Seamless update and a 20 minute skirt

The seamless pledge is going well. To recap: I pledged to not buy any new clothes in 2012. I can make them and I can buy second hand ones but I am supposed to avoid getting anything new. To be fair, this Boden cardigan in a sort of eggshell blue is sorely testing me. Well, I got a very nice jacket indeed yesterday for £3.90 in the charity shop.

It's velvet and lined. very nice, n'est-ce pas?

This afternoon Mia saw me doing a little more knitting for her doll:

It's the same pattern as before (hey, I managed it once...) but this time I am making a stripey version (no lace pattern) to use up some left over yarn.

Of course, Mia just said: baby needs a skirt like that one. :0S

So I made one. Actually I thought it showed how much more confident my sewing is. I didn't check online how to do it, or measure anything, or even think about it much. I cut a square of fabric, joined it to make a tube (using the overlocker!), hemmed it and made a casing at the top. Put in elastic. Bob's your uncle.

I made a skirt and it took forever

I have made a super pretty skirt with covered buttons and piping down the seams. I saved time (and bulk) by not doing pockets. I saved time by not doing a belt or belt loops (I thought it would detract from the piping). the inside of the skirt is a thing of beauty, finally. That's what took so long. That and the piping. You can see my challenge post on sewweekly here. It's a Colette Beignet, of course. 12 buttonholes, eep.

Full circle skirt with a twist

And the twist is: it isn't a full circle skirt, it's a Meringue from the Colette Sewing Handbook. But it is a full circle, because the first thing I made this year was for a http://www.sewweekly.com/ challenge. And it was a skirt. So I start and end my year with a skirt.

This skirt is my end of year celebration piece for sewweekly. OK, so it was going to be my "free for all" piece for last week's challenge. I didn't finish it. (Special note for my sweet friend Judy I am trying to do a one hip thrust out look especially for you. See, I look arthritic not alluring!)

This is what happens when we try to take photos, by the way - a pitch invasion:

The skirt took ages to make. Ages. And ages. In theory it should have taken one evening or so but I seem to have a special skill in making stuff take a long time. I did do some extras:

The rouleau pocket was completed a couple of weeks ago and was inspired by this tutorial on the Colette Patterns website.

Then I was persuaded by the ever optimistic Kate (my weekly sewing teacher at the Design Studio) that I should do something called "bagging it out" to the skirt. This makes the inside look lovely and was a great suggestion if I hadn't manage to make a right hash of it and have to unpick it before getting it right the second time. Still, here's the inside of my skirt:

I also fitted my first ever invisible zip (ironically my first ever zip went into that first skirt) which was a revelation.

I topstitched the scalloped edgeand there it was: my back to the beginning skirt. I had such fun this year. Hope you did too xxx

Rouleau Pocket: done

I am making a Meringue skirt from the pattern in the Colette Sewing Handbook. This is a very easy pattern and would have been super speedy had I not decided to make a Rouleau Pocket following this tutorial on the Colette website. Basically, first make bias binding. Then sew it into shape. Then put up with alot of daft comments from the others at your sewing class about your change falling out of your pocket.

I am pleased with it though, this is it attached to the skirt front:

I will sew up the skirt next week at class, I am a bit distracted this week and have lots to do.... but I have a feeling the pocket will have taken longer than the skirt to make....