project 1 - The Pink Skirt

This week, my thoughts are on sewing. I set up a swanky new blog, and I now I think I'll try to document all of my sewing projects thus far.

Number 1 is.... The pink skirt!

I don't understand the phrase "baby steps." So, for my first foray into the world of pins and needles, I chose to make a fully-lined, elastic waist skirt with pockets free-handed (using no pattern). Needless to say, it doesn't get a lot of wear--the crooked seams and awkwardly-fitting waistband don't help matters. But as an added bonus, you get a fistful of lint when you put your hand in the pockets!
See, I didn't really understand how to finish the edges before I sewed the thing together, so it's like a mysterious mini-forest of loose threads and frayed edges in the pockets. Adventure in a creamy coral disguise!

I used this tutorial from Freshly Picked, and essentially changed everything.


Procedure highlights:

• measure twice, measure twice again, look at it in horror, then measure three times. Then cut once. Then take a little off the seam allowance. Then trim a little more off the especially uneven parts. (In all seriousness, I should have made clearer, straighter lines with the marking chalk, and folded it in half to cut, ensuring evenness. The edges hardly lined up when I went to sew the seams.)
• taking my own measurements.
  
• slinky fabric frays easily (zigzag seams were still a thing of the future for me)
  
• my sewing machine was busted the whole time, I just didn't know any better. (High tension in the bobbin that caused the thread to snap every few minutes.)
  
• I like sewing.
  

Fabric: 1 meter @ 600yen/m

(Circa March 2011)