Well I had planned to unveil my completed Crescent Skirt last Friday, but my iron broke (major catastrophe for a stitcher!!!) and I had to wait until this weekend to finish it off. My boyfriend and I took a little picnic trip to Murlough Bay (a National Trust spot) which is literally where the 'Mountains of Mourne sweep sown to the sea' - so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get some interesting photos:
Slieve Donard in the background - the highest point in the Mournes (and the whole of Northern Ireland).
I promise these shots were taken after the purchasing and using of a new iron...but sitting in a car for an hour prior to photo shoot is not conducive to iron-free clothes!
I happened to have some red ribbon (with white stitching detail on it) in my stash so I decided to go for the trim version of the skirt. I made View A, which was less full skirt and I think it turned out just about the right amount of 'poofiness' for me (yes, very high-tech sewing terminology there!)
I decided to fully line my skirt as I know cotton skirts have a very naughty habit of creeping up when worn with tights (and believe me, it's nearly back to tight season here!). I went for a bright pink acetate lining and trimmed it with a very pale pink lace that I had in my stash. I really love this little delicate feature - it makes me smile whenever I see it peaking out from under the skirt! I also turned up the hem with red ribbon (you can just about make it out in the photo above) - again another feature that I love. One of the good things about it was I felt the full hem allowance would have been too short for me, so this allowed me to squeeze a little extra length into the skirt!
And some shots of the skirt on Flo:
Hmmm....my least favourite part of the skirt - my sewing around the zip. Ah well, it's all a learning curve isn't it - next time I will be a lot neater!
Close-up of the trim
The lining, with the sweet lace trim. I love the fact that most of the skirt is finished off with French Seams (more on that tomorrow - but not what you think!), including the lining - I made a point of doing that...the lining fabric frays like a demon!
I have to admit that when I started this skirt I thought it might end up too girly and poofy for me....but it turns out I'm obviously more girly than I thought because I love wearing this skirt! Another naughty fact - I couldn't be bothered making a toile/muslin and while piecing the waistband together I had a mini panic that it was going to be FAR too tiny on me and I almost didn't bother finishing it! It turns out that the size is spot on - well done Tasia for drafting such a perfect pattern that actually matches your body measurements without giving us 10 inches of ease!!!
I am definitely going to get a lot of wear out of this skirt...and perhaps we may see a few more pop up in my wardrobe soon. You can never have too many skirts right?
Those are beautiful pictures! I strongly suggest learning to hand-pick a zipper. Threads has a great tutorial. It's soo much faster and easier than putting it in by machine and I really hate hand sewing...
ReplyDeleteOOoo - that's a really lovely skirt! I love the lace trim to the lining!
ReplyDeleteI second Mollie's suggestion re the hand-picked zipper. There's also a tutorial on the Sewaholic website (Tasia is so good at explaining everything clearly). I used her method on my most recent make and I am never doing zips another way again!
Those pictures are stunning! I just love the colours :)
ReplyDeleteWow, this is a lovely skirt, beautifully lined as well! Great pictures, what a location! I have to agree with the ladies on the hand-picked zipper front - I did my first one for my Lonsdale dress and it made such a difference, I don't think I'll ever go back to machining them again. Tasia has a great tutorial here: http://sewaholic.net/a-hand-picked-zipper-progress-on-the-picnic-dress/
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely comments ladies. And thanks for the suggestion for the hand-picked zip - sounds like the favourite method for most of you! I was actually thinking about doing a hand-picked zip for this skirt, but I thought I would follow Tasia's instructions from the Crescent Skirt and see how that method worked - and it did work perfectly...until the final sewing around the zip which was just a bit wonky.
ReplyDeleteI have read so many reviews about hand-picked zips around the web (especially Tasia's website - I know she is a big fan!) that I'm definately going to have a go!
Oh this is a lovely skirt Suzie, probably my favourite Cresecent skirt to date. And I love the extra secret trims on the skirt and lining. Your other commenters have made me want to try a hand picked zipper now too! Great job. x
ReplyDeletebeautiful skirt and beautiful pics - what a breathtaking backdrop! great job!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! I just realised I've only ever seen Murlough Bay at sunrise/in the dark, nice to know what it looks like in daylight :oD
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute skirt!
ReplyDeleteThese photos are absolutely gorgeous! I love how you lined the skirt and even added the lace. What a great piece to have in your wardrobe. (I just found your blog by looking through some of Tasia's older sew along posts.)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous skirt! Definitely worthy of your favorite summer sewn item! Hooray for Crescent skirts!
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