project updates

It's been a while since I've posted.  Rest assured, I've been sewing and cutting, but either my projects have been a secret or I'm not far along enough to share anything more than a giant pile of scraps.  I also started a new job at the end of October so I am still trying to balance work-time with commute-time with sewing-time.

The one project I have finished is (yet another?) Colette Ginger skirt.  Now that I've made three of these skirts, I'm really into the pattern.  It's a great cut for my body and I've adjusted the pattern enough so I just have to cut out the fabric and sew it together without a lot of brain power.  This one is in corduroy, my first non-boring-cotton clothing project. 

Pardon the lousy shot - I took this in the mirror at work. 

I didn't try to match up the seams. The print is busy enough that there's a bit of trompe l'oeil to make you think that I was clever enough to have planned any matching that may have occurred.

At this point I definitely feel like a whiz at inserting an invisible zipper.  Since this skirt is so fitted around the waist I'm sewing the zipper in far further than the pattern suggests (10").  Any less and it's a struggle to get the skirt over my hips.  

I've also been on a bag tear.  I found a great pattern online for a wide mouth pouch and earlier this month I used some scraps to play with the sizes.  I now have bags to match Amy Butler's Weekender bag, a pair of pajamas and the back of a quilt I made earlier this year.  One must always accessorize!  

You may be wondering why I left such a long piece of the zipper hanging off the end of the left side of these bags?  It's an open mouth bag so the extra zipper allows you to open the bag to a full circle, rather than keeping it tightly closed at each end.  I really love the practicality of this design!

Lastly, there's a project that I've only started preparing for.  I've always wanted to make a postage stamp quilt (also known as a "vomit quilt").  This quilt is great for using up scraps as it calls for an unlimited amount of 2.5" squares.  Over the past few weeks I've been slowly going through my scarps and cutting squares.  I don't have nearly enough but it's nice to have something in the works that I can plod away at over time.  

It's been fun traveling down the memory lane of my previous projects.  And I love that I can still use tiny pieces of fabric that I love but don't have enough to use on something larger.  I probably should figure out how big I want this quilt to be and do some quilting math to get a sense of the project's timeline but I kind of like not knowing the end result (this is crazy for me - I generally hate surprises!).  

Next up on my sewing agenda:  I just cut out the fabric for a Colette Peony dress and yesterday I snagged some fabric and the patterns for two other dresses.  I may never shop again! :-)

log lady gather skirt

I was obsessed with Twin Peaks when I was in high school.  It was so quirky and cool and the atmosphere and music were like characters of their own.  In addition to having a massive crush on Agent Cooper, I really like the Log Lady character.  You knew that when she showed up with her log, saying things like "the owls are not what they seem" that you were either getting a glimpse as to what was to come or you were going to be totally frustrated and confused by the episode's end. 

When I found this fabric over the summer it made me think of the Log Lady and her strange ways and I also thought it was the perfect fabric for a quick fall skirt. 

This fabric was too fun to make anything too serious so I decided to make another gather skirt.  I'm pretty happy with the way it came out - it's very whimsical :-)  I felt that my first gather skirt was way too bulky and had way too much fabric in the waist.  For this version I found a tutorial for a similar skirt that suggested measuring your hips and multiplying by 2.1 to get the width of the skirt panels.  This calculation yielded a measurement that was pretty similar to my first version where I just winged it so I still ended up chopping off about 8" from the waist.  I think the bulkiness problem lies in the fact that I have a very small waist compared to my more shapely hips.  If I make another version (who am I kidding?  I am totally making a 3rd version with a fun fabric in spring!) I am going to take my waist measurement and multiply by 2.1 and see how that works out.  This time I inserted the zipper before putting in the waistband which made the finishing a little neater.

I'm really kind of in love with this skirt and hope that it stays fall-like for a good long while so I can wear it a lot.  

(Note: I just figured out how to do some basic photo editing in iPhoto!  Hurrah!  I am very excited because my apartment has terrible light and I take terrible pictures of myself so I always feel like my pictures are pretty horrific.  Hopefully the editing will make a little bit of a difference!)