May 10, 2010

"Love Letters" Skirt

Recently, last month, I purchased my first sewing machine. I've been wanting one since I was 8 or 9, but my parents wouldn't buy me one because they thought I wouldn't use it.

Since I have bought the machine I have made lots of bows, a tote bag, and a throw pillow. And then there is the circle skirt I completed over the weekend. My first article of clothing! I'm so excited and it turned out so much better than I had expected.

Let's get down to the details...
The fabric was given to me a couple years ago. I had exactly the right amount for this skirt, with no leftovers. The print features flowers, envelopes, and illegible writing. I think the fabric is a cotton blend, it is very light-weight.

The hem was a pain. Before I started the hem I kept laying in bed thinking about it, how hard it seemed to hem a curve. The hem is about 1/4", folded over twice. To keep it in place I made a few stitched around it by hand, using pins ended up being a little more of a hassle than I wanted to deal with. When I sewed it up with the sewing machine I used a small, tight zig zag stitch.

The waistband is around 1" wide and was the easiest part to sew.

The skirt has a zipper in the back (yellow, to match the skirt of course).

It took me around 5hrs, including the time it took to make the pattern. I later discovered that I could have reduced that time by buying a rolled hem foot. Oh well, maybe I will invest in one in the near future.