Well done to everyone that’s made an entry into this years Simplicity Challange. All the entries I’ve seen so far on social media are looking fantastic & I think the judges ate going to have a hard job.
After sadly not managing an entry last year I was really excited to see the choice of categories this year and couldn’t resist the Vintage option for myself. What a great pattern.
I love the hemline and feminine shape of the pencil skirt, plus that style of halter neck top has been a favourite for me.
Style wise I wanted to make them both in the same fabric so they would look like a dress when worn together. I made a visit to Fabricland and bought this Stretch cotton. If you read my Mother of the Bride blog last year you may recognise the print!
Of course I bought this before thinking about the fact that the top called for a stretchier fabric. To overcome this I decide to do a shirred elastic back so it could still be pulled on without an opening & fastening.
To do this I measured the front pattern pieces and fitted the paper pattern to myself to check the fit. Personally this just ment cutting a bigger size as it wasn’t going to be able to stretch much. For the back panel I used the correct pattern piece but cut it on a fold, placing extra width in the centre back to allow for the ease to put the top on.
Now to start the lines of shirring elastic. I’ve done this loads of time before on my previous machine. That had a bobbin that you placed in a case with a tension screw on it so I easily tightened that tension to get the stretch. Now I have a machine that the bobbin just dropped in so a whole evening was used up just trying to get the stitch anywhere near right. Then just as I thought I’d sorted it I ran out of the elastic😩
New reel & better luck the next evening…stitching went perfect. All was going great until I realised that sewing was perfect enough to make the previous nights attempt look a bit saggy. In came the unpicker. Got there in the end but realised there can be quiet a bit of difference in the brands of elastic so will remember to buy plenty of one type before starting for my next attempt.
Finally finished I’m really happy with my neat little rows and the way it pull the garment in.
My only alteration to the skirt was to add a second layer to the bottom frill. Using an organza I used the same patternpiece but cut the hem edge on the fold of the fabric to give a slight puffball look when it was added (yep showing my age there with the puffball skirt reference!) Not having to do a hem it added enough length to peep out.
Entry complete 🎉
sewandsnip 