Wool Skirt #2

Finished Jenna's costume on Friday so I let myself make Wool Skirt #2. I can't believe that I intended for these wool skirts to be my reward (and, thus, motivation) for finishing the girls' Halloween costumes. I mean, it's not like they're a delectable chocolate-nutella cupcake in which one indulges after, say, a marathon. Skirts are work, too, right?

The last one wasn't, really (it came together in a few hours). That's the one I made after finishing Kate's costume. But this one was. It's bias-cut and diagonal-striped woven. 

So it drapes wonderfully (better on me - I have actual thighs - but you get Fleur today, because it's snowing outside and I'm a coward). But there are so many seamlines at which print needed to be aligned.

Like the center front, for instance - and I didn't even get that middle junction perfect. Oh well.  

Every seam had to be hand-basted, not just for the print-matching but because bias cut seams are so fluid and crazy. And bias-cut garments fit differently than regular-grain cut ones, meaning that additional ease had to be removed from unusual places depending on how the fabric draped. And then the seams re-hand-basted and re-pressed. So you might not be surprised that it took close to 10 fittings to get the drape and fit just right. And that's before we added the lining (also bias-cut).

And yet, yes, this did feel like a nice reward-ish break from costume-sewing, simply because it was different. A different kind of garment, different grain, different skills involved, different level of precision. Not as delicious as a chocolate-nutella cupcake, but I know which one I'd rather wear on my hips, eh?