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Monday, January 30, 2012

The 'Petals and Prints' Skirt


The Facts

Fabric: 2 1/2 yards cotton $18
Pattern: Meringue from the Colette Sewing Handbook
Year: 2011
Notions: Invisible zipper $2
Time to Complete: 3 hours
First worn: January 20th, 2012
Wear again: Yes!
Total Price: $20

This garment wasn’t sewn as part of the Sew Weekly, but for the Sew Colette challenge being hosted by Miss Crayola Creepy and Rhinestones & Telephones.  Their challenge in 2012 is to sew all of the garments included in the Colette Sewing Handbook.  Luckily, I have this pretty little book in my possession and was excited to sew along with them.
As I’ve probably mentioned a few times in this blog, and as evidenced by all of the Colette garments I’m constantly making - I love Colette patterns.  This sewing book is also the source of my revelation with installing invisible zippers in my garments.  That being said, I knew that motivating myself to sew the garments within the book would be a challenge... I'm wise enough to not want to cut the patterns straight from the book insert, but I am so lazy when it comes to tracing patterns. But I couldn’t just cut them straight from the book! What happens if I want to make a different size in the future? I can’t just buy a new book each time that happens (though that would be very good for their sales).  So, I dusted off my Swedish tracing paper and set to tracing the Meringue skirt pattern.  A piece of cake considering there’s only 6 total pieces, 4 of which are small facings.

My final Meringue skirt, with my previously made Jasmine blouse
The second obstacle... I had a really hard time picking a fabric for this skirt.  With the petal base, I wanted something that would compliment it, but wouldn’t look weird.  This pretty much left me with the option of solid fabrics.  I wasn’t satisfied! I thought about doing stripes (like the example in the book), but I was worried about the illusion of width that might be created with vertical stripes. Alright, scratch that idea.  I was getting ready to give up, and just bypass this garment in their sew-along.  I was wandering through the aisles of my local fabric store... when... EUREKA!  I found this fun, dotted cotton.  The pattern was busy, but would still showcase the unique shape of the skirt.  And it was on sale!  Time to get cutting!

A closeup of the print.  It's hard to see in the photos. Oh, and the tag I made from some cupcake ribbon in my stash. Partially because it was cute, and partially because I'll never be able to remember which is the front and which is the back of the skirt.
I only needed 2 1/2 yards of the cotton, though it’s all cut on the fold of the fabric.  Oh, it made assembly so easy!  All parts of the skirt assembly - from cutting the pattern, up until the petal hem - took me two hours.  Once at the hem, I had to focus my attention to matching up the facings, trimming the excess selvage, pressing and then finally tacking down the inner facing.  That took the last hour of assembly.  It was a really quick project and so easy to put together.  If I were completely new to garment sewing, this would have been the perfect start.

The back of the skirt
Now I’m back onto my Sew Weekly garment schedule and getting ready for the next Sew Colette garment, which I believe is the Pastille dress.  I can’t wait!  Are you sewing along with any other challenges?

Also, I'm curious - those of you who have custom garment labels... where did you get them from?  I'm thinking about ordering some, but I see them so sporadically that I never think about it long enough to act on it.
What I Watched:
The 10th Kingdom, Part 1 (2000)


EDIT: My Meringue was featured!  Check out some of the final versions from the sew-along here:







17 comments:

  1. It looks SO good! And I LOVE that idea with the tag, I need to do that too. The first time putting it on I had trouble remembering which side was the front :)

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    1. Thank you! For the compliment and for hosting the great sewalong! It was the motivation I needed to start working on the patterns in the book. And yeah, I had to go back and read the instructions just to be sure I put it on the right way. That's when I officially decided I needed some sort of marker. ;)

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  2. You are a sewing "machine"...no pun intended. You have made so many beautiful creations! I love seeing what you've made. Right now I'm doing more sewing for my home...but I hope to get back to sewing clothing soon!

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    1. haha I totally announced the same thing to my hubby last night, after a weekend sewing spree! I'm hoping to keep this pace up but like you, I have some home sewing and accessories that I'd also like to be working soon.

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  3. It looks nice. I really like that skirt pattern. I've been doing a few project run and play sew along challenges. Mostly, I'm trying to get ahead in Sew Weekly. I really like doing them but don't like to feel like I have to sew on nights that I don't feel like it so I want a bit of a cushion.

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    1. Thanks Stephanie! I'm in the same boat - I'm trying to stay ahead because I know at some point I'll lose steam and I don't want to fall behind. I'm up to Oscars but that one's going to require a muslin. Uuuughh I'm so lazy! I'm itching for the rest of the themes to be posted so I can keep myself motivated. :)

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    2. Wow! I just cut my red week dress. I did do a quick muslin for it though. Thankfully my Oscars one will not take too long but Mad Men will take some time to do what I want.

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  4. Very nice! I've never made fitted clothes. Maybe I should give it a try!

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    1. You should! It can be intimidating in the beginning, but once I found which patterns worked for me (Simplicity/Colette) and which would need extra TLC (Vogue), it made it easier to prepare. I don't avoid projects in the latter, I just prepare myself that they might need a little extra attention.

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  5. Your Meringue looks so nice! That print is the perfect scale, and I LOVE the idea of the tag to tell you which is front and back-- I had a devil of a time keeping that straight while using this pattern!

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    1. Thank you! Oh and the front vs. back facings... especially when putting on the bottom facing. I kept repeating to myself which was which, and I wouldn't sew down the facing until I had triple checked it. Whew!

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  6. Super cute! I love the scallops :-)

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    1. Thank you!! I love how they turned out. I admit I was hesitant about them before I started the project, but I think they're pretty cute. :)

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  7. The skirt looks great on you. I have the book too and you have totally inspired me. The petal design at the bottom is eye-catching, so I was drawn to it initially but you've demystified it for me. I'm glad to hear it took you such a short time to complete it.

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  8. Your version is so lovely! I think you have officially convinced me to give this pattern a try ;)

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  9. I've had my doubts about trying this pattern but now, I'm going to order it tomorrow! Thanks for sharing.

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  10. I'm fairly new to sewing but love this skirt. I have a Burda pattern for beginners so I just make the same style over and over. I have never heard of Colette patterns before so I am going to check out the link. Loving all the stuff you make (including the recipes which how I found your blog :D) Have a great day.

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