Marcy Tilton Skirt Vogue 9283

First Finish for 2018!

Here it is, my first finish for 2018, Marcy Tilton for Vogue 9283. I sometimes refer to this skirt as the one from you-know-where, but I can't blame it all on the pattern. This past year I've sewn a few Marcy Tilton patterns, as they often have very interesting details.

Sorry I cut off the pattern number

The pattern calls for moderate stretch knits (35% cross grain) such as Ponte, Jersey, Knit Jacquard. I chose two bamboo fabrics from Elfriede's Fine Fabrics in Boulder, Colorado. The store is an hour's drive away, and is the closest fabric store other than the big chain store. The fabric is a four way stretch, which just about drove me crazy, as I'm not used to sewing with knits.

Non matching pattern pieces

This pattern has seven pattern pieces, but I used only six. Pattern piece 1 is for two pockets that are positioned inside the skirt at the front waist towards the side. As there was no way I would grope inside the front of the skirt while out in public, I omitted the pockets. What an odd design.

Here's the other thing that was very frustrating. All the seams were labeled with letters, see the two "G" seams on the pattern pieces above. However, there is no way in the world that the notches match up. Assuming the large squares on the right need to match, the notches are way off as you look to the left of the square. The "I" seams didn't match either. Luckily I encountered this fairly early on in the construction, and then I started basting the seams together. I also had to mark the seams with a piece of paper with the letter marked on it. I had been sewing the seams using the wobble stitch on my sewing machine, and saved all the overlocking for the end. I wanted to make sure the skirt went together properly before committing myself with the overlocker.

Wonky corner seam (top left)

With six pattern pieces this pattern has some odd seaming. On the top left corner of this photo, there is a corner seam, and another on the opposite side of the skirt.

Y-seam on the front

The front of the skirt has a Y seam, which is actually pretty easy.  Look at all the colors in the print! 

Typical odd seam

 Here is another odd seam, somewhere down in the back of the skirt.

My not so perfect overlocking

After the skirt was finished, I tried it on and it fit! Only then did I take it to the overlocker to completely sew the skirt together and finish the seams. With practice I should get better.

Wonderful Japanese elastic!

The nice thing about going to a really good fabric store is that the owner and employees understand garment construction and look for and stock good products. This is an extremely soft and lovely elastic from Japan that sews in beautifully. I measured the elastic to fit, pinned it to the top of the skirt, and used the overlocker to sew it to the top seam. I then turned the elastic to the inside and topstitched it in place with a zig zag stitch. This is by far the best way to insert elastic that I've found, but it does need to be the right size and you can't adjust it after sewing it in.

I bought some orange knit fabric to match the orange in the skirt, but have yet to make it. The nice thing about the skirt is that there are many opportunities for coordinating tops and jackets. I haven't worn this yet as it is fairly light in weight and it is January here in Colorado with snow on the ground.

See my review on Pattern Review!

Happy Stitching!

Welcome 2018!

Hello everyone!  It's been a whole year since I've blogged, and I'm really ashamed of myself for falling down on the job. I have no excuse, except that we watch our grandson all day and granddaughter after school, so we are pretty busy.  We also get them up and the older one off to school so we have fairly long days. Plus, having a two year old around means that not much gets done.

I have sewn quite a bit over the last year, and hope to sew even more in 2018. There is a wonderful blog called Goodbye Valentino that is hosting a ready to wear fast for the whole year. I've signed up, so no clothes buying for me this year.  I don't have serious plans, other than the following.

1. Charity sewing: Tote bags for a women's shelter, I hope to make six over the next few days.
2. At least one knit top to coordinate with an awful-to-make skirt I just finished and will blog about soon. 
3. Finish two quilts, and maybe start (and finish) another. Mr CS and I have decided that we just don't have enough quilts around here. 
4. A wardrobe for a short cruise to come in May-June. 
5. A nice dress for the SAGA convention in September. I'm now on the Board of Directors so that gives me an extra incentive to look nice. 

Back in 2016 I purchased a Pfaff 4.0 Coverlock during a Black Friday sale, and have spent quite a bit of time learning its capabilities. Last October I took a three day "Serger Boot Camp" which gave me so much confidence in threading and using it. During the class we used Babylock 8 thread sergers, quite a bit more advanced than my 5 thread Pfaff, but the class was still valuable. We learned a great deal about which stitches to use for different applications. Of course Babylocks are a breeze to thread with the air threading system, and now the newest model even threads the needles. But at a price tag of over $10,000, I think I can thread my own serger. 

I plan to document some of the clothes I made last year, along with my new items. Stay tuned and Happy Stitching!