New Look 6708: The Eight-Year Skirt Project is Finally Finished

If you only come here for the quilting, be forewarned -- today's post is not for you.  Today's post will be all about how I spent $78 and eight years of my life making a skirt that I will probably only wear a handful of times, using a pattern (New Look 6708, now out of print) that I have no intention of ever making again.  Today I will relate the saga/review the pattern of what my mom and I have been calling "That Dumb Skirt!"  

New Look 6708 Skirt Finish

New Look 6708 (OOP) View B

I made my skirt using New Look pattern 6708, which is out of print from the manufacturer but you can still find uncut used copies for sale.  At the time I'm writing this, you can get a copy of this pattern on Etsy here and I saw a few copies available on eBay as well (This post contains affiliate links).  This A-line, lined Misses skirt with side zipper did not actually take 8 years to sew -- it just got abandoned for long intervals while I was sidetracked by other projects.  If you want to read the post from June of 2015 when I first started this skirt, you can find that here.

I made View B, the above-knee version of the skirt, and I used "Pretty Potent Echinacea" cotton voile fabric from Anna Maria Horner with solid navy cotton voile for the lining.  Although I was unable to find an online source for my skirt fabric in voile today, Anna Maria Horner has reissued this print in new colorways for Free Spirit Fabrics recently, calling it simply "Echinacea," and you can find those on Etsy here.  (Just be aware that the current versions are printed on quilting weight cotton fabric that has more body and less drape than the voile I used for my skirt).  I prewashed both my fashion fabric and my lining fabric prior to cutting out my skirt.

I used Pellon Shape Flex Woven Cotton Interfacing SF101 in White for my waistband and I'm happy with that interfacing choice for the cotton voile, but wish I'd chosen the same SF101 interfacing in Black in hindsight.  Because my fashion fabric is semi-sheer, the waist yoke with the white interfacing behind it looks like a slightly different color than the body of the skirt that has navy lining fabric behind it:

White Interfacing Makes Waist Yoke Look Lighter/Brighter than Navy-Lined Body of Skirt

Ah, well.  It's subtle and no one else is going to notice this or care.  I've only tucked my shirt in to show the top of the skirt for these project review photos; normally the waistband or waist yoke or whatever you want to call it won't even be visible.

Of Skirts, Blouses, and Forgotten DVDs

Well, looky what I found in my studio the other day, all brand-new, still wrapped in cellophane and nearly forgotten in a corner! 

Threads Magazine Blouse DVD

It appears that, amongst my many purchases at last year's Sewing and Quilt Expo in Atlanta, I bought a Threads DVD featuring Sandra Miller's blouse construction techniques.  In my defense, I crashed on my bike a week after returning from the Expo, smashing my collar bone into little pieces and snapping all the way through the bone at the tip of my left thumb.  Humpty Dumpty didn't get back to her sewing room for a few months, and by then I didn't remember what all I'd bought and planned to work on.

Sounds like EXACTLY the supplemental information I need to walk me through my first blouse project, don't you think?  Anyway, before I spend any money on any online blouse sewing classes, I'm going to go through this DVD and watch the whole thing.  And take notes.  And maybe practice stuff.  We'll see.

Harrison Blouse Pattern, available from Cashmerette here

Another blouse resource that I discovered this week comes from Jenny of Cashmerette, an indie pattern company that specializes in patterns that fit and flatter curves.  Jenny's new Harrison Blouse pattern, shown above, fits exactly the way I'd hoped my White House Black Market blouse would fit after alterations (didn't work out that way, though).  I really like how the double princess seams on the Harrison blouse originate from the armscye instead of being straight lines from the shoulder seams; I think that will be more flattering on me.  The Harrison Blouse is available either as a PDF download or as a paper pattern, and they even have an online "Plus Size and Curvy Shirtmaking" workshop that walks you through their pattern step by step.  The only glitch is that the smallest size the Harrison Blouse comes in is a 12 and that might still be too big on me in the upper chest, shoulders, and upper back.  But it's nice to know I have some options.

Meanwhile, my skirt looked like this a few days ago after I'd cut everything out and then walked away from the project (again):

Paralyzing Mess Prevents Progress!

You are looking at not just the skirt pieces, but stacks and stacks of fat quarters for those 6" Farmer's Wife blocks, and a pile of prewashed and folded fabric and templates for Anders' quilt.  Too much started, not enough finished -- and I hardly had any time in the sewing room all week, because I've been working on a project design for a client.  Work before play.

But I'm trying to maintain that elusive balance in my life by observing a work-free weekend rule, or at least a No Working On Sundays rule, so I did manage to sneak into the sewing room for a bit on Sunday afternoon.  Now, my skirt looks like this:

One Side Seam Accomplished

You are looking at the right side seam of my skirt, and you are supposed to be admiring the precision of my pattern matching.  So, what I accomplished so far was to stay stitch the top of the skirt front and back and the lining pieces.  Then I sewed that right side seam in both the skirt fabric and the lining fabric, and serged off the raw edges of the seam allowances.  The skirt and lining were matched up, wrong sides together, and I basted the two layers together at the top of the skirt inside the seam allowance.  This took more time than you might imagine due to the slippery, shifty voile and my determination to match that pattern as precisely as possible at the seam.  There was obsessive pinning and basting involved, and I am pleased.  My skirt is an A-line shape, so the rows of flowers converge diagonally at the seam line, but I am satisfied that the rows of flowers will appear to be straight on the finished skirt.  Now let's hope I can match up the print so nicely on the other side, when I install my invisible zipper!

I still have to make and attach the yoke thingy to the waist of the skirt before the zipper goes in, and I'm still kind of foggy on just HOW I'm going to put that zipper in, because I am adamant that it's going to be an invisible zipper (in defiance of the dorky pattern instructions) and I am determined that the zipper tape is going to be hidden between the skirt fabric and the lining, just like it would be in a nice store bought skirt.  I found a couple of video tutorials online for inserting invisible zippers into skirts, a few that even showed how to do it with lining, but I'm going to have to adapt and combine techniques from different videos to make it work for my particular skirt style.  ALL of the video tutorials say to put the zipper in FIRST, before sewing any side seams, and I have to say, it does look like that would be easier.  Too late now! 

I don't know whether I'll get a chance to do anymore sewing before the weekend, but may be able to conduct additional zipper insertion research at odd moments in the carpool line.  Wish me luck!

Starting the Skirt (Finally)

Skirt Cut Out, Ready to Sew

My mom came over a few days ago to help me overcome the inertia, procrastination, and confusion that has prevented me from making any progress on the OOP(Out of Print) New Look #6708 skirt that I started at the beginning of LAST summer.  Ahem. 

When I abandoned set this project aside back in July of 2015, I had purchased the fabric, lining and notions, and prewashed the fashion fabric and lining (both cotton voiles).  I had sewn up a muslin, which was good because I discovered that the size corresponding to my measurements on the back of the pattern envelope would be WAY too big (the muslin fell off and hit the floor; that's how big it was), and even more importantly, I realized that the fitted yoke at the top of this A-line skirt wasn't shaped at all like me through the tummy area.  I redrafted those pattern pieces until I got a fit I was happy with (basically size 14 at the top of the yoke transitioning to size 12 at the bottom edge of the yoke, but if you just grade from one size to the other you get a weird inverted V shape at the sides instead of a straight seam around your middle that you can attach the skirt to) and made sure that my new yoke pieces would fit at the seams that attach it to the skirt front and back.  And then life, and other projects, intervened...

So here we are, ready to cut out the skirt.  First consideration: I wasn't thinking about this when I picked out my fabric, but this bold, large scale floral print fabric is kind of like a plaid or stripe in that the pattern needs to be perfectly centered on the front and back of the skirt, and perfectly STRAIGHT on the front and back of the skirt, or I am not going to wear this skirt when it is finished.  And the voile is shifty stuff, folks -- the same qualities that make it soft and flowy for a skirt make it scoot all over on the cutting table, especially prone to stretching askew on the bias.  So I made full pattern pieces for the skirt front and back as well as for the yoke front and back, and cut out the skirt the way I would cut out drapery swags from a print fabric.  I centered a row of flowers on the center fold line of the pattern, and carefully shifted the fabric behind the pattern until the same pattern motifs were positioned in the same positions at the edges of the pattern all the way along the hem line and the right and left side seams. 

Skirt Front Cut Out with Pattern Centered

After I cut out the front from a single fabric layer, I used this cut-out fabric piece as my pattern to cut out the skirt back by laying that piece onto my fabric and adjusting the position of until the pattern was perfectly aligned and the top piece "disappeared."  This took a lot longer than just using the cutting layout in the pattern instructions, but it was the only way I could get my pattern centered and straight with this squirmy, wiggly voile.  So the pattern placement is identical on the front and back of the skirt.

Once all the pieces had been cut from the fashion fabric, cutting out the pieces from my solid navy blue cotton voile was a snap.  Since I had already had made a full pattern piece for the skirt front and back, I just cut the lining from a double layer of fabric.

Next dilemma: This pattern specifically suggests lightweight fabrics, sheers, and voiles like mine in the fabric suggestions.  However, the instructions tell you to put in a standard centered zipper through both layers with an ugly rectangle of stitching around the zipper opening that would look terrible from the right side of the finished garment.  Why, oh why, would anyone want to do that?!

Yucky Centered Zipper in Pattern Instructions

Can you imagine how awful that would look, stitched through two layers of semisheer cotton voile?  YUCK!

Inside View, with Exposed Zipper Tape

And if I followed the pattern instructions for the zipper, I would have exposed zipper tape scratching against my skin even though this is a lined garment.  This isn't how store-bought clothes are made, and this is a major pet peeve against the pattern companies.  Why do they give these cheesy instructions for making things that look dorky and homemade instead of writing instructions for professional looking garments that their customers can be proud of?  They are undermining their own customer base by deliberately making it difficult for beginners to achieve good results when following a pattern.  It's very frustrating to feel like only someone with years of experience, who knows which directions to follow and which ones to disregard, can sew a successful garment from a pattern.

So I looked through the RTW (ready-to-wear) skirts in my closet for something similar to what I'm trying to make.  Every single one of them has an invisible zipper at the side seam, and every one of them except one has got the invisible zipper sewn so that the zipper tape is completely enclosed between the fashion fabric and the lining for a clean, professional finish on the inside of the garment. 

Invisible Side Seam Zipper in RTW Skirt, Enclosed Between Lining and Fashion Fabric

That's what I'm going to attempt to do for my skirt.  My sewing technique books recommend leaving the rest of the seam open until after you have inserted an invisible zipper, so my mom wrote that in the pattern instructions for me, crossing out where they told me to sew the side seam below the notch and then noting later in the pattern instructions, after the zipper insertion, when it's time to close the side seam.

I'm a little nervous about the zipper for several reasons.  I've got my Threads magazine article from back issue #179 (June/July 2015) with tips for zipper insertion in tricky sheer fabrics like mine (I'll be stabilizing the seam allowances in the zipper area with strips of fusible interfacing and sewing with a layer of Sulky Solvy water-soluble stabilizer between the voile and the feed dogs of my machine to prevent puckering).  And I've got the fantastic Bernina invisible zipper foot that I've used successfully to sew invisible zippers in home dec pillows.  I'm just not sure whether changing the zipper application will affect anything at that top edge of the skirt, and I'm not 100% clear on how I am going to sew the lining to the zipper tape after I've sewn the zipper to the fashion fabric of the skirt, in order to get that clean finish of my RTW skirts.  But I think I just need to get started, because some of the instructions and illustrations in the pattern don't make sense to me.  With my caroling outfit, I found that some of those instructions make more sense when you have a partially sewn garment in front of you that you can match up to the illustration. 

On My Worktable

Anyway, everything is cut out now except I'm not sure whether I'll use the Pellon lightweight nonwoven interfacing that I already cut out (I think it's P44) or a lightweight woven fusible interfacing (Pellon Shape-Flex SF101) that is less stiff and drapes more like my voile fashion fabric.  I've got my machines threaded up and ready to go with new size 70 Microtex needles and cotton 50/3 Gutterman thread, so my next step is to test machine settings on fabric scraps in case I need to adjust tension, presser foot pressure or (on the serger) differential feed settings in order to get a nice stitch.  The RTW skirts in my closet have 3-thread overlocked seams, but I'll be sewing my seams on my sewing machine first and then using a narrow 2-thread overlock to finish the seam allowances.  That way if I mess something up along the way, I have a chance to rip out my machine stitches and fix it before the serger has trimmed away my seam allowances.  If I was more confident in my garment sewing and fitting abilities, I'd save time by just doing it all in one pass on the serger.  In fact, I have some other fabric stashed away that might work for this pattern.  If the voile skirt turns out to be a wearable success, I may make this up again in the stashed fabric, and I'll be able to serge the seams on the second skirt once I feel comfortable with how the whole thing goes together.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a TNT ("Tried and True") skirt pattern that I could just whip up in different fabrics with variations?  That's the goal, folks!

My kids go back to school a week from today, but historically my design business picks up steam in the Fall, so Back to School doesn't necessarily mean more free time for my sewing projects.  But it's all about finding that balance, right?  At least, that's what I keep telling myself.  Have a great week, everyone!

Design Wall Monday: Pineapple Log Cabin Block #15 of 36; Goodbye to Summer 2015

17 3/4" Pineapple Log Cabin, Block #15 of 36

I finished another pineapple log cabin block yesterday!  Now I have fifteen blocks completed out of the thirty-six that I will need for my California King size quilt.  Slowly but surely, the stack of blocks is growing.  I have a memo sample of my bedroom drapery fabric pinned to the upper right hand corner of my design wall, as a visual reminder to ensure that I incorporate the same shades of blues, greens and neutrals into my pineapple quilt so that it will look good in my bedroom when it is finished.  The clothes drying rack in front of my design wall is draped with 1 1/2" strips for my pineapple blocks, with blue strips on one side and green strips on the other side.  My neutral strips are spread out on a card table on the other side of the room.

My Design Wall, August 10, 2015

Meanwhile I'm still plodding away at the needle turned applique blocks for my FrankenWhiggish Rose (the first completed block for that project is in the top left hand corner of my design wall).  Directly behind the rack full of pineapple strips is the baby quilt Math Is Beautiful, based on a doodle I found in Lars's math notebook at the end of last school year.  That top is all sewn together but it still needs the borders attached (they are just stuck to the design wall right now). 



New Look Skirt #6708 (OOP), Also On the Design Wall

Last but not least, my skirt project is pinned to my design wall today.  I did mark the actual seam lines on the skirt and waistband pattern pieces so that I could match them up and make sure that they would fit together properly after I redrafted the waistband, and they did.  So I think I might finally be ready to cut out the REAL fabric!!  I decided to make a pineapple block before getting back to the skirt project (needed a shot of confidence), so I pinned my pattern pieces to the wall just to clear them off my cutting table while I was quilting.  That way they don't accidentally end up in the trash, or chewed up by Lulu the Terrible, Puppy Princess Extraordinaire.

But at this rate, it's going to be Fall by the time my cotton voile skirt is ready, so I probably should get back to that next, don't you think?

Meanwhile, the boys start back to school two weeks from today.  Not that anyone is counting or anything...  Anders will celebrate his 12th birthday this Thursday, and Lars is headed off to his Confirmation Retreat next weekend.  Before I know it, I'm going to have a seventh grader and a ninth grader!  I don't post many pictures of my family here, but we did get one terrific "family selfie" during our beach trip to Kiawah Island, South Carolina last month:

Rebecca, Lars, Bernie, and Anders, Kiawah Island, South Carolina

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework, and Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts.  Happy Stitching, everyone!

A NEW Quilt Top On My Design Wall, and a Smidgeon of Skirt Progress

New Quilt Top Finished: "Math Is Beautiful"

Since I am currently in the middle of three different quilts AND a skirt project, I decided to ignore all of them and start something new this weekend.  Remember the doodle I found in Lars's math notebook at the end of last school year?  Ta-da!  This is the fastest quilt top I have ever made!  After putzing around for weeks trying to get the fit just right on my skirt pattern, and months and months of working on my hand applique project, I just felt like I needed something quick and easy thrown into my mix.  This is baby quilt sized, 45" x 45" right now, and just needs borders.  I'll probably stow it away in a closet until the next time I need to come up with a baby shower gift.  I got the top pieced on my 1935 Singer Featherweight in just two afternoons, leaving the Bernina 750 set up in skirt-making mode.  

Piecing on my 1935 Singer Featherweight

Not that changing the presser foot, needle and thread on the B 750 is that much of a big deal to do -- but psychologically it would imperil my chances of seeing the skirt project through to the end.  And I DO want to finish the skirt.  Which technically, I still haven't started yet since I'm still playing with muslin and pattern tissue and haven't touched the fashion fabric...  But I am getting closer to starting my skirt!

Earlier last week I was trying to make a muslin of my silly skirt (New Look #6708, OOP) to make sure I was sewing the right size, and I discovered that the contoured waistband didn't fit me very well in ANY of the pattern sizes.  I tried cutting the waistband so that it was a size 14 at the top of the band and a size 12 at the bottom of the band, and as you can see in the pictures that got me a good fit with no ripples, but created weirdness at the side seams:

Hybrid Size 14/12 Waistband Muslin

My mom suggested that I should leave it alone because I probably won't tuck a shirt into the skirt anyway.  NO WAY!  It's not even about leaving it alone, because this is just a muslin.  It would be deliberately cutting into $78 worth of fashion fabric and spending hours of my precious time to make something that I knew would look so wonky and misshapen that I would never in a million years have paid $5 for it on clearance.  I am not going to waste my time sewing a skirt that I know I would be embarrassed to wear.

So I used my French curve ruler to redraw the curves at the top and bottom edges of the waistband pattern pieces, making sure to keep the waistband a consistent width all the way around with exactly the same curve at the top edge as at the bottom edge, and working with seam lines first and then adding the 5/8" seam allowances back in:

Redrafting with French Curve Ruler

I just barely had enough time to sew up a muslin of my new waistband before we left for the theatre, which is why I'm trying it on over top of my dress:

New and Improved Waistband Muslin, Front View

No More Wonky Side Seam!

Yay!  That's a pretty custom fit, wouldn't you say?  Pardon the poor quality of the photos -- my husband was yelling at me to hurry up and get in the car.  Anyway, I am happy with the fit of the new waistband, and my next step will be to make sure that I didn't inadvertently alter the length of the seam line where the waistband attaches to the body of the skirt.  Theoretically, since the bottom edge of my new waistband is size 12, the size 12 skirt should be a perfect fit -- but I might as well check to be sure before cutting into the good fabric.  I just didn't feel like doing it this weekend. 

Maybe tomorrow!  I'm linking up with Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts, Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Sew Darn Crafty at Sew Many Ways,Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, and Show and Tell Tuesday at I Have to Say. 

Skirt Shenanigans: Threads to the Rescue

July and September Threads Magazines

Well, now, isn't THIS timely!  I recently renewed my Threads magazine subscription, and I just received both the July and September issues in my mailbox.  One issue has a feature explaining how to clip the seam allowances prior to seaming opposing curves together.  DUH!  How long did I stare at those muslin skirt pieces, wondering why the fabric edges of the contoured waistband/yoke and the curved top of the skirt were not meeting up properly?! 

Shoulda Woulda Clipped That Curve

So now I know what to do differently with THAT when I make up the skirt in my good fabric.  Why didn't the pattern instructions tell me to clip the curves?  Moreover, why did the pattern instructions include this VERY misleading illustration that makes it seam as though the two pieces SHOULD match up without clipping?!

Misleading Pattern Illustration

The other issue had a useful article on zipper insertion that will help with my skirt as well.  I've put lots of zippers in throw pillows made of home dec weight fabrics, but the Threads article has tips for pucker-free zippers in very lightweight fabrics like my cotton voile.  So far, I'm getting my money's worth from that subscription.

As far as sizing goes...  The size 16 muslin was gigantic, so I made a size 12 waistband to try.  It fits, but too snugly for my taste, so I'm going to split the difference and try a size 14 waistband before making a final decision.  Hopefully I'll get back to the skirt today, but I need to finish up some laundry and housekeeping first. 

In quilting news, I did get my fabric prewashed, pressed, and cut out for my Math Is Beautiful quilt, based on Lars's math notebook doodle:

New Quilt Cut Out and Ready to Sew!

This should be the fastest, easiest quilt top I've ever put together, just gigantic squares and half square triangles.  I think I'm going to set one of my Featherweights up in the dining room for this one so I can work on it at the same time as my skirt.  So I have my skirt going on in the studio, my needleturn applique in the family room, and now a little quickie quilt on the side in the dining room.  I'll get back to my pineapple log cabin blocks once I've finished my skirt.

Otto Guards the Pineapple Log Cabin Blocks

Meanwhile, Mister Puppy-Pants is keeping me company and guarding the design wall.  His sister Lulu is temporarily banned from the studio for leaping at the television when Anders was watching Tom and Jerry cartoons.

I'm linking up with Show and Tell Tuesday at I Have to Say, Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts, WIPs on Wednesdays at Esther's Quilt Blog, and Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.  Have a great day, everyone!

Silk Serendipity and Skirt Stymied, Stagnating

FrankenWhiggish Rose Meets YLI Silk Thread

Happy Friday, everyone!  It's been a mixed week in my sewing world, so let's start with the good, shall we?  After breaking my left thumb and right collar bone in a bicycle accident on March 22nd, I was able to resume my FrankenWhiggish Rose needleturn applique project this week.  Yay!  I still can't bend that thumb normally and it hurts too much if I try to use my left thumb and pointer finger to precrease the applique shapes along the stitching line, but I can do that with my right hand.  A mere fourteen weeks after breaking my thumb, I can finally use it enough to manage hand stitching again.  I never before realized how important it was to be able to pinch and hold the folded fabric edge with my left hand in order to successfully stitch with my right hand.  And it feels really good to have a relaxing slow-stitching project in my lap again in the evenings and when I'm away from my sewing room.

Oren Bayan Mercerized Cotton Machine Embroidery Thread

However, what has NOT been fun or relaxing is the way-too-frequent thread breaks I've been experiencing, and that was happening before the accident, too.  For my first needleturn applique blocks (for my not-yet-finished Jingle BOM quilt) I was using spools of Oren Bayan, a Turkish mercerized cotton machine embroidery thread collection that I bought by mistake on eBay several years ago.  That worked pretty well for me, but I have not been able to find that brand in the U.S. and I didn't have good color matches for my FrankenWhiggesh Rose fabrics.  So I purchased Mettler 60/2 fine cotton machine embroidery thread instead, which looks pretty much the same as the Oren Bayan to my naked eye.  But, for whatever reason, it's breaking and snarling ferociously on me despite generous applications of Thread Heaven conditioner, and the thread breaks are really slowing me down.

I know that some people do use Mettler 60/2 cotton thread successfully for hand applique, but I also know that I tend to make really tiny stitches when I get my groove going (some have told me that my stitches are TOO small) and that means that my length of thread might be pulled through the fabric twice as many times as it might be for someone else.  I'm pretty sure that my thread breakage is due to my Mettler thread not being strong enough to withstand that repeated stress and friction.  I briefly considered that my needle might be the culprit, either due to a microscopic burr in the eye of the needle or friction at the eye from a too-small needle eye for the thread diameter, but if either of those scenarios were to blame I would be seeing thread breaks happening right at the eye.  I'm using a length of thread roughly the length of my forearm, and I'm having my thread break approximately halfway to two-thirds of the way in after I've taken at least a hundred tiny stitches without a break.  The kinking and snarling tendency happens throughout stitching.

My Successful Applique Combo: YLI #100 Silk Thread and Size 12 Bohin Applique Needles

I'm not about to go to a heavier thread like a 50/3 cotton, because I want my stitches to remain invisible.  Instead, I decided to try YLI Silk #100, which is the preferred thread of Jeanne Sullivan and many other (though not all!) applique experts.  As with the Oren Bayan thread, no one carries the YLI Silk thread locally, but there are a lot of online sources for YLI.  I ordered a selection of colors from Uncommon Threads, which is located right around the corner from me in Rock Hill, South Carolina, so I got my thread pretty quickly via USPS.  After experimenting with a lot of different needles for applique, I've settled on the Bohin applique needles (thin enough to leave tiny holes and precisely placed stitches, but stronger than the milliners or straw needles which constantly bend and even snap on me).  The size 12 Bohin applique needle is a perfect match to the YLI Silk #100 thread, and when I tested this combo last night I was in stitching heaven.  It feels very different to stitch with silk thread because it is SO slippery smooth -- I'm used to the way the cotton thread kind of grabs the fabric with each stitch.  However, I had zero kinks, zero knots, and zero thread breaks -- which means zero profanity and a happier household.  One annoyance with silk thread is its tendency to slide right out of the needle and unthread itself constantly, but I used a trick that I read about somewhere, threading the eye of the needle and then looping around and threading it again from the same direction.  That worked really well for me. 

So, one sewing problem solved for me this week.  Hooray!  I'd love to tell you that my skirt project was coming along just as nicely, but...

Tracing Skirt Pattern onto Pellon Sew-In Interfacing

The first thing I did was to carefully trace all three of my OOP (Out of Print) New Look #2708 skirt pattern pieces (in what I THOUGHT was my size) for my skirt onto nonfusible Pellon interfacing.  I did this to avoid cutting the original pattern in case I wanted to make a different size after sewing up the muslin, or in case I want to make the pattern in another size several years from now.  I'm glad I took the time to do that -- the interfacing pattern is a lot sturdier than the flimsy pattern tissue anyway and if I like the finished skirt, my traced pattern will easily stand up to repeated use for multiple projects. 

Traced Pattern Pieces, Ready to Go

I traced the pattern pieces with pencil, by the way.  I considered using fine point Sharpie or another ink pen so I could see the lines and markings more clearly, but it bled right through the interfacing and the underlying pattern tissue, and the last thing I need is Sharpie marks all over my butcher block worktable surface!  Then I used those pattern pieces to cut out my skirt from cheap cotton muslin fabric.  I started sewing the mock up skirt together according to the pattern instructions, and I panicked when it came time to sew the waistband to the top of the skirt because the two fabric edges did not seem to be matching up. 

Yikes!  Why Is There Extra Fabric???

There seemed to be a LOT more fabric along the waistband edge (or the "yoke," as the pattern instructions call this piece) than there was along the edge of the skirt to which it should be sewn.  Could this be a pattern drafting mistake, or something I did wrong in construction?  All I had done so far was sewn the side seams on the skirt and on the waistband, and I sewed those seams at a precise 5/8" as per the pattern instructions.  When I texted this picture to my mom, she said that it was possible that my stay stitching at the top edge of the skirt pieces had drawn that layer in imperceptibly.  But I did not see ANY visible puckering when I was stay stitching.  Well, part of the reason for the test garment was to figure out how to construct the skirt, so I decided to pin the two pieces together within an inch of their lives, sew the seam, and then evaluate it afterwards.  I am familiar with sewing a concurve piece to a convex piece from my Drunkard's Path quilt blocks, but quilt piecing uses 1/4" seams instead of the 5/8" seams in this pattern.  It made sense to me that even if the opposite curved pieces matched perfectly at the seam line, the wider seam allowances could cause it to look like one piece was too long for the other at the cut fabric edge.  So I pinned the two layers together very closely, matching the notches, right side seam, center front and center back, and I carefully sewed them together.

Pins, Pins, and More Pins

Now, I pinned these pieces together and sewed them according to the pattern instructions, with the waistband piece on top, like this: 

However, when I sewed those drunkard's path blocks together, I put the convex outer curved piece on the bottom and then pinned the concave inner curved piece on top.  I think that was a lot easier to pin and sew accurately.  Does anyone know of any reason why I shouldn't sew my skirt the same way -- with the contoured waistband piece on the bottom, next to the feed dogs, and the concave curved top edge of the skirt pinned to fit along the edge on top of the skirt?  I'm going to pin it just like I did in the photo above, and I do have Dual Feed on my Bernina 750 sewing machine, if that makes a difference (I know some people like to sew with any fullness on the bottom so the feed dogs can help ease it in).  The curved seam came out just fine regardless, but when I tried on the muslin skirt to check the fit --


Custom Fit?  Hah!

UGH!  YUCK!!!  It is so big that it's in danger of falling off -- unless I wear it with suspenders.  Keep in mind that the skirt is supposed to sit 1" below my natural waistline, even higher than I was holding it in the photo.  Yes, I remembered to press the edges of the skirt opening in 5/8" on each side, and it's still ginormous. 

So, half hoping this was evidence that I had lost weight since I'd measured myself, I grabbed my tape measure and measured my waist AGAIN.  I still got 30", the same as last time, which is a size 16 according to the pattern sizing chart.  So why is the skirt so HUGE??! 
Obviously this means I should make the skirt in a smaller size, and it's a good thing I made the muslin first, but it still bothers me that the skirt is so big because now I have zero confidence in my ability to use a tape measure.  If I had chosen a pattern size by my hip measurement instead of by the waist, I'd have made the skirt in a size 14.  But I don't know -- this test skirt is SO big.  Will a 14 be that much smaller?  Should I make a 12?  I did pull the tape measure snug when I measured, but does the pattern company expect you to suck in your gut and hold your breath, and pull that tape measure as tight as a tourniquet?

The only good news from this muslin misfortune is that I'm pretty sure the skirt has enough fullness for my cotton voile fabric to hang nicely.  I wasn't sure based on the pattern photo and I was a little concerned that my lightweight voile might hang too limply if there wasn't enough fullness at the bottom of the skirt.  I think the length will be good, too, when the top of the skirt is up where it belongs and the hem is turned up at the bottom.

SO...  I'm going to wait until my Mom comes over tomorrow to find out what size SHE thinks I should make.  Mom to the rescue yet again!

Meanwhile, back to my hand stitching!  I'm linking up Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts, Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, as well as with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, because Sarah is a sweetie and she understands that sometimes we need encouraging feedback (and advice!) even more when we're struggling than we do when we finally hit that finish line with a completed project to show off.  For those of you in the United States, happy Independence Day weekend!

Substitution Serendipity: Math Is Beautiful and a Skirt In the Works

Lars Meets Kaffe Revised: Math Is Beautiful, 54" X 54"

So last time I posted, I shared a new quilt design based on a doodle I found in Lars's math notebook:

Lars's Doodle and My First EQ7 Design

I created the quilt design in EQ7 quilt design software using out of print Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics from 2012, and then went on a mad, worldwide hunt to find the fabrics.  However, when the quilt shop in Switzerland emailed me about payment via bank transfer and notified me of "additional customs fees which may be significant," I canceled that order and headed to my LQS (local quilt shop) to look for substitute fabrics.  I'm glad I did, because I found a fantastic math fabric to use in place of the black and white polka dots:

Not only is this a math themed fabric, but it's the kind of math Lars was studying last year when he was doodling quilts in his notebook.  (In fairness to Lars, he did a great job in math this year and he claims that he created this doodle while he was sitting in assembly for the school talent show).

So it looks like I'm making another quilt with bright fabrics against a black background.  Although Lars's doodle could easily become a repeated quilt block, I decided to make it a one-block quilt with nice, large pieces to show off large scale print fabrics.  Also, I still have several long-term quilts in the works right now and wanted to mix in something quick and easy.

Speaking of the Big Haul quilt projects, I did manage to complete two more pineapple log cabin blocks for my California King bed quilt:

14 Pineapple Log Cabin Blocks Finished, 22 (or 28) Blocks To Go

These blocks finish at 17 1/2" so if I make 36 of them in a 6 x 6 layout I'll have a 105" x 105" quilt top before quilting.  Depending on how much quilting I do, there will be some quilting shrinkage as well as some shrinkage in the final wash (especially since I did not prewash fabrics for this one).  A 100" x 98" quilt is the recommended size for a California King with a 15" drop, but I'm starting to think that might be too skimpy on my bed, so I might add another row of six blocks to my original plan.  That would mean I need a total of 42 blocks for this quilt.  I sure hope I like it when it's finally finished (someday!).

But I haven't touched my Butterflies and Bear Paws quilt, my Jingle quilt, or my Frankenwhiggish Rose needle turned applique project.  Those are languishing on the shelf.  Meanwhile I'm itching to start on my Dear Jane blocks using these fabrics:

Fabrics for my Soon-To-Start Dear Jane Quilt

...And I have challenged myself to learn garment sewing, and first up is a simple skirt in this bold floral cotton voile print by Anna Maria Horner for Westminster Fabrics:

Pretty Potent Echinachea in Preppy, Cotton Voile from Westminster Fabrics

I bought a solid navy cotton voile for the lining and I just hope there's enough fullness in the skirt pattern so the voile hangs nicely.  What do you think?  The model is wearing the longer version of the skirt, but I'm planning to make the above-knee length.

I love the fabric print, though -- it reminds me of something I'd see in ready to wear from Boden or Anthropologie.  So far all I have done is purchased thread and notions and prewashed the fabrics.  Wish me luck!

Both of my boys are volunteer counselors for Vacation Bible School at church this week, so I'm hoping to get a lot of sewing done in the mornings.  Ideally I'd like to get my skirt made and also get my Math Is Beautiful quilt at least cut out and ready to go.  I might piece that one on my Vintage Singer Featherweight machine so I can alternate between that and another paper pieced pineapple block on my Bernina 750 QE without having to change my machine setup (I like to piece with lightweight Aurifil 50/2 cotton thread and a 70 Microtex needle, but I've got the B 750 threaded up with heavier 50/3 cotton Mettler thread and a size 90 quilting needle for paper piecing.  That gives me better perforation of the paper that I'll need to tear away at every seamline, and a stronger seam to withstand the stress of tearing paper away).

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday and Main Crush Monday.  Have a great week!