Following the success of my Built By Wendy top, I figured next up should be a skirt – I’ve made quite a few skirts, mostly pretty simple ones, some with zippers, some with elastic waists. I had three yards of Chocolate Lollipop “galaxy” print (ordered from Cia’s Palette) ordered just to make a skirt with. I’m a fan of circle skirts, but it turned out that I didn’t really have enough fabric – and I didn’t really feel like messing with letting the skirt hang before hemming, etc.
The next pattern I tried was a yoked one that looked really cute. I cut out all the pattern pieces, but then alas – the skirt pieces didn’t fit on my fabric. Turned out that the fabric was only 42″ wide rather than 45″, so there was just a little chunk of pattern hanging out! So that pattern got shelved as well.
Turns out third time’s a charm!
This one was made from a pattern (can’t remember which at the moment, and the envelope’s two floors downstairs) which has the front and back being made up of three panels each. So since the panels are narrowish, they finally fit on the fabric!
The skirt has a side zipper (which I put on the wrong side by accident) and just a waist facing, which I wasn’t such a fan of. I decided to do my own thing and sewed down the whole facing to the inside, making more of a waistband. My shape is a little bottom-heavy, and I like to wear my skirts fairly low on the hip, so the size 18 that I cut turned out just a bit small for my liking. It’s fine, and the cotton will stretch a bit, but that’s why I usually go with elastic waists!
I didn’t bother to try to match the patterns across the seams – the panels are angled, anyway, and there’s enough going on in the dots so that you really don’t notice it. One thing I did do, though, isn’t even visible from the outside:
I don’t have a serger, and I’m pretty lazy when it comes to sewing (hence the sloppiness that sometimes ensues) so I usually just zigzag stitch along my seam allowances to finish them. With this one, I love the fabric so much that I was compelled to do a little more. When I pressed the seams open (all eight of them) I turned the allowances under by half and pressed those down, then sewed down along each and every one. I could’ve done it as a topstitch-type-thing where the stitching shows on the outside, but I’m too messy a seamstress for that!
Anyway, the skirt turned out really well and I love it. Next up, the dress debacle.
And completely randomly, some food stuff.
I love asparagus. I had a craving for it the other day, went to the fridge and there it was in the drawer! (One of the perks of living with people who buy food, aka, parents.) We usually have it plain, steamed, which I can eat a ton of – but I wanted a little more something, you know? I roasted them up in the toaster oven (I love toaster ovens for these little tasks), dotted with butter and sprinkled with parmesan. It was in at 400 F for probably 10-15 minutes – I tend to follow the “it’s done when you can smell it” formula with stuff like this.
And a lunch from the other day –
I cooked 2 cups (or so) of penne in 2 cups water, 1 cup milk and a pat of butter until the pasta was done and the liquid mostly soaked up, and added frozen peas and some spinach near the end. Once the pasta was done, I mixed in a whole bunch of 6 year old aged white cheddar and a good helping of parmesan, black pepper, and a sprinkle of nutmeg (I love nutmeg). Serves 2, or y’know, one me over the course of the afternoon. Simple, easy, and totally yummy. Mmmm.
Can you tell I’m not afraid of butter and cheese? Hee!
