I Started Sewing My First Skirt!!

Posted by : Unknown Tuesday, April 07, 2015

If we're friends on Facebook, you may have already seen that not only did I receive the replacement needle threader for my sewing machine this week, but my Mom also gave me a six foot table as a workstation. Something like a fresh start. But it killed any excuse I had to start on my biggest project yet - a skirt.

I'll admit it, I'm a little intimidated by the thought of making something so large. I mean, if I put so much effort into something and it doesn't come out as something I'll actually feel proud wearing, I don't want it to frustrate me and keep my from wanting to learn anything else about sewing.

But I digress.

Here's my first look at an actual, clothing pattern:

It has all those lines on either side for sizing purposes because this pattern seems like it can make a skirt that fits anyone from store bought sizes of like 0 - 12/14. And I will admit to having that insecure moment Mimi was talking about when you truly realize sewing sizes and store sizes are way different. Like, I'm about a 6 in store-bought clothes, but a 14 in this pattern!!

Anyway, after watching Mimi G's third lesson and learning all about the importance of the grain of fabric for draping purposes, I figured out the right way to position the pattern on the fabric:

If you look closely, you can spot Nellie standing patiently by in hopes of getting her mouth
on any stray thread. I swear, that dog will try to eat anything!!

So lesson learned this week?? I will be taking Mimi's suggestion of using washers to weight the pattern down while cutting the fabric instead of using pins. I've just found that unless I use a lot of pins, the pattern moves and my cutting becomes jagged. And using a lot of pins creates a lot of holes in the pattern; if I decide to make this skirt again (maybe in a different color and/or fabric), I don't want the pattern to be all torn up and hard to work with.

And finally, one of the benefits of this skirt is that it will teach me the basics of working with interface. This is a material you bond to certain areas of your fabric to give your garment some structure. Like, some men's shirts have it in the collar to make them stand up. I think the purpose of it in this project - because it will be placed in the waistband where the shape of the garment is being determined - is to make sure the skirt falls away from the body real pretty like.

So anyway, this is me preparing to cut the interfacing to match the waistband I had just cut: