Summer A-Line Skirts for a Bestie.

Recently, when I was trying to think of a way to return a favour to my friend Lisa, it occurred to me that she is my size, wears skirts and she doesn't sew.  I had the perfect gift idea....

 

Even for me, my A-Line Skirt pattern is the pattern that keeps on giving. I've lost count of how many skirts I've made with it, and it's my all-time best-selling product.

 

 

It took about an hour to whip up a new work skirt (for her fab new job) in linen with a Japanese print.  Lisa is a Melbourne gal, so a trans-seasonal black skirt with a flash of red will never go unworn.  We like our clothes like that, it seems.

 

Besides being a high-achieving powerhouse in her working life, at home, Lisa is the queen of casual gourmet lunches and barbeques, a passionate urban farmer, mother and dog-owner (..and an expert pourer of wine on the back decking).   Casual summer skirts are the go here (knee-length, methinks).

 

Oh how our lives have changed over the 30-odd years that Lisa and I have been friends!  From high school, through crazy university days, travel, baby-raising and school-kid wrangling....  Nightclubs and loud bands have made way for weekends of coffee dates, kids' activities and craft/farmers-market browsing (...ahem... and laundry and supermarket shopping). 

 

Our grunge fashion made way for stylish-urban-chick, and now our weekend wear is all about flattering styles and comfort, with a nod in the direction of individuality.  We like a well-cut garment and a good fabric (and the blue in this print, I thought, popped like the brilliant blue of Lisa's eyes).

It was awfully handy to be able to try things on to see how the length would look on someone Lisa's size.  (And it's a shame I wore that scrappy slobbing-about-the-house singlet top when I took the photos....).

If you're looking for a copy of my skirt pattern, you can find your nearest (or favourite online) YOU SEW GIRL stockist here.  If you're in or around the USA, you can buy the pattern through Pink Chalk Fabrics. 

Two tutorials and and an interfacing sale.

There's been a bit of a blitz on A-Line Skirt-making around these parts.  This one is in fabric by Surface Art, and it's headed for display at GJ's Discount Fabric.

Instead of a plain skirt with a print panel, this time it was a plain panel on a print skirt.  It needed a little something to make it sing.  I went with a bit of raw-edge applique and a squiggle of stitchery.

I fused some Vliesofix (WonderUnder) fusible webbing to some scraps and then cut out parts of the fabric design.

After much aranging and rearranging, a design was finalised and the pieces were fused into place on the skirt.

On the underside of the fabric panel, I fused some Fuse-and-Tear embroidery stabiliser.

...and stitched all over the place.  The stabiliser stops the fabric from puckering as you embroider.  Because it's fused to the fabric, you don't have to put it in a hoop.  It stays nice and flat.

And then you tear it away from the back of the fabric.

I use this stabiliser a lot on bags and purses, and I don't worry too much about getting all the little bits out of the stitches, because nobody will ever see it there.  On the skirt, I had to employ the use of a tailor's awl to pick away the stabiliser between the denser areas of stitching.

But it was worth it in the end, when the stitched design was all lovely and flat. Not a pucker in sight.

 

I accidentally bought WAY too much Fuse-and-Tear stabiliser a while ago, and I've decided to clear it at wholesale price. $1.80 per metre, in store only (3/99 Helen St Northcote), until sold out.

 

If you're not into stitchery and think this isn't for you, can I just give you another use for it?  In place of tracing paper, baking paper or non-woven interfacing, this stuff is excellent if you're tracing off patterns. 

 It's super-strong, and doesn't tear with pinning.  The fusible stuff on the back is kind of rubbery, and holds the fibres together.

 But better than that, it makes the patterns FUSIBLE!  You don't actually need pins!

 And (like freezer paper) it peels off and sticks down again, at least a few times.  I've only re-used my patterns 3 times, but each time it stuck perfectly. 

I imagine small, detailed pattern pieces, or fabric with a lot of movement and drape, could be managed nicely with a fusible pattern.

To make it worth the trip in to see us for $1.80 stabiliser, this week we're also offering a 10% discount on all the interfacings and Vliesofix we have in stock.  There are also be a few other pattern and hardware bargains to be had.

Stepping out with a few of the locals...

It's the Australasian Quilt Market (wholesale trade show) in Melbourne this weekend.  I've decided not to exhibit this year but made a few samples for F.D. Textiles, to show off just how fabulous their fabrics look as my A-Line Skirt. 

These two skirts are both made using the gorgeous Veritas Design fabric that I fell in love with at the Sydney AQM earlier this year.  The denim is also supplied by F.D Textiles. 

 

Loving the local gals, I am.

 

And I'm loving this skirt..... I didn't want to take it off.



 

In Melbourne this weekend, there are also lots of opportunities to support local businesses.  If you're in the city centre on Thursday evening, there are all sorts of good things going on in Flinders Lane and surrounds.  Late night shopping with special offers with the small local retailers. 

 

And on Friday, there's a group pop-up shop with Nina Wish Designs and a group of designer-makers from regional Victoria.  They'll be at 112 Greeves St Fitzroy (my old street!) from 12noon-8pm.

 

 

In the days when I made hats for a living, Nina Wish was one of the boutiques I worked closely with. I made hats from their (mostly vintage) fabric offcuts, and helped out with garment patternmaking and sewing on a freelance basis.  We quickly became the best of friends and 20 years later, I feel blessed to still count Marion and Gordon among my dearests. 

 

I just dug out this photo, which I love, from somewhere in the early-mid 1990's.  It's the very end of a parade....

The parades were hard work to organise, and there was always a build-up of stress and late nights, so when the party went off, it went off with a bang.   We were young and energetic... so it was a big bang.  For me, this picture captures that tipping-point moment perfectly.  Good memories.

 

 

Have a good weekend everyone - and don't forget to support your local designers and makers.   

Make it in May Skirt Sew-Along

When the lovely Ms CurlyPops announced that she was having a skirt sew-along in May, I immediately signed up, with great hopes for sewing up a skirty storm in preparation for winter.

 Since I forgot to take zips to Sewjourn (and, let's face it, was looking for any excuse to make a scrappy quilt...), the manifestation of the planned skirts has been somewhat delayed. 

The only skirts I've made this month have been samples for GJ's shop display....Ooops - in MY SIZE..... how did that happen?

The fabric is the new decor weight sateen Parson Gray (by David Butler) and IT IS A DREAM to sew and to wear.  The pattern is my A-Line Skirt pattern, which began life as a skirt I designed for myself, as a good basic wardrobe-builder. 

I love a skirt with a yoke...it sits firmly without cutting in to the waist, if you know what I mean, and kind of holds in the belly a bit. It can be made short or long, in winter or summer fabrics and it can have a feature fabric panel, or not.  I'm a bit of a long-skirt-with-panel kind of girl. 

 And since the most common feedback I get about this pattern is "THIS IS MY BEST EVER INVISIBLE ZIP!" I thought to take a photo of mine. Nice zip - shame about the badly aligned fabric print...oops.

 And I made another one in a knee-length style... and goodness me, it fits Georgia (Ms GJ's, herself).  Fancy that.

 And I took a photo of the famously well-finished invisible zip from the inside.

You can have a closer look at these at GJ's while they have Parson Gray fabric in stock.  After that, they'll probably each be put to use in someone or other's wardrobe.  Waste-not-want-not and all that.

Check out Ms Curlypops blog to see the other skirts that people have made in May HERE.

A slight obsession with A-line skirts

It's a tad addictive..... and I'm still tweaking the pattern to make the perfect panel skirt. 

Edited to add: It's a pattern that I drafted and am tweaking to fit perfectly (and be made quickly). I sorely lacked a good basic skirt pattern for those "oops I wore the wrong thing to work" moments last year, so I want to be prepared this year.

Thanks to Lara for taking the pics (in a disused classroom at the BBI.... fantastic light, terrible floor...).