Sew What

Almost Finished

I was very excited yesterday to find a small package in my mailbox.

I ordered these beautiful edge snaps made in Italy from Birch Street Clothing. Well I realized that I don't have a fastening tool that will work with them, so I placed another order today. These little beauties will be the perfect finishing touch for my leather skirt. In the meantime, the skirt is hanging on my dressform waiting patiently. Since I cannot wear it, I thought I would share a picture.

Skirt Fitting

In order to tweak the fit, I slipped the skirt on inside out. I decided not to do a center back seam alteration. Instead, I will use elastic between the skirt and the facing. I have some elastic that I purchased from Emma Seabrook at the Sewing Expo. I bought an entire roll. This stuff is not like the rubbery elastic at JoAnns. It is 3 inches wide and it is soft and has good recovery. This will keep the waist from stretching too much.

Pattern Drafting

A couple of years ago, I took a pant fitting class at the Worcester Sewing and Quilting Expo.  The class was taught by Peggy Sagers.  I now can sew pants that fit me perfectly.  If you ever have an opportunity to take her class, I highly recommend you do it!

With my custom pant pattern, I made a basic skirt sloper.  I sewed a mock-up to correspond to it, complete with a zipper.  It has been hanging in my sewing room since 2007.  Last night, I broke it out to draft a pattern for a skirt to go with my red leather jacket.  I tried on the mock-up just to make sure I was still happy with the fit.  

 

   
 

The sloper is for a mini skirt.  I want this skirt to come to just below my knees, so I added length.  I converted the darts in back to princess seams.  Then, I angled the seam lines and added additional style lines.

I did this for the front and the back.  Next, I drafted facings for the waistline.  Voila! I now have a pattern for a skirt to go with my jacket!