Finished! The brocade skirt

After posting a pretty excited work in progress picture yesterday, I cleaned the house, made cookies, did some laundry, and then managed, with the help of one sick boy who wanted to lie about (and walk over drawings) and another little boy who was completely into drawing (lego) ninjago murals (next to my sewing corner) to finish off my McCalls 5591 skirt.  Yes, we stayed in our pj's almost all day!  Yay for the first day of school holidays and a Saturday with no committments.  Although I probably didn't need to clean the loungeroom at it will need to be done again today!

I was unusually careful with this skirt and every time the instructions said to baste I basted and even hand sewed the waist band on. I do like a bit of hand sewing so this wasn't really against my nature, but the careful bit absolutely was. So here it is.

I LOVE this skirt.

Of course there are always things I could have done better and this morning, in the cold hard light of day I realised there is a little mistake with the waist band and pleats.  C'est la vie. Overall I am so happy with the zipper and the pleats which are both way outside my comfort zone.  In fact this is probably the first time I've sewn a zipper in and haven't then thrown the whole thing back in the cupboard as a disaster.

The brocade was fun to sew and I love how it sticks out a bit.  I've never sewn a McCalls before and found the sizing a bit strange.  For example a 27" waist is a size 12-14 but with collette patterns it is a size 4???!!   Anyway, I've taken these photos this morning, but I will DEFINITELY be wearing this to work tomorrow and feeling money!

I'm wearing a stripey (what else!) and my good old black patent shoes, but I think this skirt has a few options for accessorising and I have a great pair of blue shoes in the wardrobe that would look great with this skirt for an edgier option.

I will definitely be sewing this again.

some fabric purchases and a work in progress

I popped into the sale at Addicted to Fabric yesterday and picked up a few bits and pieces.
First up, Landis C Tana Lawn Liberty SS 12 inspired by the Art Deco architecture in the film "Metropolis".  Think I will make a little top out of this.

Next up,  Viola B Tana Lawn from the AW12 Embellishment story. I plan to make a mini dress out of this.

And also a couple of 'kids' fabrics for different things.. Robert Kaufmann, Celebrate Dr Seuss (in PVC!!) and Happy Dreaming by Ed Emberley for Cloud 9 Fabrics. Cloud 9 are really doing some great stuff.  I saw this one while waiting in line and couldn't resist the look on that dragon.  I often 'wrap' presents in a little bag and this fabric is perfect for little big boys.

And here is my work in progress.. Just the front done so far... but I am loving this skirt!  Unfortunately I have a bit of housework to do before I get back to any sort of sewing and Elliot has been screaming all night with an ear ache, so off to the doctors for us this afternoon. 

ready for the weekend

The fabric (I bought last weekend) is now cut out using McCalls 5591, so the weekend is looking good for a bit of sewing. The big half yearly sale starts tomorrow down at the fabric store, so I may also be posting some new Liberty of London fabric tomorrow night that I picked up on sale.  Fingers crossed.  Although how many Liberty items does a girl really need!?  I do however need some lace for my stipey top (after the lace I bought last weekend was too small), so it is a must that I go!!

I've signed up with a couple of girls from work to do the online sewing course at the Sew School Online by the Haby Goddess.  It's over 6 weeks starting 16 July.  It's so fun that they are so excited about it.  They are even going out and buying sewing machines this weekend!  I'm really looking forward to it as well. There are so many things that I shy away from sewing which I would love to do. Hopefully this will push me in the right direction.