Wednesday, June 15, 2011

the summer of no pants - i'm in!

Sara blogged about this summer of no pants thing a few weeks ago.  I already had it in my mind to make some easy breezy comfy skirts for the summer.  But once again, the fear of cutting into my fabric took hold and I couldn't bring myself to do it, worried that I might ruin the fabric and hate the skirt.  But then I finally decided even if the skirt wasn't just right, I loved the fabric enough to compensate.

And now that's it finished and I LOVE it, I wonder what took me so long!!
my new skirt, which I happen to be in love with.
thanks to my 5 yo for taking this picture.  :)

I ended up using this pattern that I bought a few weeks ago. 
some Joann's loot.

It doesn't look like anything exciting from the cover, but I've decided you have to just look at the lines and the construction and imagine it with better fabric.  This is how I address most pattern shopping lately.  In fact, my favorite thing to do is find patterns that are similar to things I already own and then adjust the pattern to match.

So for this skirt, I removed the bottom 2 tiers and adjusted the remaining 3 tiers to be the length I wanted.  My favorite thing? It has elastic in the waist so it's comfy and easy.  I just measured my hips to make sure the first tier was big enough.  I used my serger again to finish off the seams and it looks so great.  I love my serger!!

I've wanted to blog about it for a couple of weeks now. Part of the reason it took me so long is 1) I've been wearing it non-stop B) I had to figure out how to get a decent picture of it and lastly) I have lost my blogging mo-jo a bit.  Hoping to remedy that soon.

I also found this linen blend fabric at Joann's to make another skirt.
future skirt, which I hope I will also be in love with.

I just bought the batiste the other day for a lining. I've been toying with the idea of a different type of skirt, but the more I think about it, I love the drape of the first one so much, I think I'll just go with it!

21 crafty mcCrafters commented:

randi said...

i am inspired! i do love to wear skirts during the summer since the are so comfy and so girly!

Alicia said...

Love it! Want to make me one? Or two? I could use more skirts for summer! I hate wearing pants in the summer... too dang hot! Especially here!

Cassandra {Sleeping or Sewing} said...

Ah! I have the same fear of cutting into my fabric. A skirt uses a LOT of fabric, so I panic too thinking I'm gonna ruin my yardage.

Deep breath, I have to get over this fear.

Thank you for sharing!

Alisa said...

Very, very nice! I'm not so daring when sewing for myself. I will try again one day though!

sallgood said...

Cute! Think of it this way- enjoy it as a skirt, and then, when you're ready to retire it, cut it up and use the fabric in a quilt! :D

Diana said...

Thanks for sharing! I've been wanting to find a pattern like this, and do something similar, but time is limited enough that I haven't made it a priority to look. Very, very cute! I just may have to jump on that band wagon. I love the length that you made it! What are the measurements (length) of each tier ?

Julie said...

Amy, I think your skirt turned out really nice. I see you have passed your photographic skills on to the next generation! Cute :)

the gathering girls said...

Looks like a nice pattern...thanks for showing your skirt...I am always hesitant in buying patterns that I'm not real familiar with and this one looks like a good one!

Sara @ Sew Sweetness said...

Really really nice! I love how it looks on you...did you kids take that picture for you? :-) I also like that fabric you got at Joann's!

Candied Fabrics said...

Cute cute cutie cute! And remember, if you don't like what you make, you can always cut it up and use the fabric in a quilt! Win WIN!

Vanilla said...

I love your skirt. Very good choice of fabric.
I posted the picture in my blog.
www.vanillababies.bogspot.com

Laurel H. said...

Hmm; I should do this, because I really don't wear pants in the summer anyway (unless capris are classified as pants).

Laurel H. said...

...and I love your skirt! (Gosh, sounds familiar; taking the actual pattern and making changes. I NEVER sew a pattern the way it's written!)

Katy Cameron said...

It looks great, and I think I used the same pattern for my first skirt for SNOP, just in a shorter length :o)

Karen said...

It looks the perfect skirt for summer. Great cool colours too.

deila taylor said...

Great job, I am on for the summer, sounds good to me. When I was young I would make all my clothes, but now I do not even own a sewing machine. This kind of makes me want one again. Talented 5yo.

sewtakeahike said...

Amy, it looks absolutely darling!! Nice work reworking the pattern a bit. And the linen blend you bought?? Sheesh, it's so pretty (and you!). Can't wait to see it completed!

rubyslipperz1052 said...

I've been sewing for 45 years...clothes, quilting, etc. And, I still get the "cutting" JITTERS! I always have to rationally talk myself into cutting...sometimes this even spills over into my machine quilting.

Thanks for sharing your "skirt journey"! =)

hugZ,
annie
rubyslipperz106.blogspot.com
=) new follower =)

FlyAwayHome said...

I love the SONP idea...just not sure I have the legs to do it! Your skirt is adorable.

Cathy said...

I love wearing skirts as I am a very girly girl. I loved your blog and figured; phwess I can do that so I hopped over to JoAnn's got the 3 tier 1 hour pattern and yards of beautiful fabric. Ahhh so lovely. I was going to do this thing right so I washed dried and ironed the fabric, cut it our and sewed and sewed and used my favorite sewing tool, my seam ripper and sewed some more. Wish I could report that I am wearing my skirt today but I still need to attach the bottom tier and make the casing for the tape at the waist. I think I would rather craft or quilt. I will finish this though and I will post pictures. Oh one really good thing is I used my ruffler foot and smiled. Cathy

kristenita said...

CUTE!

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