I was on a roll at the weekend, armed with scissors, attacking the new metreage of linen that I’d recently bought to cut out some trousers. Even though I’d followed the pattern I ended up with a decent stretch of spare fabric… woo hoo !! enough for a little skirt. It was time to try out one of the patterns that come with Sewmag – a cutie pie with top stitched seams, yoke waist & front pockets. It’s a casual looking comfy skirt that I thought making out of linen would raise its profile – perhaps making it a goer for work on a less formal day. Luckily there was enough material & I just about managed to squeeze the pieces in, plus add another 5cm to the length to make it less of a mini skirt. I liked the idea of lining pockets and waist yoke in another floral cotton, which turned out to be essential as there wouldn’t have been enough of the linen.
So, away I sewed at the weekend until I ran out of thread & got stuck with no zip. Note: despite the success of using Baby Lock to overlock the same linen trousers seam edges, this time I plumped for the standard zigger zagger oo – not as satisfying now I’ve tasted overlocking, but that’s beside the by…. Come Monday evening, I was back on the case. I made a token try on mid way before the putting in the zip, but couldn’t really tell (I clearly didn’t realise how important it was). I carried on with the zip, hand stitching the facing, hemming etc & gave it a nice press before trying it on for real. That was when I realised that it was irremediably too big & that the only way to get it to fit would involve heaps of unpicking (edge & top stitched hems & waist yoke) & a near remake. SIGH …. here I go again. Once again I am perplexed as with the linen trousers I made at the weekend I was careful to measure myself to ensure that I cut out the correct pattern size. I must admit to feeling as if I was being confronted with my age in a stark shiny mirror as I reconciled myself to having to go for a larger size than I would have cut out in the past, no longer the sylph of my youth. However, if that’s what the pattern said, I would follow instructions. But here’s the thing – the skirt was absolutely massive … I should have gone for my previous size.
What lesson did I learn? Slow down (as always!!!) Take some time to measure the actual pattern pieces against key body measurements – build in some knowledge of pattern drafting to aim for a correct size first time on paper, before sewing even starts. Try on, & try on like I mean it. Try on to get it right at that stage in the make as opposed to hours down the line.
Apart from the sizing conundrum, the pattern was good to sew. Instructions were OK (but with no diagrams to illustrate – not that I needed them). Just a shame that the easy sew became longer & drawn out for me …
Anyway, Tuesday evening was spent unpicking, & unpicking some more before I could redo the side seams, zip, waist & hem (in fact the only bits that were not unpicked were the centre front & back seams & pockets!) The skirt presses beautifully, but as you can see from the pic, it’s going to be a one for creasing. It’s very comfy to wear & sits below the waist which I like & the cotton lined waist is silky smooth. It should get a lot of wear & lure me away from my lived in denim shorts …
