Little flowers circle skirt

I like my circle skirt so much that I decided to make another one when I came back from holiday - just to get me back into the way of things before I started into the patterns that I bought in Florida.

I made a bit of an impulse fabric buy just before I went on holiday - I was in Fabricland and found this lovely silky fabric (although I'd imagine it's polyester or something like that) and it was such a warm day I could just imagine it perfectly as a skirt.  Here it is...

Little flowers circle skirt

As far as fabrics go, this was definitely one of the most challenging I've worked with so far - so slippery to work with.  All the books / blogs etc had me well warned, but even so, I hadn't realised how much of a challenge cutting it would be, let alone getting it all pinned and ready to sew!  That does mean that length-wise it's slightly uneven, but I'm still really pleased with it.

Here's another photo below - looking a bit breezy!  As it's a different type of fabric it lays quite differently to the other circle skirt I made, and it's really interesting to see how the different fabric affects the shape of the skirt.  I really like it - another one that's perfect for the last few days of summer!

Pink roses circle skirt

Getting its first outing in the sun is my pink roses circle skirt!  I finished it off yesterday - hemming it up was the final thing that needed to be done.

Sitting in the sunshine in my pink roses circle skirt

A few people have asked me if it's a Cath Kidson skirt, so that's been rather nice!  It's a bit more high waisted than I would normally wear, but it's really nice to try a different style, especially with something I've made myself.

It really is a circle!

I really love it - and now I've got the zip / buttonhole skills I'll definitely be making another one!

My latest project...

I mentioned in a few posts ago that my latest project was the circle skirt from the Great British Sewing Bee book, so I thought I'd update you on my progress.  I'm very, very nearly there...so I thought I would let you know how I'm getting along.

Circle skirt from the Great British Sewing Bee book

As with my previous pattern project, the summer top, I used the downloadable pattern from the Sewing Bee book.  The instructions were all in the book, so once I had prepared my pattern, I was ready to work directly from the instructions in the book.  This was a level 2 difficulty rating, of a maximum of 5, but there was certainly plenty to challenge me.  I think I'm probably a bit mad in my sewing - I tend to just think to myself 'yes, I'm sure I can do that!' and launch into making things without thinking too hard about it.  But I don't think that's too bad a thing - otherwise, I'd probably be too scared to try anything new!

There's not too many steps to this project, but they certainly give plenty of opportunities to learn new skills for a beginner...and for me, lots of chances to play with the stitch ripper!!  There were two main new challenges for me...

• Inserting the zipper

I know I have (sort of!) already done this before, but this time, I really needed the zip to be properly concealed.  In the bag, it didn't really matter, but obviously in a skirt, if the zip isn't concealed, it can be quite glaring.

Some of the instructions mentioned that to insert a concealed zip, you needed a special invisible zipper foot.  Obviously, that's not something I have, and it looked a bit expensive, so I got the normal zipper foot out of the case for the very first time, and started googling!  Embarrassingly, I actually had to find a tutorial on how to put the foot on, let alone how to use it!  However, once I had managed to attach the foot, the instructions that I found on various helpful blogs were actually super simple and easy to follow. If you want to know how to put in a invisible zipper with a normal zipper foot, I recommend these quick tutorials on Sew Serendipity and BurdaStyle.

However, during insertion, there was a bit of a catastrophe, as you can see below.  I was getting close to the end of the zip, which is a bit more difficult due to the fastener, and I managed to get another bit of fabric gathered up in the sewing.  Not a good look.  Once that happened, it all went to bits (not literally, fortunately!), and really getting it sewn on in the end was almost a miracle, because I had to rip and redo so many times.

I got there in the end though, and here we are - a concealed zip!

• Buttonholes

When I first looked at pattern I didn't actually notice that I was going to have to learn how to make a buttonhole - oops!  However, out came the handy sewing machine guide, and I discovered that I actually have a buttonhole function on my machine!

The key thing with making buttonholes is to ensure that they are the right size for your buttons!  They need to be fractionally bigger than the buttons, to ensure that you'll be able to squeeze them through.  I used tailors chalk to mark them out before attaching the buttonhole foot and sewing them in.  This is so important to ensure that they're even and that the buttons will fit properly.  Then it's just a matter of using the stitch ripper to make the holes for the buttons to fit through.

Buttons attached, and now all I need to do is finish off the hem.  A job for the weekend, I think...!

Fabric shopping in Bristol

I was so excited yesterday...!  Like the compulsive fabric shopper that I have now become, I Googled 'Bristol fabric shops', and found there was a Fabric Land in the centre of town.  So Liz and I decided to take a little wander down yesterday on our lunch break to check it out.  I was really keen to get some new fabric for my latest project - the circle skirt from the Great British Sewing Bee book.

Well...!

It didn't look like much from the outside, but once I was in...I could barely decide what to do, where to go - I was overwhelmed with choice!  There are so many fabrics, and really reasonably priced as well, which is good for a beginner like me.  After all, you don't want to spend a fortune on fabric which you then end up unpicking five hundred times...!

Eventually I got myself two different fabrics - check them out.  Floral prints are my new favourite thing!

I think the blue one is quite Cath Kidson-esque, and I've already started making my new circle skirt from it - pictures to follow.  I've not quite decided what to do with the black fabric, but I may just make another skirt from it, if this one goes well - you can never have too many summer skirts, after all.

I will definitely be back there - I've a feeling that dashing into town for a fabric fix may become my favourite 'summer lunch time' activity!

Just before I sign off today - here's a (not very good) picture of the 'bank holiday bunting' in place at the window at the top of our stairs.

And here is me wearing my new top in the sunshine on Clevedon pier - I'm happy to report that it has been out and about, and hasn't fallen to pieces yet!