skirting the issue

Friday 30 October 2009
Curtains sewn: nil.... Oh dear, finding the motivation for those curtains is proving difficult! But since they are mainly to keep the warmth in the house during winter, I have a good 6 months to get them done.

In the meantime though, I finished a skirt I started last week - BWOF 4/09 skirt 101A:

I didn't make mine in eye popping yellow though. Only in the pages of BWOF would a skirt that colour or the cleavage exposing tops they feature be appropriate in a workplace! I used fabric from the stash, bought long ago from a garage sale from a nice little Italian lady who make me a cup of tea and then piled fabric after fabric on top of me! She was so lovely, I walked away with bags and bags of fabric and still her house was full of fabric. From memory it is a wool gabardine (it certainly feels like it and has that wet dog smell when I washed it), it's very lightweight though so perfect for summer. The fabric is white with red, blue and brown checks. Bad description, but it is actually a nice fabric:

I wanted to make the centre front and back panels stand out since I used a busy fabric, so I cut them on the bias, and put red piping around the pockets to make them stand out as well. The red of the piping doesn't match the orange red of the button or the stripe in the fabric, but oh well close enough for me. And look, I even got the patterns matching pretty well at the sides too!:

I made my usual size 40 to fit my hips, but should have taken it in a bit more at the waist because it seems a bit big. But I like pulling my skirts down to sit low on my hips anyway, so it's just fine for me. The pattern is pretty simple, although the front waistband panel with the buttons is openable even though there is a side zip, and the method for attaching them is a little clumsy and messy on the inside. But no one can see the inside and only a sewist would care about such a thing really!

Well it's been a really long week this week and I'm looking forward to a little quiet time on the weekend when my husband will be home looking after Anna. I think I should install a little daybed in my sewing room, 'cos I need a nap or two this week! After slowly catching up my missed sleep from my insanely late night out, Anna has been very unsettled due to her teeth I think. Last night she was awake from 9.30pm to 2.30am (eek!), and would only stop crying if I held her. At one stage when I had absolutely had enough I gave her some baby nurofen, wrapped her really tightly and let her cry herself to sleep in her cot, but after an hour she was still screaming so in the end I had to rock her to sleep over the next hour. And this morning no teeth still! I can feel them in her gums but they haven't popped through the skin yet.

Anyway enough whinging from me, the little angel is having her daytime nap so it's time for me to have a cuppa, read the latest BWOF issue (8/2009) that landed in my letterbox the other day and imagine the kind of lifestyle the BWOF designers think that us mere mortals lead when they dream up those clothes.....

24 comments:

  1. I remember those teething days. Your skirt is wonderful, as is all your creations. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice skirt. I have always admired this pattern and I particularly like your version the best!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the skirt in plaid. I made a version of this skirt in winter and wear it a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the skirt! The piping and bias panel are really effective.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the skirt. I always found that if my little ones had been up screaming all night, they were usually coming down with something...took me 3 kids to learn though, and be patient whilst they were screaming even if the reason was not apparent. Hope you get more sleep tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your version too - how clever of you to cut the plaid on the bias for the front pieces (saves too many matching headaches too)

    - that sucks with your daughter not sleeping till 2 - there's nothing quite so despairing fora parent than a child that will not sleep at night...fingers crossed for better nights.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great job, you are amazing with what you can get done with a little one around!! (By the way, you look amazing, how did you get back into such perfect shape so quickly?!?)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great call to do the front panels on the bias! Very cute skirt.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yours is way cuter than the pictured one on the pattern. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome skirt and like the detailing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good job on the skirt. The bias looks really interesting. Today I WILL make curtains. I need to make bedroom curtains in my new bedroom. I am using fabric I bought for my old bedroom (but never got around to) 9 years ago! I obviously could get away with no curtains at the last house, but here in a unit I have ugly old sheets hanging up.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this skirt. Very retro looking. As for your curtains, I think you will do them when they become a task you can do to avoid doing something else you don't want to do. That's how things work in my house, anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You night sounds like a nightmare. Poor you, and poor baby! On the positive side, your skirt is really pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love it! The red piping and the bias fabric look really great! I'm so impressed you get so much done with the baby!!!
    http://puppydogtails-marybeth.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. First of all, I cannot believe how much you get done with a baby in the house. And second, you look fabulous!!!! I never lost the baby weight and am putting more pounds on every week. Ugh!

    Beautiful skirt!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Such a cute skirt. You never fail to impress!

    Is Anna chewing on everything while teething? I'm constantly having to pull my son off stuff that he's chewing on- the couch, the (steel) fridge handle, my shoes- it's ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Really cute skirt. I love the placing of the plaids and the red piping!

    ReplyDelete
  18. So cute! I really like that front panel on the bias. Lovely job!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I hope that Anna has gotten feeling a lot better by now!
    Your skirt turned out cute! I could see it with a neat crisp red/orange 3/4 length sleep blouse.
    Fun... get some sleep when you can! Have you tried the baby numzit stuff for teething? It works great!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well, look at her! She's so slim and her belly is so flat! That's not fair ;-) My belly has never been so flat in my entire life (and I have no kids). :-)

    Beautiful skirt, too. It is also in my to-sew-list. But, after all, there at at least other 50-60 projects in it and I hardly find any time to sew at all.
    Oh, well...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh wow I adore that skirt and am also insanely jealous of your figure. My babies ruined my belly for life :( Can you only get the pattern from the magazine? I don't think we have it here in the UK.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love the skirt looks awesome !

    ReplyDelete