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!

Work in progress - Simplicity pattern 2655

One of the patterns I bought in America was Simplicity pattern 2655, so I took the opportunity to get started on it at the end of August.  Unfortunately it's on pause at the moment - we've been getting some work done on our house so the sewing machine is put carefully out of the way.  In the meantime though, here's how it's going so far...

I decided to use the fabric that I bought from Fabricland months ago - I'd been considering making a circle skirt with it, but I thought it would look great in this pattern.

A bit of a worrying start - I cut out all my pattern bits, and put them all together, and started to panic because they seemed far too small!  It took quite a while for me to work out that I'd mistakenly only cut two side panels instead of four - so it was quite a relief to discover I wasn't as huge as I thought I was!  I think I was so focused on cutting and trying to work out the correct sizing that I forgot to actually read the instructions on the pattern pieces themselves - oops!

So far:

• I've put together the front and back of the skirt - once I worked out how many panels actually need to be cut and attached, this was an easy step!

• Hemming - the pattern suggests that you hem the flounce before attaching it to the rest of the skirt.  This was really a great idea because it meant that I didn't have the entire skirt getting in the way when I was hemming - these pattern makers really know what they're doing!

• Flounce - I then attached the flounce to the skirt.  I really like the whole flounce idea - something different than the normal skirts I've been making.  I pinned it before, but it would probably be worth basting it first as well, because as the pins were removed as I went round the curve, it was easy for the fabric to slip and the seams become uneven.  Something to remember for next time.

Things still to do:

• Waistband - this includes using twill tape to reinforce the waistband.
• Zip installation - let's hope I really get my head around it this time!

The work on the house is almost over, so hopefully I'll get these last bits and pieces done soon!

LOVE cushion

In case you've been wondering where I've got to...I've been on holiday with my hubby and my folks in the USA :-) !  We had such an amazing time - absolutely loved it!  The three weeks flew by - it's hard to believe we're back to reality already - but I'm happy to be here updating my little blog!

My friend and her boyfriend got engaged back in Northern Ireland at Easter time, and I was pondering what to get them as an engagement present.  A bit mortified because it had taken me so long to get something sorted, I decided that it would be nice to make them something, rather than just buy a gift - that, as well as the few hundred miles of distance between us, might excuse the lateness...!

So may I present my first ever cushion...

LOVE cushion

I went down to Fabric Land here in Bristol to buy fabric, and got a gorgeous cream crepe - I asked the girl serving whether she thought it would be good for cushion, and her only comment was 'Well...it's cream"!  So that was a yes, and I'm trusting that the colour of the fabric isn't too challenging for them!  I also had some of the fabric left from which I made my bunting back in May - I thought it would be ideal for my letters.

There were a few great challenges for me with my first cushion

1. Letters 

This was something a wee bit different - cutting out letters from fabric and then sewing them onto the cushion.  I used a zigzag stitch on my machine to go round the edge of each letter, and this worked really well - it was a cute little effect, and also stopped the edges from fraying.

Template letters

Cut out letters

"L" with a zig-zag stitch around the edges

2. Putting in a zipper

Zippers continue to be a challenge!  

Please, please, please, when you're making a cushion, don't do what I did.  I got so carried away with all my cutting out of letters and all sorts that before I even thought about it, I'd sewn up the other sides of the cushion, and left the zipper til last!  Disaster - as all good sewists know, you should put your zipper in as early as possible.  This understandably led to a bit of complexity!

Ideally I would have used a 14" zip, but because I had already sewn everything together, I ended up using a 12", as there just wasn't enough space to fit the longer length in at the corners of my material.  One of these days I will definitely install the zip at the right time - I continue to live in hope!  However, in the end it looked fine - more coincidence than my skills, I can assure you!

Popped my little label on the back of the cushion - at least this shows that it's handmade, so hopefully that adds charm to the little flaw underneath, haha!  The little lip around the zip hides the zip nicely, which I think is a nice little effect as well.

For a first attempt at a cushion, I'm really pleased - and the bride-to-be was as well, which is really the most important thing!  What a relief!