I did it!
I sat down and re-did the hem of this stash-busting skirt. As a hand-stitched blind hem.
How do you like them apples?
It didn't take me very long at all - just a little time at a crafts meeting on Sunday afternoon. You sit and chat while you stitch away at something like this... and almost without realising: you're getting it done.
To be completely honest: I can't quite believe that I was able to do this within a day of completing the rest of the skirt. And blogging about it.
The thing was that I still had this skirt (and its ugly hem) on my mind after getting so far with it, finally, but not in a way that I was particularly happy with.
I forgot that I basted the top edge by machine (for guidance) and didn't realise why this area was looking so ugly. But once I had taken this stitching out - the whole skirt started to look quite good to me all of a sudden. A nice surprise.
But I didn't like the machine stitched hem that I did in a sudden flurry of annoyed thinking: 'oh I'll just get this fardling stupid hem done quickly' - and it showed.
It looked out of place: the stitch length was too long and the colour a bit off. It made the skirt look cheaper. This is much better. Not perfect by any means, but lots better.
And overall I am now much happier with the general standard of sewing on this project. I feel like I am improving in technical skills and generally getting better at this sewing business. It feels really good.
I was going to use my blind hem foot on my machine but knew that the hem was uneven on the inside. I just didn't fancy trying to sew this with the foot and failing. I do believe that doing this by hem was quicker and much less frustrating than the other way would have been.
I am not sure if I will do the tab at the top of the zip - I think it looks alright as it is: the opening makes a bit of a V-shape and I like the look of it. I can change my mind later if I reconsider.
Overall I am much more happy with this skirt now than I was for quite a while. I didn't make much progress for a long time and I am guessing that it was because I started to dislike the skirt. Things don't half drag out if you don't feel like them.
But now it's done and I am pretty happy with it.
Hey, look at that:
I finished a sewing project!
I am very happy - this will count as my second project completed this year, meaning that I am ahead of myself in terms of the four items a year goal. Which in turn means that I might be able to up this to six projects a year! Completing a garment every two months ought to be do-able - particularly as this one is finished in April and not in June.
I did say it was almost completed. There are two issues with this: I should add a tab at the top of the zip. I thought I put the zip in at the right height but there is too big a gap to the edge - it is still wearable though.
Don't ask me why the next photo is upside down, it doesn't matter much for the purpose.
Look how neatly the ribbon aligns "across" the lapped zip! I am really chuffed with that - all it took was a bit of handsewing at the end because it hadn't gone on straight with the machine. I am very pleased with that.
The second issue that I am not happy with is the hem. I might re-do it with my blind hem foot. Just as soon as I identify which one that is (my sewing machine manual is very helpful, - as long as I consult it that is...)
This is my stashbuster skirt. I had about 20 odd centimetre of the grey pin stripe and half a meter of the dark red (yes, it is much more of a red than a pink in real life. I wish my camera could turn the colour to this shade through some kind of magic, but alas...)
I couldn't do anything with either fabric but once I realised that they are the same weight and type (superfine 100% wool), then that gave me the idea to just sew the two widths together. Did I mention that both fabrics were the same width? That's what swung it.
I started by sewing the two fabrics together and then treated it as if it was one piece. I just cut all three pieces and carefully aligned the seam. But it took me a long time to get to today's result.
Here is what it looked like for the longest time:
I need to take a photo of me wearing it.
Once I do that you can see that the seam between the two fabrics hits me at a really odd point on the hips, which is too high up. It looks really odd, trust me.
That made me think that a ribbon would draw the eye down a bit. I think I achieved the desired effect.
I can now wear this (on Monday perhaps?) and will consider it finished for just now. I need to get through too much material to get stuck on one project that was never meant to be the best thing I've ever done - I just wanted to use up two fabrics.
Which I did. So there.
Here are more shots of my pink toile, to show how shapeless it is:
Maybe some back darts might help?
More darts at the front, also vertical? There are also drag lines from the bust point up to the shoulder.
The back gapes too, - but I think the armholes are okay? That would be a small plus point.
Much more work needed.
