Twin Needle Fun (and a Lonsdale update...)

I went out and purchased a twin needle for my bathing suit project, because (and I hope I don't offend anyone here) I think zig-zagged topstiching looks kind of cheap/homemade. I was a little scared to give it a go, but I'm so thrilled with the result! It looks so clean and it stretches SO well.

(Excuse the iPhone photos...)

 The only issue is the back side. It seems as if it's skipping stitches or failing to catch threads or something... can you see what I mean in this photo, or is it too far away?

I'm assuming this is a tension issue, but I'm not sure how to fix it. Do any of my wise blogging friends have any advice? (In case it's relevant, I was using a walking foot.)

In other news: I basted the zipper into my Lonsdale muslin last night, and I'm sorry to say that it's entirely unwearable. The saddest part is that it's only really because of two relatively minor issues in execution, which I just don't really have the energy to try and fix. I'm a bit sad, because I really loved the fabric (butter yellow linen), but at least it was on clearance so it's not a huge loss financially. On the bright side, aside from those issues it actually fits really well, so at least I can try again with different fabric sometime in the near future.

(I'll post some photos and discuss in greater detail tomorrow. Although, I can't promise that I'll be able to post anything unflattering, which might defeat the purpose? Apparently I might have a few more self-confidence issues then I'm willing to admit...)

Beignet

After languishing 99% finished in the cupboard for a few weeks, my Beignet skirt is finally finished.

I'm absolutely in love with this skirt. It's by far the best and most comfortable, wearable thing I've ever made.

The fabric is a wool crepe I picked up on clearance in the summer. Locals might recognize it - there were still bolts of it available at the Boxing Day sale! Either they had stocked way too much of it, or I'm just the only person in Vancouver who actually wanted to buy bright fuchsia wool. In any case, it was the best of all worlds because it was a fabric I actually wanted to work with at a price that let me justify approaching this as a "wearable muslin."

I'm very glad I approached it that way, because this project felt so much more straightforward and fun. I fall between a size 8 and 10, but closer to the 10, so I followed Colette's advice and cut that size. In the end, it was too large and I had to take in two inches all over (I simply took in the side seams). Otherwise, the fit is perfect. The proportions are correct and I absolutely love the straight silhouette - not pencil, not a-line. I love it so much, I plan to turn it into a TNT pattern with a solid front and a side zip. I also want to make another true-to-pattern version in a more neutral colour.

I lined it with bemberg rayon and actually really enjoyed working with it - perhaps I'd just heard too many horror stories so my expectations were low. The only real mistake I made was picking too dark a colour. In person you can see where the lining meets the facing although, happily, the belt distracts enough that it's not really an issue. I had already hemmed this once, before realizing it definitely needed taking in, and I did the machine "invisible" hem. It was a little too visible, so this time I did it by hand. I chose to omit the twill tape in the waist, which I may regret, but I didn't have it on hand and wasn't willing to make another trip!

My next project is a dress (Lonsdale), and I'm trying to decide how to approach it. After this experience, I'm really keen to continue forgoing the muslin altogether. It really does drain a lot of the fun out of sewing for me. I suppose ultimately it depends on the complexity of the pattern and the cost of materials. Since the Lonsdale is relatively simple and the fabric was on sale, I think I'm going to go straight to fashion fabric. Wish me luck!

Lotus

My first knitting project of 2012:

It's the Lotus Hat (pattern is free and available here) made up in Malabrigo Merino Worsted. The pattern was a breeze to make, very fun and straightforward. I cast on Saturday and bound off Monday, with no marathon knitting required. The charts were easy to memorize - in fact, it was so easy to "read" the knitting as I worked it that I'm not sure memorizing the charts was even necessary. I love the end result.

My only word of warning: this pattern comes out small. I obtained gauge and followed the instructions for the "long" version (four repeats of chart A, rather than three) and it still came out so short that it popped off my head prior to wet blocking. Now, that being said, I do have a rather large head. Still, it barely covered the tips of my ears, let alone my earlobes (as it said it would)! Luckily, this was made as a gift for my mother in law, who is rather birdlike in stature. Also luckily, I didn't bother to wash and block my gauge swatch, so it had some room to grow. Hopefully it fits her correctly!

In sewing news: my Beignet skirt has been finished for forever, save for the hem (which I just haven't had time to sit down and take care of). It's hard not to use pressure to update this blog as an excuse to craft, but I really do have other things on my plate at the moment. Hopefully you'll be seeing it sometime this week!

Blogiversary!

Wouldn't you know it... I forgot my own blogiversary!

I can't believe a whole year has passed!

I'm not going to do a Year In Review or anything, because hey, the gallery provides a pretty concise summary. But I do want to examine my original list of intentions, and see how I measure up and where I want to go in the future.

I wrote my goals in a post titled The Plan. To make a long story short, I actually succeeded on all counts except:

4. I will make at least one each of the following: skirt, dress, blouse, jacket

It's unsurprising that I didn't make a jacket (despite my enthusiastic purchase of a tailoring book...) but I'm actually pretty shocked that I didn't make a dress. I suppose I decided that smaller projects had a greater chance of success?

I don't want to make a big list of intentions this year, because part of my 2012 resolution is to maintain balance. So, I've decided to keep it simple: 2012 will be the year of the dress. No rules against making anything else, but seriously. Dresses are the item of clothing I most love to wear, find the hardest to buy, and generally can't afford. It's kind of a no-brainer. So, to be SMART, my goal for the coming year is to make at least five dresses by December 31, 2012. That's specific (dresses), measurable (five), attainable (ten weeks per dress), relevant (uh, it's sewing?), and timely (deadline of Dec.31). Sound reasonable?

I do want to give a quick word of gratitude to those who follow along here, and especially those who comment. Your help and encouragement is really invaluable. I wish you all the best in 2012!

Featured!

 The lovely Amanda just brought to my attention that my Sorbetto Redux (of recent cat destruction fame) is the Member Project of the Week over at BurdaStyle!

I'm so flattered to have been featured there twice now, despite not being the most productive sewist on the block. The whole online sewing community is so full of love and support!

I do find it a little funny/sad that in this post, wihch I made the last time I was featured (in July), I was planning on getting going on making up my Lonsdale and Bombshell dresses. Fast forward five months and they're still the next two projects in my queue! Oopsie.

In fact, I've been doing a lot of thinking about sewing and my wardrobe/style (or lack thereof, these days), and I think I need to get over this weird aversion to sewing dresses I seem to have developed. Especially considering that they're the reason I got back into sewing, and the only thing I actually really want to add to my wardrobe at the moment! Hopefully I'll actually get these two made, at least.

But I suppose in the meantime I should make the time to repair this little top, because I sure did love wearing it before my little friend got his claws on it!

Skew

I started working on these socks back in April, but eventually put them away because I encountered a problem that I couldn't figure out how to fix. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I didn't know what the problem was. Often, I find putting away projects is exactly the thing you should do. Usually, by the time I pull them out again I've either given myself enough distance to gain perspective, or enough time to gain patience, or enough projects in between to gain the skills necessary to fix the problem.

In this case, what I ended up giving myself was anxiety, because I couldn't figure out where I'd put them! Thankfully, after a few weeks of looking I found them tucked safely away in a bag of sewing notions. Silly me. Anyway, upon bringing them out again I was able to see that I'd failed to wrap my short rows. Now, maybe one should just know that this is always a step in creating short rows, but I still don't really understand why they simply write "turn" instead of "wrap and turn." Would those few extra words be so hard to include? Anyway, I digress.

I managed to fix the problem by changing the setup row for the cuff, replacing all the Rlinc and Llinc increases with M1s. By doing this, I pulled up the strand below the hole and twisted it, filling in all the holes. It looks fine! The hardest thing was then going on to make the same mistake on purpose on the matching sock.

Ultimately? This pattern was so great! It's precise, mathematical, and knits up exceptionally fast. The "origami moment," as they call it, where you put together the heel is pretty satisfying. And the ergonomic toe fits SO comfortably. I really want to pick up two different, solid skeins of Koigu and knit a striped version. (Check out the most popular finished objects from this pattern in Ravelry... most of them are striped and they are beautiful!)

On another note, thanks for all your sympathy and suggestions on yesterday's post. I hope it was clear that it was a moment of frustration - really, they're lovely cats and there are some days where they are the thing that gets me through. I feel as if I should write a post telling you all about what makes them wonderful, to counter-balance the complaining about the naughty behaviour. But that would make me an extra crazy cat lady, wouldn't it?

Please, don't hate me.

Baby Knits

Recently, I spent a good chunk of my knitting time on a few projects which I couldn't talk about online, as they were intended as a gift for another web-savvy knitter. Well, two weeks ago that dear friend gave birth to a beautiful bouncing baby boy, and today I got to meet him and give him his presents!

First, a wee cardigan and a hat to match:

Second, an itty bitty bunny hat:

The bunny hat was at the suggestion of my husband. He spent the winter of his first year dressed up in a fleece snowsuit with bunny ears, and the photos are pretty priceless. We included a few of them in our wedding slideshow this summer, much to everyone's amusement. So, a bunny hat it was! I used the Bunny Beanie pattern, available for free here on Baby Center. This was a great little pattern and I highly recommend it. (Although it is a little light on the directions when it comes to attaching the ears, but after a little advice from my friend SnappyStitches, it all came together perfectly.)

The cardigan was made from the recently published Gramps pattern. It was love at first sight. This pattern is so cute and the copy made me laugh out loud. ("We think it’s hilarious how babies sometimes look like old geezers - so we created this shawl-collared grandpa sweater for your grouchy little old man!") I made the 0-6 month size, which by measurements is definitely more appropriate for a 6 month old baby of average size (otherwise, I pity the woman who bears a newborn who could fit it!). The pattern is well-written and I especially enjoyed seeing the shawl collar come together. (I used this tutorial by Cat Bordi for concealing the short row wraps and it was incredibly helpful!)

My only criticism of the pattern is to do with the button band/collar. They instruct you to pick up stitches starting at the bottom hem, working as you usually would (i.e. picking up from the outside/RS so the seamline ends up inside the garment). However, when you reach the part of the neckline where the collar begins, they instruct you to switch so that you're picking on from the wrong side (and thus the seamline will now be on the outside). I understand the reasoning - in theory, the shawl collar will fold over, concealing the (now) outer seamline, and will be more likely to reveal the seam from the inside. However, in practice, there's no way it's ever going to fold over that far. This is compounded by the fact that the uppermost buttonhole is right at the bottom of the collar - thus preventing it from folding over to conceal the seamline. Hopefully these photos illustrate my point (it's more obvious on the left side than the right). The first photo is with the top button done up, the second is with it undone.

Anyway, it's not the end of the world. It still looks pretty tidy and I imagine she can just leave the top button undone. If I ever knit this again I'll just leave the seamline on the inside the whole way around. I had to omit the cute elbow-patch and pocket details as I ran out of contrasting yarn, but I'd love to make another version of this sweater one day with all those little details included! I still think it's a completely charming pattern and highly recommend it.

Sorbetto Redux

As my silence may have hinted, I've been in a bit of a sewing funk. Everything just started to feel like it was taking too long and not fitting correctly. Add in some shifting of life's priorities (i.e. amping up the job search, among other things) and I just let it take the back burner for a while. But I wanted to get myself out of the rut so I decided to take this pretty cotton/silk voile out of the cupboard and whip it into a quick Sorbetto.

Well, "quick" isn't really the right word. In truth, this thing took forever. Yet again, I struggled with moderation, made a ton of mistakes (sewing bindings on inside-out, etc), and ended up feeling like my whole day got sucked into sewing. (Because it did. 9:30am I was printing the pattern pieces, 10:30pm I was pressing the hem. Although, in fairness, there was some eating in there somewhere.)

But, ultimately there was success. First, it fits! Second, it fit with much less annoyance than the last time. I still fall between sizes. However, rather than making the larger size (like last time, as recommended by Colette) and then having to add a pleat in the back, I simply made the smaller size (size 8) and... that was it. Ta-da! It fits. I still had to lower/shorten the dart, add some length, and take an inch off the hips... but otherwise, it's pretty darn good.

(Actually, I ended up having to remove even more length from the dart this time... almost 2". Is that a large bust thing? I can't imagine that length of dart being appropriate on anybody... but then again, I guess I really only know my own body.)

These guys always get very curious about my photoshoots...

In a perfect world, I would figure out how to do a small FBA on this, as it it doesn't have much ease in the bust. I would also probably lower the neckline a little... as someone who generally wears either scandelously low necklines or crewnecks/boatnecks, this feels a bit in-between. However, I may just get used to it. Time will tell! Lest I sound negative, I actually think this might be the first truly wearable item I've sewn (pajama pants aside).

I've put myself on a rather strict unemployment budget so if I remain inspired to sew then it's time to get going on my Lonsdale and Bombshell... because they're the only projects I have the fabric for! Unless I cop out and finally make that apron I've been planning, but I can't find a pattern I like and I'm not feeling up to the task of drafting. (Which I realize is totally ridiculous, considering the simplicity of the project. I just want one project that's a straightforward cut-and-sew, you know?)

However, there will be knitting updates soon. The two secret projects will be gifted soon (and therefore no longer secret) and a pair of long-hibernating socks is now nearing the finish line. It seems the more sewing I do, the more it affirms my love of knitting. Comfort zones, I suppose.

Finally!

The sewing machine came out today, after 6+ weeks in hibernation.

... sadly, this is about as far as I got. (Lonsdale muslin pieces.) But still, it's something!

It's Official!

He's finally, legally Mr. Modiste ;)

Hopefully things will slowly return to normal around here over the next few weeks!

Three Year Cardi

a.k.a. the Asymmetrical Cabled Cardi

Finally finished!

I cast on for this sweater on my birthday, November 24th, 2008. It's a bottom-up design, and it went swimmingly until I reached the raglan decreases. At that point, it became apparent that the pattern has some problems (as further evidenced by the number of project notes on Ravelry which contain complaints about said problems). In the end, I knit this sweater from the armpits up FOUR times over three years. (And the collar one extra time for good measure.)

In summary: I'm so excited to finally be able to wear this freaking thing!

I can't seem to write a concise post about the errors/mods to save my life, so I'll just add those to the Ravelry page instead. Basically, i did it in regular stockinette (rather than reverse), added some width to the left front for coverage and both front edges for smoothness, added both some length and width to the sleeves, and figured out my own method for completing the raglan decreases.

I also went down two needle sizes for the collar after reading that some people had trouble getting theirs to stand up, although in retrospect that may have been overkill as it sucks in toward the neck a little too much and I prefer the way it looks folded down anyway (as above). I also ended up moving the buttons over, resulting in a much slimmer neck, in order to get a little more overlap/coverage on the front pieces.

The funny thing is, I usually get discouraged when having to rip back a project, but I did it so many times with this one that I kind of became immune to it. I'd happily knit away and then discover a problem and just think, "here we go again!" and rip it back. On the bright side, I'm now pretty awesome at picking up rows and figuring out where I am in a cable pattern. (Admittedly, my crazy love for the design and the colour of the yarn kept me going.)

After all that work, I only hope my assistants don't get their claws on it! (I did have to resort to blocking it on the balcony. These guys do love wool!)

The Details:
Pattern: Asymmetrical Cabled Cardi by Yahaira Ferreira
Needles: US9(5.5mm) (and US7(4.5mm) for the collar only)
Yarn: Cascade 220 in colourway 2425
Size: 39
Guage: 4.5spi (the pattern indicated 4spi, so this fits small)
Cast on: November 24, 2008
Bound off: July 24, 2011
Total # of stitches: 31,740 (give or take for fit adjustments)

Sorbetto Love

Yesterday I decided to make this light and summery top, and I went full-steam ahead without a muslin. It's not perfect (as usual!), but I think the beauty of a simple, loose fit like this is that it doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, regardless of the fit dissection I'm about to delve into below, this might be the first piece I've made that could actually make it into regular wearing rotation. (Well, besides the pajamas.)

The fabric is some light-ish weight semi-sheer cotton I picked up at the Fabricana Canada Day sale. (Not sure what kind... heavier than voile, lighter than broadcloth/quilting cotton?) In addition to the fit changes, I added 1.5" to the length of the top and I'm quite glad I did. (I could see that this would be unnecessary if you were the type of person who enjoyed tucking things into high waists. I am not that person, however.)

Based on the measurements I cut the size 10, following Colette's advice to use the larger size if you fall between sizes. This didn't work out as well as it should have. The front was almost exactly the right size, but the back was huge and billowy and just way too large. Rather than pick out any seams, I decided to simply mimic the front by creating a 1" box pleat on the back piece. This ate up 2" of fabric and I'm now very happy with the fit through the body.

The only problem with this quick-fix pleat was that it messed up the fit of the shoulders. In the front, the shoulder straps sit a smidge too wide. In the back, after the pleat was put in, they sit a smidge too narrow. Neither of these problems is really noticeable on their own, but it means that when the straps attach at the shoulders they kind of want to tug each other in the wrong direction. As a result, the straps in the back look a bit like they're pulling (although they're not too tight) and the neckline in the front gapes a bit (from the straps being pulled in). (This isn't really visible in the photos.)

I think the solution on future versions would be simply to cut a smaller size and do an FBA. But ugh - between the loose fit and the fact that Colette cuts for a larger cup size, it seems silly. But I suppose using patterns drafted for a C-cup still isn't a perfect solution when one is an F-cup...

Regarding the bust, the only alteration I had to make was shortening and lowering the bust dart. I shortened it by 1" and lowered it by 0.5" and I think it's just about perfect. I've never made a darted front before, and after all my previous experiences messing around with princess seams and gathers, it seemed almost ridiculously simple. Love darts!

I'm definitely going to make new versions of this top and try to perfect the fit, because it's such a great base for embellishment. I'd love to have a whole collection of them around for summertime.

Featured!

I'm a little under the weather, so it took me a day (and, uh, Tasia kindly pointing it out to me!) to notice that my Comfy Crescent is a featured project on the BurdaStyle homepage!

I have to admit, I'm totally shocked! I'm sure you could tell from the jokingly defensive tone of my post that I really expected everyone to think I was nuts in my fabric choice. But the response has been almost entirely positive :)

Anyway, I'm a little sad that I'm feeling so gross, because I had a few solid days to dedicate to sewing/knitting and instead I'm sort of lying around moaning and sniffling. Well, I am still getting things done, just much slower than normal!

Happily, I received the Lonsdale Dress pattern in the mail yesterday, and picked up the fabric to boot! I've been fretting over the bodice fit, but I finally committed and cut a muslin last night, so we'll see how that goes today. I also brought my old dressform up from storage, which so far has just resulted in a few startled moments in which I catch a glimpse of her in my peripheral vision and think that someone has broken into my apartment. I'm sure I'll get used to her, though.

I also signed up for Gertie's Sew Retro: The Perfect Fit Bombshell Dress course over at Craftsy, and used some of my low-energy sicky time to watch ahead. I've watched about 11 of the 15 videos so far and I have to say, it's worth every penny. If you're the sort of person who learns best by being shown, video learning is pretty much the best thing short of having Gertie in your sewing room with you :) Plus, she seems to be very quick in her responses to questions in the interactive forum. I've bought the fabric for this dress as well (and I'm SO excited about it!), but I'm still missing some supplies and angsting about the boning. But more on that later.

Hopefully, we are embarking on a summer of dresses. Wish me luck!

Comfy Crescent

I know, I know... when it comes to clothes, the general consensus seems to be that "comfortable" and "stylish" are mutually exclusive. It's like that conversation in When Harry Met Sally:

Jess: So you're saying she's not that attractive.
Harry: No, I told you she is attractive.
Jess: Yeah but you also said she has a good personality.
Harry: She has a good personality.
[Jess stops walking, turns to Harry, raises his arms in the air]
Harry: What?
Jess: When someone's not that attractive, they're always described as having a good personality.
Harry: Look, if you had asked me what does she look like and I said, she has a good personality, that means she's not attractive. But just because I happen to mention that she has a good personality, she could be either. She could be attractive with a good personality, or not attractive with a good personality.
Jess: So which one is she?
Harry: Attractive.
Jess: But not beautiful, right


Okay, the brilliant wit of Billy Crystal aside, I have to respectfully disagree with the comfortable /=/ stylish thing. I know I'm more of a craft blogger than a style blogger, but while I may not be a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination, I do actually pride myself on knowing when I look good, when I look passable, and when I'm an embarrassment. The thing is... I just don't always care. However, I think this skirt is pretty damn cute. And comfortable. At the same time!

So yes, I'll confess: it's made out of flannel. Flannel shirting, not pajama flannel. (I'll further confess I don't actually know what the difference is, but that's what the tags said and I'm sticking to it.) More stylish folks than me may be laughing at me through their screens, but seriously dude... don't knock it 'til you've tried it. And don't worry... I'm not expecting this to be evening wear. Just something comfy besides bermuda shorts to wear on a lazy sunday.

I thought the fabric had a sort of denim-appeal so I did some contrast topstitching in navy and used a navy and brass zipper, although I thoroughly botched the insertion. I'm not sure where I went wrong (perhaps just the bulk of the fabric threw me) but one side sits noticeably higher than the other! Oh well, no big deal.

My previous Crescent (View B) was graded from an 8 at the hips to a 10 at the waist, with 1" removed from the top. I still felt this sat a little too high for my taste, so this time around (View A) I graded from an 8 at the hips to a 12 at the waist. This added about an inch around the waist (not the full 1.5" the pattern would have you believe, because I've also removed that inch from the top, so it's not fully graded out to the 12). It's perfection. Serious perfection. I couldn't ask for it to fit any more comfortably. It actually doesn't really sit much further down, it's just a more correct grade for the slope of my hip and so it just sits more smoothly.

Anyway, I love it. But in case I haven't sold my more stylish readers, let my try to convince you with my best snugbug impression (Patty always sells it, doesn't she?):

OH! And in other news, I hit a major blogging milestone the other day: I was recognized by a reader/fellow sewist! Commenter Alice spotted me out at the Fabricana Canada Day sale! Thanks Alice, you made my day! (Alice doesn't yet have a blog, but she tells me she's working on it. Keep your eye on the comments for a linky, as I made her promise to share the address once she's started one. How's that for peer pressure? LOL.)

Big Brother Pajamas

I adore pajamas. They were the first real thing I learned to sew, and I've been sewing them ever since. I especially love to make them as gifts. This pair was for my big brother, who turned the big three-oh this week! (Mr. Modiste kindly modeled them so they could make an appearance on the blog.)

(These look like plain green, but they're actually a fun herringbone print.)

When I make PJs for men I always use McCalls 2586, which is a seriously wide-leg pattern. This photo illustrates that point a little better:

My brother is quite tall. 6'4", I believe. While in the midst of making these I started to worry they were going to be too short, so I added a bit of extra length by cutting separate pieces for the cuffs. In the end, this may have been overkill, as you'll notice how long they are here on Mr. Modiste. (He's 6'3".) But, who cares? They're pajamas! (This is my favourite phrase when sewing pajamas... and probably one of the reasons I love sewing them so much!) Besides, isn't it a bit of a fun novelty for people who are 6'4" to have a pair of pants that are too long? Well, I hope so!

Now for a few details! First, the afterthought cuff:

I actually sort of like the way this looks, with the double-row of stitching.

French seams again:

This time I did a proper french seam for the crotch seam, rather than the faux french seam like last time. It worked out great. I did reinforce it, as the pattern suggested, which turned out nice and clean looking.

I really do love making these as gifts. They're easy to fit without having to tell the recipient what you're making, it's fun to pick out flannel prints for each person you make them for, and they're quick and forgiving to sew (not to mention comfy for the recipient to wear!) Homemade gifts were especially valued in my house growing up, so I try to make sure to make my Dad and brother at least one big gift a year. (Much to the confusion of a helpful Fabricland employee who once tried to whisper to me that it was cheaper to just go and buy a pair at Wal-Mart, lol.)

Hopefully my brother likes them!

Crescent Skirt - Finished!

I'm so excited to finally show off my Crescent skirt!

This was meant to be View C... but when I laid out my fabric to cut it out, I realized that it was only 42" wide instead of 44", which was too narrow! What's up with that? Is that a quilting cotton thing? Anyway, I improvised by cutting View B, but extending the hem all the way down to the size 16 length. It worked well enough, and I'm actually super happy with it - I think any longer would have been too long on me.

As I mentioned in previous posts, the modifications I made were to cut 1" off the top of the waistband, and to grade the waistband pieces from an 8 at the hip to a 10 at the waist. My hope was that these two modifications would bring the skirt down to a more tolerable place for me to wear it, seeing as I find things sitting on my natural waist completely uncomfortable. (I am seriously a child of the low-rise generation!) I failed, however, to consider the fact that my muslin was not interfaced and had no twill tape... so this didn't work out quite as well as I'd expected. It's still a tad high for my comfort, but I figure it'll be a good piece to help me try to get used to things sitting higher. We'll see how that goes!

A few detail shots...

I lined this with a white/silver voile. You can't really see it, but it has a silver sheen when the light hits it. It's actually quite pretty, honest!

The lace hem facing worked out great and really spoke to my inner perfectionist... it's so easy to make evenly spaced hand stitches when you have a patterned lace to follow! In retrospect this would have looked fine machine-stitched and that would have saved me a lot of time. Oh well... I do love hand-stitching :)

That double line of stitching on the lining hem was just because I didn't get close enough to the edge the first time around. Oops!

This method of zipper insertion was positively magical... thanks, Tasia! (Mine doesn't line up perfectly but I couldn't care less!)

Time will tell if this skirt sees a lot of wear, between the fabric (not my usual style) and the fit. Regardless, I still love it and I'm already plotting my next version. (View A, which I think will be a little more wearable for me.) I'm just trying to debate the best way to tackle the fit issue. I'm torn between fussing with the grading (maybe from an 8 at the hips to a 12 at the waist? Would that be crazy?) or maybe just omitting the twill tape at the waistline and seeing if that allows a little more stretch? Hmm... let me know if you have any suggestions!

(Also: every skirt should have pockets, don't you think? So great!)

Sneak Preview

Crescent skirt is almost done! I'm dying to finish hemming it and show it off, but Mr. Modiste is back in town for four days so I'm a little short on spare time!

Rather than making a size larger, I heeded K.Line's advice from my Crescent Skirt Muslin post and simply made the waistband an inch narrower, cutting an it off at the top. The skirt still sits a little bit higher than I want it to, but not uncomfortably so. I followed the pattern to the letter and so I included the twill tape in the waistband, which I probably shouldn't have done. I know that's to prevent stretching and really, I wouldn't have minded a little ease at the waist! But I think it'll be okay.

I decided to try using lace hem facing, but in a moment of stupidity I left my iron on hot and melted a bunch of little holes into the border. My inner perfectionist is screaming at me to remove it and start again, but it doesn't compromise the integrity of the hem so I think I might try to silence that voice and just leave well enough alone. What do you think? Is it worth fixing?

Full post with details in the next few days!