Monday, April 14, 2008

I just want to make a black skirt

First of all, it's nice to know I'm not alone in my Stash Anxiety. Thanks Keely, Lady be Good and Carole for your comments.

I'm confronting my Stash Anxiety by trying to plan out more of a wardrobe instead of just grabbing a pattern and some fabric, because there are just too many patterns and too many fabric choices. So I decided that I would finish two UFOs and make a few things to go with them.

One of the UFOs is a multi-tiered skirt that I cut out but never sewed up. I bought the fabric in Paris in July 2006 and cut out the pieces a month or so later but then fall came and the project was put aside. Then I realized that the multi-tiered skirt was passé and the skirt sank further into the depths of UFO-dom. But I don't want to waste the fabric and I am not a fashion slave and will pretty much wear what I want, so the skirt is going to get finished. Hooray! The fabric for the skirt is on the left of the picture below. I haven't yet picked out what top(s) I will make to go with it. I think I bought the burnt orange fabric to go with it, with the plan to make a jacket, but I'm not sure about that now.

Travel Fabric


The other UFO is the jacket I started in November that has somehow become sidelined. Here's the sneak peek picture (sorry it's kind of dark):




I decided to make a black skirt to go with it so I shopped my stash to see what I had. Unfortunately I have more prints than solids and much more brown than black, but I did find three choices:

  1. Silk with a vertical stripe that's fairly subtle

  2. Medium weight cotton/lycra purchased from Christine Jonson's fabrics

  3. Linen/rayon blend

Although I did make a black twill skirt last fall, I decided that I wanted something with a little more fullness and not so casual. I've narrowed it down to this one, using the silk:


or a skirt with pleats using the linen/rayon. I don't have the pattern below but I have a similar one from Onion (1038) (no picture to show but you can go to shoponion.com to see it) and I've also come across similar looks in my big stash of Burda WOF.

But which one to make? I think the first skirt would be really pretty but the silk is a little impractical to wear to my work, were Crocs and shorts are common attire. Also, I'm not sure how the stripes in the fabric would work out. The skirt has godets, which may look odd with the stripes. Or maybe it'll look great. I don't know. The second skirt is a little more practical but the pleats may make my big hips look even bigger and a pleated skirt would look pretty dressy too. The Onion pattern has pleats on the left and right but not in the middle, which I think may make me look wider. The third alternative, is to go buy some lightweight black gauze and make skirt #1. It would be comfortable, easy to care for, and not too dressy. But oh no...BUY MORE FABRIC? That is what I want to avoid!

3 comments:

  1. All your fabric is beautiful! I here you on wanting to sew from stash. I try that sometimes but umm it doesn't ALWAYS work out! LOL. If your environment is more casual I think the last skirt would be perfect. I have pulled this one out as well!
    Good luck with your choices!

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  2. Stripes can work beautifully in gores... but they take some time and patience.
    You would want to place each gore so that the stripes run straight up the center. Mark where the stripes hit on the side seam (the sewing line not the cutting edge). Then transfer those marks to the next pattern piece and line that one up so that the stripes hit the marks.
    Do this for every seam. Your stripes will chevron at the seams.
    This is assuming that the stripes are 1/4" wide or more... less than that and I sure wouldn't bother!

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  3. I love the last skirt, mainly the hem band. I think a beautiful print and a solid matching band are the perfect combination. If you are afraid the pleats won't look good, you can pick an easy A-line pattern, add the band, and luckily you'll have some fabric left for a matching tank top!

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