January Sewing Project 2015

Dear Readers,

At the beginning of the year I decided that I would make one dress per month as a sewing challenge to myself. We are now in March and although I have kept up with the challenge of sewing one thing every month I have bent the rules to make it one garment, not just a dress. I realised that jumping up and sewing a dress when I had very little experience in dress making was probably a recipe for stress and tantrums.

So my first project was something I have made once before and that's a pencil skirt. I really wanted a black pencil skirt that I could wear with anything and everything and that will have a vintage feel when I am in the office. While I am so extremely proud of myself for having made the skirt and make it to the highest finish I have ever managed to achieve I still don't feel like it's really what I was looking for. I think this is a combination of two things. Firstly due to my inexperience I think I chose a fabric which wasn't totally right for a pencil skirt. Plus even though I measured myself and cut my pattern out to the measurements my final garment was still pretty baggy on me and did not evoke the wiggle skirts that beautiful ladies from the fifties wore.


In fact I feel rather frumpy in it. Because of this reason I have decided to alter it to fit me and then take it apart so that I can use that as my pattern when making pencil skirts in the future. I am sad that after all of that work I will be taking my skirt apart but I love pencil skirts so if it means that I will have some more garments that I will actually wear and feel good in then I think it is worth it.

However, I am not deterred and plan on making many more pencil skirts in the future until I perfect it and get that ever so wiggley fit I desire. I already have plans to make the skirt in a teal colour and will hopefully make the capris trousers from the same pattern later this month.

Are any of you out there seamstresses? Have you had similar experiences with patterns? I would love to find out your experiences in sewing.

ttfn!

Post Script.
Skirt pattern - Simplicity 4047
Fabric - Fabric Corner, Lincoln
Jumper - Primark
Shoes - Clarkes
Earrings - Twinwood Festival