves (I often roll my regular sleeves up this high), and it’s a great length for spring. These sleeves are slim enough to fit comfortable under a cardigan, but still have enough room to move around in. I suspect I’ll make a couple more tops in this style for the fall, though its probably safe to switch over to t-shirts for now.

Another test shot that worked out pretty well!

So, what do you think? I have two more of these to blog about (I don’t have photos, or I’d have lumped them all in here together), so I hope it isn’t deadly boring. Is anyone else feeling the urge to sew as the weather warms up?

Edited to add: I completely left off the usual Details part of this post. Maybe if I treat sewing FOs the way I treat knitting ones, the blogging will be a little easier? Hmm. Anyway, here it is:

Details
Pattern: Scout Tee by Grainline Studio
Fabric: Anna Maria Horner Voile in Cell Structure in Americana (from Field Study) and Cotton + Steel Lawn in Window Vine (from Homebodies)
Notes: I honestly can’t remember what size I started out with, so I’m not sure helpful these modification notes will be (I think I may have started with a size 8, based on the finished garment measurements). Anyway: Initially I did an FBA and graded the side seams in two sizes at the waist. I noticed that I had a lot of extra fabric at the centre front (a lot), so in a move that worked for me (but might not for you!) I cut an inch off the pattern piece (thus taking two inches out of the centre front; as I said, there was a lot of extra fabric just sitting there, yet the top didn’t fit properly at the sides without the FBA). I then re-drew the neckline and did a slight broad-back adjustment to make up the difference. I also added an inch to the length and did French seams where I could.

I should note that because I started all these alterations months ago (there was another muslin somewhere around the holidays) that part of the reason everything is in a jumble is because I didn’t really know what I was doing. Undoubtedly choosing a more appropriate size from the get go would have lessened the alterations. This really is a simple and straight-forward pattern if you don’t go crazy overthinking it (as I sort of did). In the end, though, I’m happy with the pattern pieces I have, which is the main thing.

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: Scout Tee

12:31 pm - January 1, 2015 - AngelaH

The year in making: Looking Back

It’s that time of year I guess. 2014 was a funny one for me: I never felt like I had very much time to knit anything at all, but looking back I think I did okay. I’ve also included some sewn pieces in this collage, but not everything. I sewed a lot this year and most what I made are not garments I’d wear, though they all taught me something. A few of these pieces are unblogged, either because they were gifts or I just didn’t quite get around to them. Anyway, here is what 2014 looked like from over here.

Starting at the top and going across each row left to right: January – Cold Snap socks, Brig, Sunnyside Twin Set, Rye – February – Hodgepodge Mittens, Sochi Socks – March – Flukra, Shaelyn, New Girl – April –Splish-Splash socks, Gaspereau Mitts, Fine-Feathered Madeleine, Pheasant socks (actually finished in June, but they fit better in this row), Grace – June – Baldersquash socks – July – Gatineau Stripes – August – Summer Skyps, Endless Summer Tunic/Dress, Brig II – September – Kelly skirt, Betula, Stasis – October – Endless Summer Dress, Motoring Madness mitts, Rye II (unblogged, my mum’s Christmas gift), Norby, Dad socks (unbloged, my dad’s Christmas gift) – December – Skiff (unblogged, my sister’s Christmas gift), Wee Envelope (despite appearance, I did finish it, I just gifted it before taking a new photo), Christmas Stockings, Return of the Moose gloves, Blackberries, Ruby Sunnyside (unblogged because I just finished it).

If you’re keeping count, that’s 35 actively enjoyed finished garments, and there are actually a couple of others that I never got around to taking photos of (including a second Kelly skirt, which I made for my sister). That works out to: 12 pairs of socks, 4 hats, 4 baby sweaters, 4 pairs of mittens/mitts/gloves, 3 skirts (two sewn, one knit), 2 shawls, 2 sweaters, 2 sewn dresses, and two Christmas stockings! Not too shabby, and a good range of garments that managed to not be all in the same colour!

Besides the socks, my most-worn knits have definitely been Shaelyn and Grace, with New Girl coming in a close third. Shaelyn is an ideal shawl for summer (for me): long enough to wear when bicycling to and from work, a nice lightweight fabric that’s still warm, and a colour that manages to be a both snappy and a neutral. Grace is both easy to wear and very comfortable. It’s perfect for work, and brings some good colour to my otherwise kind of dark winter wardrobe (so much navy…) New Girl was a complete surprise. I’d been interested in knitting a skirt for a while, and although I loved the pattern, it was hard to know how it would turn out. As it is, I’ve worn it so much I’m honestly thinking about knitting a second one.

What was your favourite FO of the year? Does it surprise you?

I’ll get to my 2015 goals later, but in the meantime let me just say thank you to everyone who reads this blog, whether you comment regularly, just once in a while, or not at all. There have definitely been days when knowing I’d blogged about something pushed me to keep going at it, or when knowing I could ask for advice or an opinion kept me from worrying about some detail or another. So, thank you for hanging out this year! Let’s do it again in 2015.

Categories: finished, Knitting, Sewing, Uncategorized Tags: year in review

11:15 am - October 28, 2014 - AngelaH

Dressing up

For a while now I’ve been wanting to incorporate more skirts and dresses into my regular wardrobe. I don’t work in a fancy office, so there’s no pressure to dress up (just as well, really, since I’ll probably always jeans and a t-shirt best), but it’s nice to have options in the morning, and to change things up, so I’ve been working on it. I am not a big shopper, so when it comes to new clothes these days a lot of enters my closet is handmade, so more skirts and dresses means making more skirts and dresses.

I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m freezing in this picture. I also really need a haircut. Oof.

All of which brings me to my most recent sewing project. I sewed another Endless Summer Tunic, but this time added another two inches to the length and put in the pockets. I used Liberty Lawn in Lauren’s Leaf (my LYS started carrying Liberty earlier this year and I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, so…) and wow, what a delightful experience start to finish.

I love this print so much.

I’m sure it helped that I’d sewn the pattern before, and I was definitely way, way more patient this time around, including when I put on the almost-finished dress and discovered that the fit in the back was all wrong. I ended up ripping out the seam at the back yoke and taking two inches off the top of the back piece, which has fixed the issue (I think I need to narrow the shoulders a little next time, but it’s nothing I can’t live with).

It might seem like a strange choice to sew a sleeveless dress just as the weather is starting to cool, but there was a method to my madness. First, that the lawn is a lightweight fabric, so this will be wearable year-round; second, that the loose shape will easily allow for leggings underneath as it gets colder; and third, that my office is pretty warm and I’m a big fan of cardigans. Basically, I wear t-shirts all year round, and I’m not sure that extra little cap of fabric offers up that much extra warmth (we’ll see what I say in January, I guess).

We photographed my mitts at the same time, and when I was looking through the photos I realized I’d never posted a photo of my Flukra in action. So here it is!

I think I’m just about ready to try actual fitted dresses now. I’m debating whether to try the very popular Emery Dress (which has darts, which I’m more or less familiar with — I’d skip the collar and bow, though) or the Hepworth Dress (which has princess seams, which I’ve never sewn, but so what?). This isn’t really a pressing decision, since my sewing time is limited, what will all the holiday knitting I have going on, but still. It’s fun to have projects to dream about. Also on my (dream) list is a second New Girl skirt, but with a different pattern at the bottom — I wear my blue one a ton, so I know a second would get lots of action.

Am I alone in my urge to mix things up with skirts and dresses? I know this feels a little out of left field to me, but maybe it’s part of a broader culture shift I haven’t been conscious of? What other patterns (knitting and sewing) should I be dreaming about?

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: dress, Endless Summer Tunic, Liberty fabric

9:59 am - September 8, 2014 - AngelaH

Kelly with green buttons

When I set out to sew something (which isn’t often, since I don’t have a dedicated space) I plan out how long I think it will take, hit play on whatever Audiobook I’m listening to (this weekend I finished Middlemarch and got back to The Goldfinch) and put my head down. I have been known to forget meals and/or not realize it has gotten dark when sewing, despite all the up-and-down from machine to iron (so much ironing). All of which means the finished garment tends to be accompanied by a stiff neck and a sore back (again, something I don’t notice until I’m finished.)

This weekend, though, I was pleasantly surprised by how well this skirt — the Kelly Skirt by Meghan Nielsen came together. For starters, to mitigate the back/neck pain and also make time to leave the house, I spread the process out. I don’t know where I got the idea that sewing had to be a one-day affair, but realizing I don’t need to finish something in one sitting has been really liberating. I traced the pattern and cut my fabric on Friday, did the sewing on Saturday (several hours spread out over the whole day), and sewed on the buttons yesterday. Not only did spread the process out mean I didn’t end up stiff and sore, but I’m pretty sure it led directly to a nicer looking (and better constructed and finished) skirt.

I made the straight size medium, with my only deviation from the pattern being that I only had six of the vintage green buttons, so on the waistband, in place of the second button, I used a hook and eye. I don’t see myself wearing this without a belt, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. This fits really well with just a t-shirt tucked in, and is definitely easy to wear — I think it will even suit tights as the weather gets cooler.

I’m not 100% sure about the shape on me, but I think that’s something I could fix by shortening the waistband and adding maybe a half-inch of ease to the skirt. I might also add a couple of inches to the hem, to bring the skirt to just above the knee. I’m thinking about making a second version using the grey-blue cotton/linen fabric I bought in California. What do you think? Is the Kelly skirt worth a round 2?

I’m including this hilarious photos because even though who knows what I’m doing with my arms (mid-stretch? Too much Top Model in my undergrad days?) it’s a decent angle on the skirt.

(If you’re curious, I managed to get a fair amount of knitting time this weekend too. I’m an inch from finishing the body increases on Stasis, which puts me very, very close to joining the arms.)

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: skirt

10:04 am - August 18, 2014 - AngelaH

California stash expansion

I always seem to buy yarn while on holiday. In much the same way as what I knit on vacation will forever remind me of that holiday when I wear/use it later, so too does yarn bought while away stay tied to that place. For that reason, I decided that on this trip I wasn’t going to buy anything I could get on the ground in Toronto. I also wanted to try and buy with projects in mind (even if they’re as general as this would be good for a shawl), which forced me to pay as much attention to yardage as to colour, and (hopefully) means I’ve come out of this trip with yarn I can make good use of.

Our first stop was A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland. I don’t remember when I first heard about Verb, but it has popped up on blogs with enough frequency over the last several years to make it the one shop I wanted to make sure we went to. L, always happy to explore off-the-beaten-track placed, was happy to make a detour to Oakland, a city people actively tried to dissuade us from visiting. We visited Berkley in the morning and then walked to Verb.

One of the things I knew I wanted to get was yarn to knit L a new pair of gloves. His old ones have had a good life, but there’s no way they can handle another winter, and after knitting Grace I thought Quince & Co. would be a good choice for new ones (though in the slightly heavier Chickadee). Verb had a great selection of colours, and after L chose what he wanted he left (there was a great café next to the shop) and I stayed to poke around some more.

I could have spend quite a long time in Verb, but I was overwhelmed by the choices and conscious that L was waiting (he actually came in after reading for a while because he thought he might have to do some damage control! Haha).

I really liked the way the shop was laid out, with yarn in the front third and fabric in the back. There were a ton of samples, and I really liked the display rack, which both helped to divide up the shop and let you get a sense of how the various yarns knit up. There were also lots of Judys around, dressed in a combination of knit and sewn garments, which definitely inspired me to think more about the shop’s Seam Allowance ideal of making 25% of your wardrobe.

Quince & Co. Chickadee in Winesap and Slate, and some lovely fabric! (I sewed my dress before I took these photos, so that double gauze is just the leftovers.)

In addition to the wool for L’s gloves, I picked up the Endless Summer Tunic pattern and some fabric: the double-gauze I used to make my Endless Summer Dress, a grey-blue cotton and hemp, and some 6.5 oz denim (destined to become this skirt, I think).

The other LYS we visited was ImagiKnit. I don’t like to push too much yarn shopping on L since it’s his vacation too, but ImagiKnit was pretty close to where we were staying, so on our last morning in San Francisco we decided to walk over after breakfast (this involved climbing/descending several huge hills, but it was totally worth it).

What a great shop! ImagiKnit is huge — its two big rooms are filled, floor to ceiling, with yarn. The first room is all animal fibres and the second is all plant and man-made fibres, and both rooms are organized like a clock, with the thickest yarn at 12 o’clock (the front windows) and then getting thinner as you walk clockwise. Genius! I walked around and around, trying to take in everything, but it was a little shelf at the back that really caught my eye, since it housed all the locally dyed yarns.

There were also a few baskets of yarn on the counter that drew me in. The owner said she had recently been to the Malabrigo warehouse/factory in Uruguay and picked up some experimental yarn. It looked just like barber-pole handspun, and was so gorgeous (and so unavailable anywhere else) that I couldn’t resist.

Top: Aurora Yarns Acquerello Middle: Quince & Co. Chickadee in Slate and Winesap Bottom: Malabrigo Dos OOAK, and Tactile Fiber Arts Bolinas Sock in Spruce.

My total haul wasn’t too bad, really: three skeins of Quince & Co. Chickadee (for L’s gloves); two skeins of Tactile Fiber Arts Bolinas Sock, a fingering-weight BFL dyed in the Bay Area, in Spruce (for a shawl); a skein of Aurora Yarns Aquerello, hand-painted in Moss Beach (definitely for socks); and two skeins of one-of-a-kind Malabrigo Dos (who knows what this for — I’ll figure something out). All in all, some pretty excellent souvenirs I think!

Categories: Knitting, Out and about, Sewing Tags: California, stash, yarn shopping

9:18 am - August 12, 2014 - AngelaH

Endless Summer

I know I should write the post about the California LYSs I visited (this is sort of like a prelude), but I feel like it has been ages since I posted anything finished (or, it had been before my Summer Skyps), so this dress is jumping the queue.

I have done a lot of sewing this summer and, as can be the way when you’re learning something new, I haven’t been very successful. I have sewed a half-dozen tops that are just blah, and it has been discouraging. (I should note that is probably as much due to my poor choice of patterns as it is to my skills. My last few tops have been pretty well made, but are unflattering, so can be donated rather than tossed out.) But, I believe in perseverance, and I know better than to be hard on myself about being a beginner. Even though I would consider most of my July projects failures, they all gave me the opportunity to practice new skills and get more comfortable at my machine, and that isn’t wasted time.

Which leads me to this dress. It’s the Endless Summer Tunic from A Verb for Keeping Warm, and I picked up both the pattern and the fabric while I was there (yes, I copied their example exactly. I wasn’t going to, but then I couldn’t resist). I had already been thinking about trying the pattern out, but what sealed the deal for me was that Verb had it made up in every size, so I could actually try them on to determine both whether it was as flattering style and what size to make. The pattern itself is relatively simple, so I wasn’t too worried about the execution.

I am really happy with this dress. It’s all wrinkled in these photos because we took these in the afternoon and I wore it all morning, but I just don’t care. The style is easy to wear, and I will certainly be able to wear it work, since my office is pretty casual.

To make it a dress, I added three inches to the length (below the pocket marks). Wearing it with a belt definitely shortens it a bit, so I might add another inch (above the pocket mark, I think, so they end up in the right place) next time. I actually left the pockets out of this version, since the double-gauze I used just didn’t seem robust enough to make pockets I’d actually be able to use, but I’m dreaming about another version in Liberty (this leafy one, I think) and it will definitely feature pockets. I like the idea of having a more fall version of this, and a darker fabric will look better with tights I think.

So, what do you think? Is it worth making another one? How to you handle disappointing FOs?

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: dress, Endless Summer Tunic

12:42 pm - May 31, 2014 - AngelaH

Everything’s coming up Grace

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur. Work has been busy, the weather has been gorgeous, and my head has been filled up with summer project ideas. There are so many things I want to make this summer, but as the weather gets better I know my knitting and sewing time will decrease, so I’m trying to rein in my ideas to something more manageable.

Due to my yarn shortage I had pretty much given up on hitting my June 1 Grace deadline. Quince & Co. shipped my yarn very quickly after I ordered it, but there’s a border and customs between them and me, and it can be hard to gauge how quickly things will get through (I have a vague memory of my original order taking a while to arrive, for example). To make myself feel better, I decided to spend the weekend sewing — L will be away pretty much all day both days, so my taking over the living room to sew inconveniences no one (except Ganymede, but she’s a cat, and thus gets no say).

My weekend, in a pile.

I bought fabric in anticipation of two days of sewing, during which time I planned to knock out three tops. But then the very best wrinkle appeared in my plan: my yarn from Quince arrived yesterday! I’m starting to feel like this cardigan is fated for success (I really hope I didn’t just jinx myself).

I finished the first sleeve this morning and have only half of the second one to do, so I might still make my self-appointed deadline! I do still want to get some sewing done this weekend, though, so I’m my current plan is to knit today, with a little break to cut the fabric for one top. Then, tomorrow, I’ll be able to sew up at least one top in a reasonable amount of time, which should leave me plenty of opportunity to finish any remaining knitting.

This plan relies heavily on today’s productivity, though, and since it’s already early afternoon I had probably better stop typing and start knitting! Goog luck with whatever you’re planning for your weekend!

Categories: Knitting, Sewing Tags: Grace

4:06 pm - May 19, 2014 - AngelaH

Fine feathered Madeleine

I don’t know why, but I always forget how much I like wearing skirts. When I was a kid, I absolutely refused to wear skirts or dresses and really only came around to wearing them on a casual basis in the last six or seven years. This all probably explains why it didn’t occur to me to try sewing a skirt until Sara and Andrea suggested it last weekend. I am so, so glad that they did.

This is the Victory Patterns Madeleine skirt and it represents what I spent most of the weekend doing (that and knit the button bands and collar of Grace). I have a very small stash of fabric, but this is one of the first pieces that made up that little stash. It’s Anna Maria Horner Field Study Linen (a linen-cotton blend) in the “Deep” colourway of Parenthetical Flight. I ordered 2 yards of it a few months ago, before I was really doing any sewing or knew how much yardage to buy. As it turned out, I was very lucky to get this skirt out of two yards, and actually had to sew pieces together for the waistband. Thank goodness I had decided in advance to forgo the straps.

The fun thing about sewing, besides the speed, is how much there is to learn. It reminds me of when I started knitting and everything was new and exciting and each project represented new skills. This skirt represents a bunch of firsts: using interfacing, making a buttonhole, sewing in a zipper, etc.

To choose a size I decided to measure a high-waisted skirt I already have, which put me between sizes 10 and 12. As it turns out, I could certainly have gone down a size: after walking out to take the pictures I realized the waist was too loose and, after getting home, moved the button out by nearly and inch and then added a hook-and-bar to the inside of the waistband. This pulls the zipper off its clean line a bit, but it’s not too noticeable and is a definite improvement fit-wise.

All in all, I am very pleased. I love the huge pockets and the length, and that I don’t need a belt, but could wear one if I wanted. I wore this all day today, and I am please to report that it’s suitable for bicycling, sitting on café patios, and wandering around city parks. In short, it’s a perfect summer skirt, and I still can’t quite believe I made it.

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: skirt, Victory Patterns