A Frakkin' Awesome Skirt

I really like skirts more than shorts (and am very excited that skorts are more cute and fashionable now than 20 years ago). Skirts that I can wear while running errands and chasing after the girls are my new obsession.

Enter the Wong-Singh-Jones Kyoto Skirt from Hot Patterns. It's cute, fun and practical. And, if you watch the You Tube videos from Trudy, very versatile and changeable.

I made it first in a lightweight denim, but it wasn't drapey enough, especially in the godet in the back. It puffed out at the hips where the interfacing for the piping was, and no woman wants to look like she has puffy hips. Also, I did the top stitching in a matching, rather than coordinating, thread, so it got lost in the fabric.

I tried again with a back cotton sateen and, here I cheated, used gray quilt bias binding for the trim, instead of making my own. I used a gray thread for the topstitchingand leftover gray fabric for the pocket flap lining.

The back godet/yoke/sides are made first and as I was doing the topstitching and attaching the trim, the whole effect really reminded me of Battlestar Galactica.




I know the picture isn't great, but don't you get a Galactica vibe, too? Hence, I call it my Frakkin' Awesome Skirt. I highly recommend making one or at least Netflixing the series.

Three Graces Shirts

The Three Graces shirts from HotPatterns aren't my "ideal dream perfect" shirts, but they are pretty awesome. I bought the pattern because I loved the cross-over variation, but, having made all three, I think I love them all.

I decided to watch the YouTube videos that Trudy has helpfully put up, having had some problems in the past with the instructions for other patterns. She made it look so easy! In honor of her British accent, I decided to see how many Doctor Who episodes (Season 5 with Matt Smith) it would take me to sew one shirt. I figured one, maybe one and a half, show and I'd be done. I was both right and wrong.

I got hung up on how the cross pieces went together. For about 2 hours. A few seams were sewn and ripped out. A few curse words were muttered.

I don't have a dress form, which makes piecing together a drapey garment kind of difficult. I came up with the brilliant idea of using a pillow as an impromptu dress form, so I could see, and pin, everything, better.

After I figured out how to put together the front pieces, the rest of the shirt defintely went together easily (two Doctor Whos.). And it's beautiful. So beautiful, I decided I had to make the other two shirts.

The cowl-neck version was easy peasy (One and a half Doctor Whos). The only thing I changed was to bring the sides in a bit, since it was a bit looser than I like. The twist neck was easier than the cross front, but harder than the cowl (two Doctor Whos). Most likely, my problem was that I was overthinking the construction, as I figured out how to do it after a glass of Scotch.