Sew Wrong

Pattern Review: Colette Patterns Ginger Skirt

bicycle skirt

Pattern: Colette Patterns Ginger
Fabric: Birch Organic Fabrics “Commute” (Coral Ride colorway), purchased at Gather Here
Size: 6

Shirt: Alternative Apparel
Necklace: gift

Three words: Love.  This.  Skirt.

bicycle skirt

I woke up on a rainy Saturday morning thinking about a bicycle print skirt.  For reals.  I don’t know if it had anything to do with my yearning for a bicycle print poly chiffon I saw at Mood back in May that I wish I bought (how darling of a blouse would that be?!) but damn it, I wanted a bicycle skirt.  So I grabbed my rain coat and boots and headed over to Gather Here, local purveyor of all things awesome and most likely to have bicycle print fabric.  And I was right!  Plus, Virginia carries all sorts of awesome pattern lines like Sewaholic, Sew Liberated, and Colette, so I picked up a couple of patterns as well.


This is my first Colette pattern that I’ve made and let me tell you: I’m hooked.  At first glance, $16 seemed steep for a basic skirt pattern (especially since I’m so used to the $1.99 sales at Joann Fabrics), but after opening the envelope and examining the cutting and sewing instructions and design suggestions, it’s clear that a lot of the thought was put into the writing and design of this pattern.  There’s a lot to be said for clearly written sewing instructions, especially if a pattern like this is your first venture into sewing.  


This is essentially a 3-in-1 pattern: three different looking skirts, each with waistband variations or a bias skirt.  I picked option 3 with the straight waistband instead of a curved one.  This is a high-waisted skirt too, which I love, and looks great with either my shirt tucked in or worn out.  The fit is spot on and true to the measurements on the pattern envelope.

bicycle skirt

Don’t ask me how I did it, but I managed to get the bicycles lined up going from the skirt into the waistband! Not so much though when it came to the center front seam.  I followed the cutting instructions for lining up stripes but it didn’t work out so well when I assembled the skirt fronts and backs – this was my first venture into sewing with, what I didn’t realize until I got home, a striped fabric.  But I was so bowled over with the waistband alignment!

bicycle skirt

The design tips were a nice addition and gave me the idea to look through my stash for some white piping I knew I had on hand.  The invisible zipper is unfortunately grey instead of white (all I had available) but since I don’t see it when I’m wearing it, I forget about it.  Out of sight, out of mind!

I can tell this is going to be a new favorite pattern of mine that won’t be made just once and then filed away.  A-line skirts are my favorite kind of skirt and this pattern is such a great wardrobe staple that can be modified and adapted for a multitude of looks depending on the fabric and other design elements like pockets, buttons, trims, etc.  This one is a keeper and well worth the money spent!  I can’t wait to try the Jasmine blouse pattern I picked up as well.

Have you made any Colette patterns?  Which is your favorite?

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20 Minutes to Sew – An Experiment

wip - ginger skirt

It fits, it fits! Huzzah!

Let’s face it: we all don’t have a lot of time to sew.  Heck, I can barely find time to go to the grocery store and do my laundry every week.  I usually leave my sewing and crafting until the weekend when I’m off from work (yes, I have weekends now!), but that somehow manages to get erased from the weekend agenda when there are things to do like going to the beach and mini golf (oh yeah, and that laundry and grocery shopping thing I mentioned before).  What’s a crafty bitch to do?

Since saving all of my sewing time for one or two days a week isn’t working, I made a goal with myself for the week: carve out about 10-20 minutes each day this week to sit down at my sewing machine and see what I can stitch up in that frame of time.  Of course it’s not an original thought; Nancy Zieman has a whole line of sewing patterns called “10-20-30 Minutes to Sew.”  She’s right: a few minutes here and there each day can quickly add up to a finished project.

Monday night went pretty well – I got all four panels of my Ginger skirt stitched together, pressed, and finished the seams with my pinking shears.  I figured out that if I can sew at that productivity level each day, here’s what I can accomplish this week:

  • Tuesday: Fuse waistband interfacing, stitch waistband pieces together
  • Wednesday: Stitch waistband to skirt 
  • Thursday: Insert zipper
  • Friday: Hem skirt

So if I can stick to the agenda, I’ll have a cute skirt to wear for the weekend.  If this experiment works this week, this may be the way that I do my sewing from now on.

The only downside?  I’ll  need a white top to wear with my new skirt by Saturday…

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MMM ’12 – May 6

MMM 12 - May 6

Me-Made Item: Skirt (taken off of a failed Vogue 8663 dress pattern)
Originally Reviewed: N/A

Top: INC
Necklace: J Crew
Belt: thrifted

Wearability Review:

I always forget about this skirt in my closet, so this challenge served as a good reminder to dig it out!  This wasn’t even supposed to be a skirt, it was originally slated to be a dress that ended up looking quite unflattering with the waistline sagging down from the weight of the fabric.  The fabric was way too pretty to waste, so I chopped off the skirt of the dress and made a narrow elastic casing at the top.  I also left the hem raw since it doesn’t curl up.

The skirt is a flattering length and I’ve worn it with a top tucked in and a belt (to hide the elastic waist) or with a shirt over the skirt.   Even though I was a little dressy looking in a skirt, I was so comfortable wearing this for what my boyfriend and I did that day – ran out to grab some coffee, walked around the park, watched the Red Sox lose to the Orioles (booo). The only annoying thing with wearing the skirt with a belt is that I have to make sure that the belt doesn’t creep up during the day, exposing the elastic waist.  Other than that, I’m happy that I turned lemons into lemonade with this skirt.

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DIY Spring 2012 Fashion Trends: The High-Low Hem

hilowhem

Some like it and some hate it, but the High-Low Hem is a hot trend for spring.  I’ll admit that it’s a trend I wasn’t initially on board with (heck, let’s call it what it is: a mullet!), but the more I see pictures in magazines or skirts and dresses in stores with this type of hem, it’s grown on me.  It’s a lady-like hem that can range anywhere from demure to daring depending on the length of the front hem.  There aren’t a whole lot of options when it comes to finding patterns to copy this trend, but I imagine it’d be fairly easy to adapt a skirt or dress pattern of your liking with a french curve to alter and grade the front of a pattern.
Skirts:
This McCall’s skirt pattern was the only pattern in the Big 3 that I could find with this type of hem.  The patterns seems like a versatile collection of skirts with varying hem styles, including your plain ol’ regular hem.  
Dresses:
Simplicity 1881

If you’re looking for a dress pattern, these two from McCall’s and Simplicity seem to be your best bet – McCall’s for a shorter dress and Simplicity for a longer, evening style dress.
Tops:

Vogue 8771

This trend isn’t just for skirts and dresses!  There are also a lot of RTW tops now with this short in the front/long in the back hem.  Vogue 8771, which I featured in my color-blocking post, also has a view with a slightly curved hem that fits this trend.  This is a much more subtle look than a lot of high/low tops available at a store near you.
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