Presenting...the Marie Skirt!

The Marie Skirt that I did with the One Pearl Button sew along is complete! Hooray!

To be honest, I’ve been a bit of a deadbeat in the sewing department and I needed to finish something to justify all the pattern and fabric buying I’ve been doing. As the skirt began to come together, I started to worry about the fit and the style on my body. More than anything, I worried that this tulip style, though beautifully pleated, would drown me and make me look frumpy. It does give my rear end sufficient space but it’s baggy, which doesn’t help my petite frame and there’s nothing on top (read: boobs) to balance out the bottom heaviness.

But all in all, it was a wonderful sewing experience. Alli’s instructions and accompanying photos were way more helpful than the sometime-elusive nature of BurdaStyle pattern directions. I even took it out for a spin yesterday and it was so comfortable to walk around town. I heart the high waist and the pleats. And it even survived the wash! I’m always a bit worried that it’ll come out of the dryer in a million pieces, a testament to my stitching abilities.

Admittedly, I had a helluva time trying to get the zipper in, mostly because I hadn’t quite figured out to use my zipper foot until I saw this tutorial. I did it so many times that I damaged the very lightweight denim. I did realize that’s one sewing-related thing I’m wicked good at: Seam ripping.

I’m trying to be patient with myself with this sewing-stuff. The speed of the machine is deceiving. This is not fast at all. But here are my lessons:

-Loose weave fabric (if that’s the correct term) frays easily, not only at the edges but amid my seam-ripping skills. I need to sew with more durable fabric or figure out how to handle this fabric: needle? stitch length? interfacing?
-I can sew *zippers*. Finally.
-I have officially overcome my hem fears thanks to the facing in this skirt pattern. It made it so much easier and I even blindstitched by hand. I think I’ll use hem tape for all my future hems thanks to my experience here.
-Even though the skirt survived the wash, I've belatedly learned I should interface the zipper-seam for stability (given the lightweight fabric). It's a wee bit wonky.

I'm off to Gold Country and Marie's coming with me!