Flirt Skirt

A Quick Repair and Another Skirt

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

Recently I was wearing one of my Shelley bras, and something just didn’t feel right about the back. I felt around and I was all done up, so really didn’t know what was going on there. So I had to wait until I got home and could look in a mirror to see what was going on.

What Happened Here

This is what I saw! Well, that’s just isn’t working, is it? I knew I would want to repair this bra right away, as it’s one of my favorites. It didn’t take me long to realize the elastic I used at the back just wasn’t strong enough to hold … well, it wasn’t strong enough hold anything.

I had this elastic in my stash, and hadn’t used it at all because it was so flimsy.

bad elastic

You can see here, I had a fair amount of it too. I hadn’t used it on any bras because it just stretched out; it didn’t recover. I decided this is not anything I wanted in my stash, and it wasn’t good enough to send to a friend. It has left my home and is where it belongs now.

repaired

There are times when a repair or fix needs to happen, and after carefully sewing things on so they won’t come off, I just don’t want to rip things apart. I felt that way after double stitching my  hooks and eyes on, and zigzagging the edges as well. So, what other options are there for a repair?

For my repair on this, I ripped the old elastic out up to the hooks and eyes. Then I trimmed it really close to them. I butted the new stronger elastic up to where I’d trimmed the old away and zigzagged that first. This allowed me to not need to remove the hooks and eyes, which weren’t the problem anyway.

Then I attached the rest of the new elastic to the band. I’ve worn this a couple of times now and no problems at all. Bad old elastic!

This week I finished another skirt. I live in skirts in the summer. In fact, I have my next skirt all cut out waiting to be sewn. Skirts are my summer staple.

If you haven’t tried the Flirt Skirt yet, I really recommend it. It’s a very comfortable skirt to wear, and I get so many compliments on it. It’s that back part. The part I call the ‘flirt’. That’s the part people are saying, ‘Turn around’. ‘Did you make your skirt?’ ‘What pattern is that?’ It’s definitely fun.

Untitled-1

This skirt has no stretch in the material, so I changed the pattern a bit – instead of using my knit sloper, I used the woven one to determine how big to make the pattern. The denim I’d used before only had a bit of stretch, so I didn’t need to adjust this one that much. This is a light-weight cotton with a denim look.

Untitled-2

And from the side with that flirty part showing.

No photos of me in my skirt just yet – my photographer is absent at the moment, and has been too busy to be my photographer this week.

Happy creating!

A Pale Yellow Flirt Skirt

~ Michelle

I definitely have my favorites when it comes to clothes I’ve made, and clothes I’ve bought. One of my habits is to go through my wardrobe twice a year. I only keep what I can wear in my closet, so if it’s Summer, you won’t find Winter clothes in there. Same goes for Winter time – no Summer clothes.

I take advantage of that twice yearly sorting to clean out anything I don’t wear. I just gave away a few cardigans I hadn’t worn all winter when I did the Spring switch-over. I don’t like to keep things around if I’m not using them.

I also notice when I love something. If I end up wearing a garment all the time, I know it’s a keeper. My denim Flirt Skirt is one of those garments.

100_2881

I found myself wearing the skirt all day, and then thinking it’s needs to be washed, so I’d go home and wash it right away so it would be ready to wear again the next day. I decided, if I’m wearing something that much, I need to make another one.

So, here’s my pale yellow denim Flirt Skirt.

skirt front

This skirt has two things I love: I really love pale yellow. The last two years I’ve been seeing more of it, and I’ve been picking up a bunch of pale yellow garments. So when I found this pale yellow denim, I scooped it up right away. The other thing I love is this pattern.

From the front it looks straight – which is something I can’t wear. I’m just too curvy for straight styles and always have been. I also find straight styles suit taller women – something else I’m not. However, this does look more straight-ish, at least to me. But the back… well, that’s just fun, and whimsical, and flirty.

The Flirty Part

There’s the flirty part of the Flirt Skirt. I love that! It acts a bit like a kick pleat but material has been added to serve the same function the kick pleat serves – it allows me to walk when wearing it! I’ve also hear it described as a fish tale. But no matter how one wants to describe that – it’s just fun. I was wearing my skirt this week, and that flirt part at the back was what was getting noticed and complimented. It is very fun and flirty.

The Flirt Skirt is a super easy pattern, and I made this up in an afternoon. I think these are quickly becoming my summer wardrobe! Both my dark denim and my pale yellow denim skirts just went to the mountains with me. That back flirt section of the skirt makes it great for walking in, whereas a straight skirt isn’t great for that. There’s lots of room for a full walking stride.

Untitled-9

Here I am on a rainy day. My hubby helped me out with some pictures. But he wasn’t the only one helping me out. Our rescue pup, Tiberius, came and helped out too. Anything I’m doing, and he’s right there with me. His toys are all around my sewing room! He’s with me for every project.

Untitled-7

Here we are showing the flirtier part of my skirt. He’s not always quite so agreeable though. I took my son to an appointment, and thought I’d read while waiting. Nope. My pup wasn’t going to let me read. Thankfully, he’s fine with my sewing!

Tiberius on my book

Happy creating!

A Summer Jacket – McCall’s 6516

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

I recently made the McCall’s 6516 jacket and love it! I made view D. I was thinking Summer jacket, cool evenings. I wanted there to be lots of options to cover me up and keep me warm – collar, sleeves, as much as I could get. I’m always the one wrapped in a blanket in front of the fire pit trying to stay warm.

M6516

The material I chose is perfect too. I’ve shown this before.

100_2985

It’s a beautiful cotton with a waffle texture to it, and a gorgeous floral pattern.  I love this material. I went to the fabric store and saw it. It was not on my list so I left it, and then turned right around and went back in knowing there was no way I could leave it behind. I knew it would be a great jacket. And a jacket for summer was on my sewing list.

This jacket is perfect for cool summer evenings, and not too heavy if I have to carry it around during the day. It just made a trip to the Rocky Mountains with me for a couple of days, and as the weather was calling for rain, I carried it around a fair amount. I also love those big front panels that lay open – when it’s a bit cooler, they’re wonderful to wrap around me and cover me up more. See, I’m all about trying to stay warm.

Jacket Front

The jacket went together smoothly and quickly. It’s a great and fun jacket to wear. I’ve had lots of compliments on it already.

Jacket Side

Here’s the side.

Jacket Back

And the back.

One nice feature on this jacket is the faced cuffs. I really like that when I fold the cuffs up, the facings there make it look more professionally finished. Nice touch!

Here I am in my new jacket. I have both sleeve cuffs folded up, so the sleeves hit just above my wrist. You can also see my white stripe in my hair. I’ve decided to let it come in. It’s a bit Cruella or Rogue, depending on your age and your frame of (movie) reference. A friend encouraged me to let it show. ‘Not everyone gets to have a stripe. Wear it with pride.’ I’m not minding it most days.

image3b

There’s a little bit of material left over from my jacket, and it’s just too pretty not to use. I’m planning a denim quilt. The first of the squares have been cut out. These photos show the waffle texture of this material too.

Squares

As much as I love my new jacket, a fitted jacket is something my wardrobe could really use. Finding one that fits a short curvy girl like me is a challenge. So, recently when I saw a class on sale at Craftsy, I signed up. It’s Jacket Fitting Techniques with Pam Howard. The class comes with the McCall’s pattern 6172 for three styles of jackets, including a fitted jacket. I’m trying to work up my nerve to attempt this for my curvy curves. I love Pam’s Flirt Skirt, so thought I’d try one of her classes. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Schnittmuster-McCalls-6172-Jacke

Here’s the photo from the front of the M6172.

Happy creating!

My Sloper Versus A Couple of Patterns

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

This week was a non-bra week, in keeping my hubby happy. Even though he loved my last bra, he does let me buy material without grumbling about it, so I don’t mind honoring his request – that I sew with all the material I have.

I have some lovely material for a cowl neck top. And I bought Deby Cole’s Cowl Neck Top from her Craftsy store. I think I’ll really enjoy wearing it too. I love this material paired with my denim Flirt Skirt.

100_2879

However, if you’ve followed me for any time at all, you know I usually have two, or three or more ideas and projects on the go. Before I jumped into the cowl neck, I wanted to re-visit my Ann-T-Top from Style Arc.  I printed off the next size down, and compared it to my sloper.

100_2945

Here’s the Ann T-Top with my sloper over top. I outlined the side of my sloper in black so it shows up better against the pattern. This size is much better. I still have a hard time believing how far off I am from the size charts. On this, I might want to shorten the upper bodice by 1/2″ so the underarm is hitting where my underarm hits, which will also help the waist hit at my waist. However, I do think this is a much closer fit, and one more size down would be too small. And although it doesn’t show, the neckline is much better too. There’s a 1/2″ difference, and I think I’ll like the little bit looser neck. I think I’ve found my size! I will need to make a hip adjustment, but if the base of the garment fits better, the rest can be done.

Carmen, one of my blog readers, mentioned using the upper bust for the pattern size, and this is something Kathleen Cheetham teaches in her Craftsy class, Adjust the Bust. I just picked up that class, and I’m sure it will be useful. Thanks, Carmen!

I also started to work on Deby Cole’s Cowl Neck Top.

100_2947

I have my sloper laid over Deby’s pattern. Again, what I’m dealing with is I don’t fit into just one size, or even two. I’m three sizes in all! For this pattern, I started off tracing the small shoulders and neck, and then loosely followed my knit sloper for the rest of the pattern, so my cowl neck top will be more shaped than the original.

Everything for my cowl neck top was cut out, and that’s as far as I got. I didn’t get any sewing done. I don’t even have a photo to show you – the cut material is pinned to my dress form. And I can’t even take a photo for you. I’m not anywhere near my sewing room. I’m in the mountains enjoying my anniversary. Any and all sewing will have to wait until I get back.

Here’s the view from our room. Oh, I love the mountains.

IMG_0021

This is my view from sitting at the kitchen table. We’re here in the mountains celebrating our anniversary, but my DH isn’t feeling wonderfully right now, so we’re having a quieter afternoon.

IMG_0022

I have windows on three sides, and there are mountains out each window. Oh, how I love being here.

IMG_0023

And the last view. Oh, I’m enjoying my time away, but if I want to submit a bra in Erin’s challenge this week, I’m going to be very busy sewing when I get home. That means a top and a bra in a couple of days! I don’t know if I’ll get all that done, but it will be fun to try.

Happy creating!

A Material Mix-Up

~ Michelle

A few weeks ago when my dear hubby surprised me and my Mum with an overnight trip to the mountains, we took in a few stores in Canmore and Banff. In one of the stores I visited in Banff, there were some lovely fall jackets and I went straight to them. I’d seen that material before. I knew it.

Just as I was checking out the jackets, a woman came up to me and asked me if I knew about the store. No, I replied. She told me it was Canadian owned, and they only used Canadian materials and the garments were manufactured here in Canada. While all this was being explained to me, I’m looking at the $100 price tag on the jacket. That’s not too unreasonable, but I knew I had seen that fabric before, and it wasn’t $100.

I left the jacket in the store, but made a note to go to the fabric store when I got home. And I did.

I searched for the fabric and found it, but when I measured it, didn’t think it was going to be enough. Off to another store to look for the same material. At that second store I bought what I thought was the same material.

denim

Isn’t that gorgeous? I love it. But… something didn’t seem right. This is a flocked denim and it does have a bit of stretch, but only a bit. I thought the material in the jacket had been a stretch knit fabric, not denim. And the material at the first store, I didn’t remember that being denim. However, I didn’t see anything else in the store that even came close, so I bought it. But there was still a little nagging doubt that this wasn’t the same material.

A day or so went by and then I went back to that first store to compare what I’d bought with what I’d seen there. And sure enough, it’s not the same material. The material I wanted was a stretch knit.

flocked knit

Well, they do look awfully close. And the good news is there’s just enough material. We pulled out a pattern while I was at the store and it’s the exact amount I need for what I’m making. Seeing as it was 50% off I didn’t even think about it. I bought it right away.

side by side

Here they are side-by-side. They are really close, but not exact matches. I still love them both too. So for the flocked knit (left in the picture) I’m going to make another McCalls 6844, this time a little more fitted. I’m also thinking of frog closures or something to embellish the front.

For the flocked denim (right in the picture), I’m thinking I’ll use that to make the Flirt Skirt. It’s a lovely skirt. Here‘s the link for the pattern on Pam Howard’s website.

8937_workshop_1

This photo was from the Craftsy web site showing the skirt. They had offered kits and a workshop. I was thinking of making the skirt in a knit, but now might do it in a woven. I also have some lovely black Ponte and dark gray too. Either of those would make a great skirt to go with the McCalls cardigan.

So I may have had a bit of a mix-up with my materials, but I have plans for both of them.

Happy creating! And it’s Thanksgiving day today in Canada. Happy Thanksgiving!