Prairie Skirts

My sister-in-law gave me a boatload of fabric - a lot of it was cotton calicoes. After I heaped everything on a table and sorted it by color, it didn't take long for them to call to me, "make us into prairie skirts!"

This purple skirt is hemmed with 1" bias tape, which gives it a cute, contrasting finish. It occurred to me that next time I can make my own bias tape out of some contrasting calico.

They were so fun to make because I didn't use a pattern. I just winged it!

I did learn a lesson when I assumed that fabric widths either came in 45" or 60". Some of this fabric was only 42" wide. I thought I was getting fatter when I couldn't slide my first tier over me hips. Another great trick that I learned was, after gathering and stitching each tier together, finish it was a zig-zagged top-stitch (your seam allowance should be pressed toward the top of the skirt). It adds a nice stitching detail and makes the gathers behave nicely. It also finished the seams without having to zig-zag the seam allowances.
Each tier is 1.5 times as wide as the previous one. The first tier should be about 7" long (cut an extra 2" for the waistband casing). The first skirt I made had a longer first tier and it rolled off my butt in a weird way.
This drawstring skirt is probably my favorite, and I think I will wear it a lot in the warmer months. Let it out a little for fat days, cinch it in a little for skinny days. . .The drawstring is 1/2" bias tape, and the hem is finished with 1" bias tape. How much would you pay for this in a store? I made it for nothing, and it took me about an hour (and I'm slow!)

The Oregon Coast

It would have been a perfect weekend if it were a few days longer.

We went to our place in Newport, near Nye Beach, and walked to the beach in between rain showers.

It's one of my most favorite and special places-now for the kids too.

We found crabs and anemones at low tide;

and practiced our cartwheels;

and played in the streams.

The big blue hotel on the bluff is the Sylvia Beach Hotel. It's a really neat book-themed hotel. Each room is fashioned after a different author.

Of course we made a big sand castle together.

We named it "Diamond Sand Kingdom". I suspect that Barbie had some influence in the naming.

I made this necklace when it was too stormy to go out. It's the first time I worked with wire and was happy with how it came out. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I love the Oregon Coast.

Marie-Madeline is Hosting a Give-Away

Woo hoo! The ladies at Marie-Madeline are hosting a give-away for one of their darling skirt patterns. Click here to go to their blog. They also have Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks and Garden Party on sale for 25% off.

Hellooooo Mrs. Robinson!

I've been fiddling around with this dress for awhile. I had really high hopes for it, because I want to wear it to a wedding next month. Of course when you have high hopes, there's a lot of room for disappointment. The black satin is thick, luscious and was 75% off on last winter's clearance at Joanne's. So I'm not out too much money.

I don't know how this happened, but after measuring several times, cutting carefully, and checking the fit by trying it on, the bodice on this dress was WAY too big, I had already sewn in the side zipper when I discovered this (and it was the best invisible zipper I've ever done), and really didn't want to take it all apart. The straps were too far apart anyway.

My best solution was to put two long darts in the back, that extend up into the back straps. The dart is okay, but there's still significant gaping in the back neckline.

I'll wear a cardigan with it anyway, but WHY oh WHY didn't I make a muslin mock-up on this fancy dress?

I can't fault the pattern or the directions. They were wonderful!

They came from Diana Rupp's book, Sew Everything Workshop. I've mentioned this before, but this is such a great book. This pattern has just four pieces (plus two lining pieces). I did cut some of the fullness out of the skirt, because the weight of the fabric caused it stuck out like a perfect equilateral triangle.

Mis-Matched Vintage China

Many years ago, I hosted one of my first extended family holiday dinners and realized that I didn't have enough plates for everyone. Having just started teaching, I didn't have much money. So I went to the Goodwill and bought some old china plates for $.99 each. I thought that they were really cool, and the tradition has continued. I love that they're all so beautiful; that they each have a unique history and that they don't match. If someone breaks a plate, it's not nearly as troubling as if it were part of a set.

I added to my set today when I realized that we were a few plates short last time (the kids are all old enough now to use adult-sized plates). I found a few plates at a local thrift shop today that made me go, "Ohhhhh!". And then I quickly hushed up because other bargain hunters in the vicinity rushed over to see if they were missing out on a find.

The rose plate at the upper right, and the one directly below it are newly purchased from the thrift store today. The calla lily at the upper right was my grandma Katie's.

Zippered Bags

I really like making zippered bags. It's a great way to use up smaller pieces of fabric, especially fabulous ones that can't be wasted - like this one from Anna Maria Horner.

I look for quantities of heavy, colorful zippers (like YKK #5) on eBay so that I can make these whenever I fancy. Last year, I made several little zippered bags for a craft sale and sold every one of them!

One of these days soon, I'll post a how-to. I've made a lot of these, and I think I've figured out a way that everything looks good, without taking a lot of time.

There are endless possibilities once you know how to do the basics. I've made pencil cases, cosmetic bags, credit card wallets and sling bags like this one. Both of these bags are made exactly the same way, but the larger bag has a strap set into the sides.

The best part is they cost almost nothing to make if you use scraps of fabric you already have on hand and you find a deal on the zippers.

Birdie Sling with Birdies

This is the fourth Birdie Sling I made, and maybe my favorite. It's a custom commissioned piece (in other words, my friend is trading a day of babysitting for this). The strap was lengthened to wear across the body.

The fabric is from Moda's Urban Chicks line, which I haven't come across online. My friend found it at a little quilt shop. There are the sweetest little line drawings of birdies in the pattern.

Refashioned Vintage Necklace

I inherited these beautiful green beads in one of my mom's necklaces. The original necklace was a double strand, with gold glass bead spacers. I loved the beads, but it was too much bling to wear everyday.

When my daughter accidentally broke the necklace, I seized the opportunity to refashion it. My son strung the beads while we waited for her to finish tap class. I used Tiger Tail so it wouldn't break - the beads are heavy.

I love the way it turned out. Over the weekend, the kids and I went thrift store shopping for Halloween costumes. I found this lovely little green silk sweater ($4.00) and silver broach ($10.00). The broach is heavy, so I'm going to try fusing some interfacing inside the sweater so it doesn't droop.

My plan is to pair them with the black satin dress I'm sewing for an upcoming wedding.

So many treasures! So little money spent!!

Market Skirt Measurements For 6-6x

I've received many requests for the size conversions for the Market Skirt.

The original pattern on Dana's website is for a size 2 or 3, so here are the measurements for a size 6 or 6x (my daughter has a 23 inch waist):

1" elastic: 24 inches

Waistband (cut 2 of white): 18" by 4"

Main skirt panal (cut two): 30" by 11"

Hen (cut 2 of white): 36" by 4"

Happy sewing!