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.