Bird Print Skirt

This is a wonderful cotton twill from Santa Fe Fabrics and my trip with the Fiberlies in April.  I fell in love with the bird print and knew it would be perfect in my favorite Marfy A-line sporty summer skirt, #093. 

It's the skirt on the left in the pattern drawing below, without the belt carriers or patch pockets, and lengthened just over 5". 


The pockets I have are kind of an inset apron pocket, copied from an Alice+Olivia skirt.  I've made this skirt quite a few times, never have done the belt carriers, and although the original pockets are a little small in my opinion, I have used them at least once.  I've done other patch pockets and this pocket several times.

Here's the inside of the skirt showing the pocket construction.  

Skirt Front

Skirt Back

Inside Skirt Hem

  The rest of the skirt is quite simply done, with a faced waistband, interfaced of course and stitched through all layers at the darts and seams.















 Centered back zipper with a hook at the top for security.














 And of course a hand stitched hem for invisibility.

Catching Up to Style Arc

I have been hearing about Style Arc patterns for quite a while.  Ann, of Gorgeous Fabrics told me to get with it last year and try them, even suggesting a few I would like.  As usual, I'm a little behind, but I ordered the new Zoe Pencil Skirt the other day and along with it got February's Free-Pattern-of-the-Month, the Issy Knit Top.

Here they are laid out on the dining room table.  I have already traced and laid out the skirt.  I  have a nice blue tweedy wool that will be a good trial, and I have a gorgeous Elegance fabric from Mardel that I will use next if it is as good as I think it may be.  I love the idea of the dart shaping they're using, and the shifted side seams.  Let's hope it likes me too!

Copying RTW - A Summer Skort

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I found a really fun RTW skort the other day, and I've been wearing it quite a bit in this horrible heat. I decided it would be terribly easy to copy, and I think it turned out well. The photo above is my copy in a coarsely-woven cotton print. Here is the original in denim.
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This style reminds me of the kind of shorts they used to wear in 1940's musicals. I've always liked that style, and this was very easy to copy. Because of the apron across the front, there is not even a zipper in these. The original is closed with a button and loop at the apron edge, and a hook and eye at CF. I used a hook and eye at CF, but decided to do something a little different, and ended up with a tie and bone ring closure at the apron edge. I think it's kind of cute.
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Here's the inside, and you can see the lack of a zipper. It does have sewn on placket extensions, but that's the only 'complication' in this design, and it's not exactly a problem.
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I copied this by the needle tracing wheel method onto newsprint. This is a very simple method that works extremely well.

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If you go to the Photo Link under any photo, it will take you to the gallery, and you can see much larger and more detailed versions of these photos. The pattern photo may be especially interesting.

Spatter Print Skirt

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This skirt is made with fabric I bought at Elfrieda's in Boulder, Colorado last month when I was in Denver with Patti and Mardel viewing the YSL exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.

The pattern is Marfy 093, which I've made before. It's a great summer skirt, sitting just below the waist. This version has the Alice/Olivia Vogue pockets I did once before.
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I've been wearing skirts a lot this summer since it's been so very hot. There's just nothing cooler than a skirt.

Here's a side/back view.
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Here is the front with the skirt laid out flat.
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Marfy Shrug + Skirt

From Marfy Shrug

This is actually the fourth shrug I've made from this pattern so far. Between the floral one I did first, and this one, I made two black ones for a couple of friends. I'm really pleased with this pattern. Sorry for the poor photo quality; I was reduced to doing mirror pictures today.

In this version, it's the fabric that is the interest. This is an unusual two-layer knit The bottom layer is thick and squishy and the top layer is almost like a very fine hosiery mesh which is 'bubbled' so there's a lot of texture. I've had this fabric for quite some time, but never knew just exactly what I'd do with it until now.

From Marfy Shrug

Here's a side/back view, and with a different blouse. I think this is going to be something I'll wear a lot this Fall.

From Marfy Shrug

From Marfy Shrug

Marfy #093 Skirt with Pocket Changes

From Marfy 093 Skirt

You may remember the tie-dye Marfy skirt I made earlier this month. This time I made Marfy #093 with the cute inseam pockets from Vogue 1247. BeeBee and Carolyn both kindly helped me with the details. Thanks to both of you! I love these pockets. I've worn the skirt several times and I find it both comfortable and stylish.

The fabric is actually a pinstripe. The narrow stripe is a very pale pink, and barely shows unless you really get close and stare at it. It's a stretch woven, and it does stretch out with wearing, so it rests lower and lower on the hip as I go along. Washing and drying seems to help it recover, so it is bearable, but this is the main problem with a lot of stretch wovens, IMO. They are unreliable in their fit because they grow fairly quickly as you wear them.

I wore the skirt on the plane to the Mu Phi convention I attended in Rochester, NY last week. That was fine, except I was surprised to have to be 'felt up' under the skirt by the TSA. Now I know why most everyone wears pants to fly, I guess. I generally do too, but hadn't realized they are anti-skirt. They were even checking some poor woman who had on a tunic and leggings. I guess the original screener didn't know a tunic from a dress, as she was very willing to pull up her tunic for them. I, on the other hand, was not planning to pull up my skirt.

Here's the back view.

From Marfy 093 Skirt

Eyelet Border Knit Skirt

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This skirt is another of the straight skirts made with knit fabric and elastic waistband. Very similar to my recent Blue/Brown Snakeskin Print Skirt This fabric is from my California trip, and again bought with the able shopping assistance of Kathi, DrSue, and Lisa. I was very taken with the fabric, as I have never seen a knit with eyelet embroidery like this before. Lots of wovens, but no knits, and with the stripes as well, it was a much more sophisticated look than one usually gets with eyelet fabrics. I had to have it, and knew it was to be a skirt from the beginning.

Since this skirt has a finished hem edge it was super simple, except for one thing. The fabric is a very soft jersey knit, and without a lining it was going to be clingy almost to the point of indecency, in my opinion. So... to find something to line it with. Luckily, I have a lot of fabric-in-waiting, aka The Inventory, and I found a very nice pale pink stretch woven with almost as much stretch as the jersey. Honestly, I thought it must actually be a knit, but no, it ravels off just like a woven. It's woven with wide, square 'ribs' on the cross, and once again, the stretch is in the lengthwise direction. Obviously planned to be used like pinstripes and cut on the crossgrain, this is a neat fabric.

Here it is as worn, with the lining showing through the eyelet holes.
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I basted it to the edges of the jersey pieces and stitched it as one with it, using the selvedge as the hem, thus avoiding the problem of how to hem one fabric and not the other while seaming them together. Here you can see the side seam and the hem edge.
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The waistband is simple as can be. The elastic is serged to the edge, then it's turned under, zigzagged, and it's done.

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One last photo. The wisteria vines were whacking me in the face when I tried to hold them while talking to the cat at the same time. Ah well, that's real life.

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Tie-Dye Marfy Skirt

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This is Marfy #093, one of the free patterns from the Fall/Winter 2006/07 catalog.

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I wanted a casual skirt that was something different than my usual, and this seemed ideal. I got this stretch woven from Fabric Mart some time ago. I like the somewhat subtle tie-dye pattern.

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It's one of those stretch woven fabrics that they weave with the stretch in the warp, thus you cut on the crossgrain. This gives you the stretch going around, where we want it.

A skirt that doesn't sit at the waist or fairly close to it is something new to me, and it's an easy fit. I interfaced the inner band and after applying and understitching, stitched through the darts and side seams to secure it, and am pleased with the result.

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The original pattern has shaped beltloops that button onto the pockets. I thought it was a little dated looking, or at least more retro than I wanted. I also don't really need excess bulk right around the stomach area, so I just did the pockets and left off the loops. I cut the pockets double with a fold at the top, stitched and turned, then topstitched them onto the skirt. I ended up facing the hem since I decided I liked the length before I turned up the hem allowance I added. Photo Link

I finished this on Friday, wore it Saturday, and heard good things, so I was pleased.
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Blue/Brown Snakeskin Print Skirt

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This is the style of skirt I've been wearing a lot this summer, and I think this fabric worked very well for the it. It's a snakeskin print knit with an interesting feature; at least I think it's interesting. It has dots all over it that act a little like sequins. They're quite tiny, and I have to suppose it's part of the printing process. It may be what I've seen labeled holographic, but the ones I've seen like that are generally a much bigger dot. More the size punched out for a 3-ring binder, whereas these are about 1/16" or less in diameter, or about 1mm. Very tiny, anyway. It's what gives the fabric its shine and suggestion of skin or leather. In the photo below, you can see the fabric dots best on the brown part of the print although they are placed evenly over the whole surface.



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Anyway, the skirt itself is very simple. Just a straight skirt with elastic waist and a handsewn hem. You can see both the inside and outside of the waistband above, and the ribbon loop that marks the CB. This pattern was a download that's no longer available, and actually has 4 seams but in this case I simply put the CB and CF on folds. I like the 4 seam look in most cases, but when the fabric has a busy print, I generally only do 2 seams for visual continuity. You can see the skirt laid out flat below.


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My next quandary is should I make a jacket or something to match this? I have plenty of fabric left, and I think I'd like something. I thought of a 'scuba' type zippered jacket, but then thought that was a little too 'snaky' with this fabric. What about a cropped jacket? That's what I'm leaning toward now. But what about something else entirely? That's what I'm stumped on. I don't think a top is what I want, but it might be. What do you think? Any great ideas?

Marfy 1949 Skirt Progress & Thank You

First of all, I just want to thank all of you who were so kind as to help me celebrate my article in Threads Magazine. It's been so great to read all the well-wishes, and sharing it with you has been almost the best part of the whole thing. I expect to see lots of matching shoes now. Vicki, this means you!

Now on to current projects. I thought you might be interested in seeing the layout for the Marfy skirt I'm working on.
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This is the main skirt piece, and as you can see it's on the bias. Yes, I did iron the pattern before I laid it out, but I thread traced it and was ready to cut and had folded the pattern back up, then decided to take a photo. You can sort of see where I altered it, just at the CB top, tapering to nothing at the hem. I have a very high hip, and the draping didn't fall nicely until I got a little extra room where I need it instead of the usual 7"-9" below the waist. The only other changes I'm making is doing the waistband about half as wide as the original. I just don't have room for a wide waistband, and truth to tell, this one at half-width looks pretty wide on me.

I'm underlining with silk organza, and it's been a challenge to get it together smoothly when it's all on the bias. Hand sewing and a lot of pins have been the only thing that works. I've got everything cut out except the bias strips I'm going to use to make piping.

You can also get a pretty good look at the fabric I'm using for this. It's Pendleton wool in a very light weight. I think it has a butterscotch color to it, and I think the fabric is going to be great for this draped skirt.

Just to end on a weird note, I've been missing about 8 or 9 everyday teaspoons for a while now. I could not imagine where they went, as no one's been here, I haven't taken any silverware out of the house, and while I suppose I might possibly throw away a spoon accidentally, nine of them at once seemed unlikely. I didn't really dig through things hunting, as I was sure they'd show up fairly soon. After all, how far could they have gone? I finally found them the other day when I looked in the china closet and there they were in the spoon holder for my silver tea service. I had used them when I had club last, and then stuck the holder with the spoons still in it, into the china closet. I usually use the silver spoons with the tea set, and I don't know why I didn't this time, but I made myself a lot of trouble. Anyway, I was really pleased to find them.

Melange

As my title suggests, there are a lot of disparate items in this post. From sewing to books to soap, I'm putting it all in here.

If you are a regular reader of Stitcher's Guild, you'll already know that I also asked there for advice on underlining my skirt, and among several answers got a very thoughtful question from Ann Rowley. She wondered if this fabric was really right for this design. It made me stop and think, and after some testing, I decided that she was right. I'm so glad she stopped me before I made a terrible error and wasted that gorgeous fabric.

I've been searching the inventory and have almost positively decided on a fabric which seems much more suitable. It's a Pendleton wool plain in a pinky-beige/cream/brown combination. It's a very fine, lightweight fabric that seems to drape beautifully on the bias. I will almost certainly underline it with something, but I haven't started testing that yet. I need to make a muslin from my corrected pattern and make sure it's just right before I start on the real thing.

Meanwhile, I sewed another pair of pants last night while procrastinating from some bookwork I should have been doing.

I have enjoyed looking at the various styles that Sigrid has put in her Inspiration file, and I thought it would be fun to try to copy these.

While I didn't get a perfect copy by any means, I'm fairly well pleased with these, and I know there are a few things I'd try next time if I do another pair. Photo Link The original has a 2-layer front piece, and this may help form the top bands a little more easily. I also would make the top band area wider so I had more to work with. Generally, I think they're kind of cute, though. The lace is some that I have had for years, waiting for a suitable project.

I was thrilled to find that several of you also have a fond feeling for The Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont, which I discussed in the last post. I have ordered my own copy since then, and was able to get what I hope is going to be the exact edition my mother has. There are lots of reprints available, but I wanted an original. Miaaa, It was so interesting to hear that you have your grandmother's copy too!

My sister, who's very smart of course, is contributing two items to this post. First, she found the Encyclopedia of Needlework online in its entirety. Someone has posted it all, so if an online version will make you happy, it's here. The illustrations are very nice and clear, and there's a nice index, so it should be very usable.

Encyclopedia of Needlework Online

She also told me how to refill my foaming handsoap dispenser. In case you have one, you don't have to buy a new bottle every time. Just use the regular liquid handsoap and mix it with water in about a 1:3 ratio of soap:water. Stir well, and that's it. So instead of paying more for less soap and more water, just refill. Maybe everyone else already knew this, but I sure didn't.

Decisions, Decisions

I got my skirt muslin altered satisfactorily, I think, and I'm going to test it in muslin one more time, but now I'm thinking about what I'm going to use for underlining for this skirt. I'm seriously thinking about using muslin, and I'm wondering if this would be a huge mistake.

The skirt fabric itself is slightly stiff, and has plenty of body. The underlining is going to provide a nicer 'bend' to the fabric when it needs it. I don't think organza is indicated at all. The skirt will have to be lined with such a non-slip underlining, but I would almost certainly have lined it anyway, so that is neither here nor there. It's no more non-slip than batiste would be, and that would be another choice. Do I need to get actual batiste, or could this be an acceptable substitute. This is a fairly thin muslin, and is a nice smooth fabric, much like sheeting, and since the entire skirt is on the bias with only the one seam, it needs to be something fairly light that can be supported mostly from the waistband alone.

I will try to post something soon on the elastic and findings dyeing I've been doing. Those who asked whether the general sewing of the things is time consuming will be glad to know that the answer is no. The panties especially are very fast, and the bras go surprisingly quickly as well.

I brought a book home from my mother's yesterday. I remember it always being in our home, and although it's promised to my sister, I brought it home to read and look through again. It's Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont, published by DMC. There's no copyright date on it, but the British Library says 1907. It's just the size to put in a workbag, being about 3"x5" and almost 2" thick. Looking it over last night, I think I may have to get a reprint for myself. It has everything from plain sewing to needle and bobbin lace, tapestry, knitting, netting, just anything to do with needlework. I was very surprised to find separate instructions for handsewing buttonholes in linen and in dress materials. I like vintage sewing books, and I have a special feeling for this one.

Here's the first waterlily of the season. I was very surprised to see it as I hadn't even noticed the bud, and suddenly there was a beautiful flower.

Thrills and Chills

Isn't it fun when sewing gets really exciting again? I keep plugging away, and although I always enjoy it and wouldn't quit for anything, every now and then I just get thrilled with an idea or a little progress on something, and suddenly I'm on a high with no ceiling in sight. Yesterday it happened with a skirt I'm working on.

I thought I was getting a little stuck on lingerie, and I ought to work on something else, like how about one of this season's Marfy patterns I bought? I thought I'd start with this skirt, Marfy #1949.
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I knew I was probably going to have to enlarge the pattern a little at least because most Marfy patterns have almost no ease, and I didn't want a really form-fitting skirt. Also since this pattern has only one seam, at CB, is cut on the bias, and has no dart shaping, and only one partial side seam in the pocket, a muslin was a necessity. Actually, the pattern pieces had me stymied for a while because there are so many waistband pieces. There are 6 waistband pieces. One for the front, one for left back, one for the right back, and inner pieces for each of these, so the band has a seam at the top. Then there is a front and back piece that go between the waistband and the skirt to form the pocket, and of course a pocket bag front. It's a beautifully made pattern, but it took me a while to lay it out so I could figure out what was going on. Then it seemed perfectly logical.

So, I was working on this pattern, and also trying to think about what fabric I would use. I wanted to use a plaid or check as shown in the drawing, but what? Suddenly light dawned, and I thought of a piece I got from Elliott Berman's sale, and the perfection of the combination just thrilled me.
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I had originally thought of a skirt from it, but nothing specific, and this seemed perfect. I checked, and I think I will have enough. I have about a yard and a half. Luckily, there's no matching necessary, except on the waistband if i want it there, and since there's gathering on the skirt, it won't match perfectly there anyway. I hope it's going to turn out as well as I think it could.

Meanwhile, I haven't quit on the lingerie thing either. It's almost instant gratification sewing, and mixing the colors, fabric, laces, etc. is so much fun, and unlike anything else I do. I have another set in mind, and have copied another RTW bra for a different style, so I will try that.

Fisher Skirt

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I finished Onion's Fisher Skirt, and while I like it, I don't think it's by any means my best style. It's interesting, fun to wear and terribly comfortable. It's somewhat ungainly at the top where the flange folds over the tied belt, and I cannot for the life of me figure out something flattering to wear as a top with it. I think I'm too rounded for this style. I tried belting it at the hip rather than the waist, and I didn't care for it. I'm not sure this will see the light of day very often, but it was fun to make. I keep thinking it would be a great gardening skirt...



I used a fabric which purports to be wool, and may even be wool or partially wool. I love the interesting texture, but as I noted previously, it wasn't going to show the seaming without emphasis, and that's what the topstitching is meant to provide.


Click here for a better view of the stitching.

I've been working on Alex's Drops Cabled Sweater some and am up to about 2" of ribbing so far. Another 3/4" and I can begin on the pattern stitches. But, I am going to quit for a bit and work on a baby sweater which needs to be done sometime in April. Not by the first, I hope.


I'll finish with the first crocus of the year. I saw them a couple days ago, but never remembered to take the camera out and take a picture. Aren't they cheery?