I should make more mistakes

Well, actually, if I did make more mistakes, I would probably quit sewing. I make plenty of mistakes, but sometimes, like this time, it leads to good design opportunities. the other day I was trimming the seam allowance on the yoke of my skirt (when will I learn not to sew when I have a headache?) and I cut the fabric. Not just a little snip, but about 1.5 inches long, parallel to the seam. The seam was already double topstitched, so there was no way I was going to take it out. I tried to think of a way to cover it up. I tried interfacing it on the wrong side, stitching it, but it was so close to the seam allowance that it wouldn't even lie flat.

















I thought about using ribbon, but then I would have had to take the zipper out. I thought about embroider, applique, and other trims, but none seemed right. Then I came up with this idea.

























I really like it. I like it so much that I decided to do this.












I used the same gold fabric that I used on the BWOF blouse. Now I'm wishing I would have interfaced the yokes of this skirt. Even though the pattern doesn't call for it, I think it would have given a nicer finish. I'm also thinking I should have lined it. I haven't sewn in the yoke facing yet, so I still could, but I'll have to attach it by hand since I've already topstitched the yoke. Or, I could just attach a lining to the yoke facing and then figure out how I want to attach the yoke facing to the yoke.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how Elaray always makes outfits. I need to do more of that. I also like the idea that Jennifer Skinner has about having 2 tops for every bottom and making outfits rather than a core wardrobe. (I wanted to link to her website, but she has taken it down.) Today I pulled out some combinations, keeping within my summer dreams, and continuing to try to reduce my stash. Last week I was in JoAnns and wanted to find some stretch pants fabric to make the Jalie pants. I found a cotton/lycra "ripstop" for less than $3.00 a yard. I took it home and washed it. It only shrank less than 1" per yard and came out looking nice. I went back and bought it in two more colors. I need to make pants, shorts, and cropped pants for summer. All of these combos will be for one bottom and 2 tops. Here are some of the combos I came up with.

First, olive cotton/lycra "ripstop", white handerchief linen, and dark purple and green stretch lace with a dark taupe lining.


Next, kind of a sage colored "ripstop", embroidered linen, and white organic cotton knit




The colors don't look great here, but this is a stone colored "ripstop", white swiss cotton, and brown and pink dot rayon knit.






Black med weight linen, black and white poly/lycra knit, and black and floral slinky



Dark brown poly "linen" blend, colored dotted swiss, and lime green cotton/lycra interlock.




I'm not sure which of these combos I'll tackle first, but before I do, I think I'm going to try to get started on the bra.

As soon as I finish the skirt, I will post pix.

And now, since I saw all those cute dresses in Cidell's last post, I just had to post two pictures of my daughter in dresses she was showing me yesterday for upcoming events. This girl has an active social calendar! Of course, I'm a little (Okay, a LOT) biased, but I think she is just the prettiest thing.
This dress she got at a local boutique. The fabric must be some kind of nylon and it just feels liquid. The front panel comes up from the bubble and is sewn into the bodice, almost like an apron that is attached below the hem




This dress, believe it or not, she got at Target! It seems pretty well made and has several rows of boning in the front. Sorry, black doesn't photgraph too well. If you click on the photo, you can see the boning detail. It's a little different from the typical. The back has a gold exposed slot zipper with a medallion pull tab. Very cute.