Another Cynthia Guffey Skirt

I hope everyone is settling into the new year and sticking to those resolutions.  I have only two this year:  sew more garments and try to spend 30 minutes each day doing some handwork (Lord knows I spend twice that wasting time on the internet).  Today marks the second anniversary of my blog.  I'm grateful to all of you who check in and read what I have to say.  I'd like to post more frequently than I do, but the reality is that it takes time, something that is in short supply these days.  This year I hope to further improve my photography and post in a timely manner.  I should have written today's post back in November when I completed this skirt.  My memory of the details is a little fuzzy but here's what I've got.

This is one of the more complicated patterns I have attempted in a long time.  Cynthia Guffey has drafted a 12-gore skirt with yoke whose detail is really pretty spectacular.  I first saw this skirt in person at the Sewing Expo a couple of years ago; it is an architectural marvel.  Each gore is cut on the bias twice the finished length and seamed together with a French seam down the center of the gore.  This leaves a little scallop along the hem.  The gores are then sewn together.  All of the seams are finished to the outside, adding even more interest.

I chose to make the skirt from a knit instead of a woven fabric.  I decreased the seam allowance on the joining seams and left the edges raw.  I constructed the seams by machine but stitched all of the visible exterior stitching by hand.

I finished the waist with foldover elastic, zigzaging along the edge through both layers.  This makes a wonderfully smooth and comfortable waist finished.

I like this skirt A LOT and might even consider making another if I can think of a variation that wouldn't look like the same skirt.

I find myself in an unusal place tonight.  I'm finishing up another skirt that I have been working on for a long time and I don't really have another project waiting to go when it's complete.  I usually have a long list of items to be completed, but with no pressing deadlines I want to take some time to think about what's next and come up with a project that will take some planning and thought.  Maybe I'll make use of something I've learned in the past year.  I don't know, but when I do, you'll be the first to hear about it.

Comments

[Tee]

Hi Julie,

That skirt is awesome! I remember seeing Cynthia wearing that skirt in Chantilly, VA. I saw it up close in her booth. She would be proud!

[Julie Bowersett]

Thanks, Tee. I'm going to send Cynthia a picture.