Altered Kwik Sew skirt

As promised here is the elastic waisted skirt I made recently:Basically I just used the main panel from my Kwik Sew 3240 pattern to make this, leaving off the flounce at the bottom. If I were to make it again I would add a few inches to the length, also it is a tad tighter than originally planned as I got a bit seam-happy with the serger and cut off more allowance than I meant to :P

A slightly closer look (not until I posted this did I notice the thread hanging out of the side seam!):

The fabric I used is a really nice stretchy cotton-feel-probably-synthetic-blend with a interesting herringbone pattern and variegated brown stripe woven in.

Unfortunately the rolled hem function did not like the raised brown stripes of the fabric, leaving a noticeable stub of thread behind:

While doing the rolled hem my lower looper thread kept breaking. I am guessing that this may be due to either the quality of the thread used or they way I have threaded it (thought I am pretty sure I did do it right!). I plan to go back to my Janome dealer Pam and ask her what she thinks.
Her is another view of the fabric, showing the variegated brown striping:

Ta-daaaaah!!! It's finished!

Please excuse the rather awful shot - it was taken betwen finishing work and running out the door again- but here is the finished Kwik Sew 3240 skirt in pink:

All in all I am pretty happy with how this one turned out. Using the tip given to me by CrescetaLuna I have been able to resolve the twisting-skirt-around-the-elastic issue, which occured with the black version I made. You can read the review I did for the pink version here.
Of course I had to wear this the very next day after making (it was the only thing ironed in my wardrobe *blush*), and the fabric held up fantastically during the whole day. In fact after work I popped on a different top and headed out to the Janome Store in Stuart Park to drool over the sergers there (and dream!). Hopefully if our house sells (its under offer) I will be setting myself up with a MyLock 744d *fingers crossed*. Even though I have managed pretty well up until now with only a basic sewing machine I still think an overlocker would come in pretty handy, especially if it cuts down my sewing time on TNT patterns!

P.S according to my Janome lady its going on sale next month - yippeee!!!
P.P.S My DH has just asked him why I didn't get him to take the photo- so expect a better pic of the skirt soon....

More pink progress- alomost done!

Well with being back at work fulltime and free-time seeming to be in short supply I have decided to make today's post fairly picture heavy , in order to bring you up to speed with where I'm at with the pink skirt (Kwik Sew 3240 take three).

Sewing up the baby hem for the lining:

Pinning the skirt and lining right sides together using my ironing board (and its very ugly cover, really have to do something about that ...sigh....):
Lining and skirt stitched, turned right sides out and topstitched:

Sewing the elastic in using my zipper foot. Although you can't really tell its sandwiched in between the lining and fashion fabric of the skirt. I sewed the elastic ends together (to form the waistband) before sandwiching it in:
Sasha, my cat, getting affectionate with the table edge and keeping an eye on my work (quality control). BTW no I don't drink while sewing, that whisky tin is what I store my pins in- DH gave it to me :)

Hopefully in the next day or so I'll have my review done for the Stash 2009 contest and you'll be able to see the finished product!

The upside of synthetics...

Well after whinging about how cheap looking the black fabric that I made my Kwik Sew 3240 skirt from was, I actually have something good now to say- it doesn't crease!!!
A last minute decision on what to wear to work (hmm what doesn't need ironing?) saw me grab my newly finished KS skirt off the hanger -the skirt that was only going to be for going out "emergencies" (as I was sure the fabric looked too cheap, would be too hot , the lining made it too boofy etc...).
I teamed this with my "nice" shop-brought cotton blouse (standard office wear). By the time I had driven the 15 minutes or so it takes from home to work the "nice" shirt transformed from neatly pressed to "I slept in this overnight and didn't bother to get changed this morning" creasing, while my homemade skirt emerged from the car looking cool, calm and collected with nary a crease in sight!
The skirt fabric stayed crease- free all day, with only very feint wrinkles by the time I got home. I think I could have easily changed tops and wore this out again to dinner without a worry- if I had to.
Surprisingly given the fact that I was wearing 2 layers of synthetic fabric (with the skirt being lined) and that it was about 35 deg Celsius outside (95 degrees Fahrenheit), I didn't feel hot at all while wearing it. I think maybe this is due to the "swirly" design of the skirt (lotsa ventilation there !) plus the fact that my fashion fabric was quite light and slightly open weave.
Soooo after all this rambling what do I REALLY have to say? If it wasn't for being in the Stash 2009 contest I may never have used this fabric :it was a remnant, looked (to me) quite "cheap", I got it for nothing with a bundle of other fabric and was very synthetic. I probably would have run out and brought more fabric rather than think of using this !
However being in the contest I had to use what was in my stash and -wanting to make something I "needed"- decided a black skirt was the go. This being the only piece of black fabric in my stash big enough I decided to use it because at least then it wouldn't be in my stash any longer!
I am glad now I used this fabric as it has given me a new appreciation for a fabric type (synthetics) that up until now I have mostly avoided in favour of cotton / cotton blends.
In future I will be taking a closer look at synthetic blend fabrics when buying fabric and judging them on their merits (not creasing, new technology) not just dismissing them outright.
Lesson learnt :)

One down, one more to go.....

Yay -I have finally finished my black version of the Kwik Sew 3240 skirt!

I now have a basic black skirt to go out in AND have gained my first point for the Stash 2009 contest.

It took a little more fiddling about this time as I lined the skirt, due to the fabric being quite see-through.

Adding lining created quite a bit of bulk around the elasticated waist band, what with there being a double layer of fabric folded over. The result - teamed with the shininess of the fabric- is not as figure flattering (or comfortable to wear) as my first attempt.

Still part of making this was using up what I had in my stash, and it feels great to finally be rid of a piece of fabric I have had kicking around for years.

Unfortunately the pink version I am making next (which I have already cut out) will need lining too, so I am going to attempt to sew the elastic casing slightly differently in order to cut down on the boof factor.

You can read the review I posted here for this skirt-attempt on sewing.patternreview.com.

Next up the Kwik Sew 3240 skirt take 3- in pink! Then after that maybe a change in pace, or at least pattern :)

Progress!

I have almost completed my black Kwik Sew 3240 skirt for the Stash 2009 contest.
I decided to make view B, which has a lace inset at the flounce seam, for something different.
For the lace inset Kwik Sew has you sew the lace on top of the seam that joins the flounce to the skirt, then cut through the fabric (but not the lace!) underneath, turn the excess fabric back and zigzag along the edges of the lace (from the front).














The end result is a quite neat looking finish (I think) and applying the lace over the seam first means that you can make sure the placement is correct before sewing.

Luckily the lace a I chose had a little flower motif that I could line up along the seamline, making it easy to see if the lace was sitting straight.
I was hoping to get a thicker lace to use for the inset, however Spotlight seems to have a shortage in non-stretch black lace at the moment and this was the best/ most sturdiest feeling I could get.
Unfortunately after trying on the skirt I realised that the lace is a bit too "peek-a-boo" for my liking, with my white legs contrasting rather starkly with the black fabric. Sooooooo I think I am going to have to add a lining, which I will have to buy (so cant be included in the stash yardage).
Luckily I haven't sewn the elastic in yet....
I think with a thicker lace you wouldn't need to line the skirt- or if you don't mind showing a strip of your thighs :)














As you can see I like to use a lot of pins to make sure the lace and turned fabric really stays in place before zigzagging! I desperately need to get some more Japanese glass head pins from Wendy Gager's website (hopefully she sell's them online - I brought them instore before),as I am yet to find anyone who sells pins of the same quality up here. Currently I am resorting to using all my old pins at the moment to make up numbers and they are very blunt in comparison.




All pinned up and ready to go...err ...sew!

Sewing Contest

I have finally bit the bullet and signed up for my first sewing.patternreview.com contest: Stash 2009 ! The aim of the contest is to use up some of your fabric that you may have had sitting around (hench the "stash") for awhile. Fabric has to have been in your stash longer than 5 months and has to be sewn into something usable and/or wearable. There are winners for longest stashed fabric used and most yards sewn. I am entering purely to be a part of the contest vibe; I have seen the output of some of the other contestants and I know what I am up against :)

Still I think it will be fun and hopefully I will put some of the fabric that I have been hanging on to (for no definate purpose) to good use!

Below is a peek at my first planned project for the contest, two skirts from the Kwik Sew 3240 pattern I made up recently:

Kwik Sew 3240 Skirt

Well after the debacle that was my last attempt at garment construction I am happy to say this time everything was smooth sailing!

I picked this Kwik Sew pattern as it looked quite basic, didn't require a zipper or waistband and was a bit different from other skirts that I have made to date.

Looking at my largest hip measurement I cut a size L - a departure from my "normal" Kwik Sew M sizing.

I think 4 months of not doing regular exercise plus holiday eating is now being felt in my waistline *sob*.

I was a little iffy about whether I would need to add any length, but after reading FFRP had a sneaky suspicion that I was long in the torso not the leg..... and I was right! So from now on I will only be lengthening garments that include a top section- unless I can see that the skirt is designed to be hideously short (in which case I probably wouldn't be making it anyway :P).

This must be the first time in a looooong time that I have been able to cut and make up a pattern straight out of the packet- its feels great! Its a sewing fantasy of mine to be able to pick up any pattern I like, make it up and have it fit perfectly without any alterations/fittings. I know this is never going to happen in reality but at least with this project I got to feel like I was "living the dream" :)

You can read my full review of this skirt here on Sewing Pattern Review. I took more care with my photography this time and had fun trying out different angles and camera setting- I think it shows!