Pink & black roses skirt - with a flounce!

Finally - my Simplicity 2655 skirt is finished!  What do you think!?

I've really missed my sewing machine, so rather than watching paint dry this week (literally), I took the chance to do a bit of sewing between coats!  This is the final product from the first commercial pattern that I've bought - I have to say, it was (in the main) easy to follow and use - I'll definitely be making one of these again!

The two things I left to do were the zip and the waistband.

The zip

This was actually the first time I've used a standard zip in a skirt rather than an invisible zip - I like to tackle the really difficult things first, it seems.  It definitely was much easier to insert than the invisible one.  The pattern then indicated that there would be a bit of a fold to disguise the zip, rather than having it on show.  I really liked the effect this produced - and as it was easier to put in than the invisible zip, is definitely something to bear in mind for the future.

The waistband

The waistband, on first reading of the pattern, seemed a bit complicated!  It needed four pieces of fabric, as well as twill tape and interfacing.  After finally locating twill tape in Fabricland's haberdashery section, I was good to go.

One thing that had previously confused me about interfacing was how to get it to stick to the fabric...rather than the iron.  Thanks to a handy hints and tips web page, I discovered that the best way to apply iron-on interfacing is actually by covering the interfacing with a damp cloth and then pressing for between 10-15 seconds.  The results were perfect - and interfacing glued to my fabric, rather than my iron.

The twill tape is used to strengthen the waistband and stop it stretching.  I actually really like this idea, as I've noticed on other skirts that I've made that sometimes the waistbands do stretch, so it's good to keep it in shape.  I just sewed it in when I was sewing in the seam.

Twill tape

Finally, I had to sew in the waistband itself and sew the inside of the waist to the zip - I had to do a bit of hand sewing for this.  Hand sewing always makes me glad I normally can use my machine - I'm a bit of a clumsy hand sewer, and usually end up stabbing myself

Now it's ready to wear!

Flounce!