Sunday, February 21, 2010

Only my own skirt left!

11 pm update:

OK, finished all the kids' clothes. Only my own skirt left. Corduroy, unlined, invisible zipper, A-line. Easy as pie, right? Then why am I so darned nervous about cutting into the fabric (which was like $2, thanks to lovely coupon)? Answer: It's been yonks since I drafted a skirt for me. Forgot everything, like where exactly to put the darts- are they halfway between midline and side seam? Or are they 7.5" apart (magic number that is lodged in my brain from Homec days)? And how long are they? 4"? 3.5"? And also cannot reconcile that my waist is almost as large as my hips. What happened? Could 3 children really have wreaked such damage? The skirt block is basically a rectangle!

Also I want top-stitching (by hand) along the pocket and waistband. Why? Why? And with what sort of thread? I only have skinny polyester machine thread. I will end up using embroidery floss, I can FEEL it!

Years ago, after my Sec 1 (7th grade equivalent) exams, my best friend and I went out to celebrate. Had nothing to wear, so I drafted and sewed my first garment - a white twill miniskirt (also found some random blouse to go with it, of course). Just like that. And where is that old grasp-the-bull-by-the-horns, that whoo-hoo-let's-wing-it daring now? It is gone. I sewed 16 garments this week, including overalls for Kate that I drafted on some scrap butcher paper with a ball-point pen and a 12-inch ruler (because I misplaced my measuring tape) and I am weak-kneed at the thought of cutting out an A-line skirt.

Incidentally, I did not spend all night sewing. After the kids were in bed, we painted our bathroom! Green! So crazy. But actually much more exciting than sewing.


6 comments:

  1. Wow. That's very impressive!

    Good luck with your skirt =)

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  2. My shape is now a rectangle too thanks to three children...I'm also wondering HOW that happened!!!

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  3. I swear you're using a different clock than the rest of us. You're a physics woman - explain how you cram 48 LiErHours into each 24 ordinary human hours!
    I vote we change your name to a verb: To LiEr something is to perform amazing feats in short periods of time, seemingly by magic.

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  4. What fun to read the updates (and see the backpack in the previous post). Amazing, all of it!

    And Melissa, I second your vote. : )

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  5. I third Melissa's vote! I cannot fathom painting my bathroom under ordinary circumstances, much less a few days before traveling :)
    You are crazy in a very inspiring way.
    Good luck with your own skirt. I like hearing an experienced sewer talk about misgivings/problems because then it makes me confident to keep on with my novice stuff!

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  6. It's been I looong time since I've heard someone refer to 7th grade as Sec I! :o)

    Hope you managed to cut into the fabric and that you'll post the finished skirt...sounds pretty.

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