FO: Burgundy Melissa Skirt

It feels like this project has been a long time coming, but technically speaking it was only waiting for a few months. I am always on the look out for "Melissa Skirt Fabric" everywhere I shop. My brown version is still a beloved item in spite of its fading and tattered condition (I will be dying is soon just because I love it so much). I made that out of some brown mystery fabric I got from a thrift store and it turned out to be the best possible fabric for this skirt. The fabric feels like a cotton but it doesn't wrinkle much at all, plus it is heavy enough to not show every bump on my body, plus the fit is great and doesn't bag out throughout the day. I've made many other versions trying to replicate the love I have for that brown skirt, all to have them be disappointing due to the fabric. A couple months ago - in another thrift store - I found some fabric that was the closest I've seen. I actually bought an entire comforter bag full of fabric just to get this one piece and I donated the rest immediately back to the store, lol. I knew it was going to be a Melissa skirt, but I just had to wait until I had the time to get it sewn up.

I seriously love this pattern. It's the Melissa Dress and Skirt by Muse Patterns. I really should make up the dress version sometime since that is really the main attraction of the pattern, but I just love this skirt so darn much, guys. It's a lovely gored skirt with a flared shape and awesome pockets. All the skirts I've made with this pattern have been solid colors, so the neat shaped pockets really stand out (and I get compliments on just the pockets all the time). I do have to widen the pocket panel pieces by a 1/2" on each side to get my hands in them comfortably, but with these straight panels it's a super simple adjustment to make. They are even wide enough to fit my very large new phone, which is wonderful. My buttons had to be purchased just for this skirt - it is crazy that with as many buttons as I own tha tI didn't have anything suitable, but in the end I just bit the bullet and bought some new from Hobby Lobby and I'm very happy with them. They are metal and have a filigree design so the burgundy of the fabric shows through them.

I've also perfected the fit of the pack over all my versions - I do an on-the-fly sway back adjustment by angling 1" out at the upper center back seam. This version is the best fit I've ever achieved on the back. This is the first time I've made this pattern up since I got my serger going and oh man, did that make it go faster! Normally I overcast all the seam allowances with my sewing machine and then top stitch them down, which is super time consuming when you take into account how slow overcasting is with a regular machine. This time I just zipped it through the serger and then top stitched without having to change everything on my machine each time. So quick.

And now onto the disappointment of this version :/ I guess it was a trade off since the back fits so nicely - I'm sure you've noticed that the front does not. I technically know why this happened - my waist angles down from my hip over a very short span, not a nice gentle line like most patterns are designed for. This time that meant that my waist turned out a little too big but it's a bit tight over my high hip, causing a rather unattractive dent in my abdomen at the second button. I know how to fix this in theory, but it would take a ton of unpicking and redoing, which I flat out do not have the time to do right now. Maybe sometime in the future I will remove the waistband, increase the curve to the waistband at the sides and on the front gores, then reattach the waistband. Ugh, I am sick of it just typing that up, lol. So we shall see.

Overall, I still enjoy this skirt :) It may not be perfect, but I rarely wear my shirts tucked in so the issues are mainly covered throughout the day meaning I can wear it in spite of its issues. And what a great thing it is to have this skirt! It goes with a surprising amount of tops in my wardrobe, and this fabric is fantastic. It doesn't wrinkle, it drapes away from the body, it's hefty enough to withstand a strong breeze without exposure, and it's still soft and breathable. I have more of this fabric, so maybe down the road I can address all my fit issues and make this again - or maybe just suck it up and fix this one so I can make something else with the excess, lol. Anyway, I'm glad I have another Melissa in my closet and in the perfect color for fall :)

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards mystery cotton blend twill - $1.50 (thrifted)
Pattern: Melissa Skirt by Muse Patterns
Notions: Pellon SF101 fusible interfacing - $1.50, 8 metal shank buttons - $4.27, thread - $3.00
Time:
Total Cost: $ 10.27

FO: Khaki Melissa Skirt

My love of the Melissa skirt by Muse Patterns is heavily documented on this blog. I've made 1 "eh" wearable, one amazing favorite, and two sad duds with this pattern, always hoping to strike gold like I did with my favorite brown version. Maybe 5th time's the charm? Could this finally be the skirt I've been trying for? 

When moving my stash, I came across some smaller cuts of what seemed like a twill with some polyester in it and in very neutral colors. They were only 1 yard cuts, but they were 60" wide. I held them out wanting to contrive a pattern to use them for, and then moved everything. When digging through my fabric in its current "home" location, I came across them again and wanted to satisfy my curiosity as to if I could fit a Melissa skirt on the pieces. It took some major Tetris and it required that the waistband and the pocket panel pieces were cut on the cross grain, but it actually all fit. This is a miracle for someone my size! I was so excited that I immediately cut out this skirt.

In my darkened sewing room, it looked like the cross grain would not effect the finished look, so I didn't think further about it. Once it was completed and I started trying to photograph it though, I could see that the twill weave was going in a different direction, giving the pocket panel the effect of being a lighter color. It's hard to see in the photo, but I can see a texture different at the very least. I have yet to wear this out and about, so I don't know yet how much this will bug me. Hopefully not at all, lol. For this version, I made the same alterations to the pocket panel pieces that I always do, adding 1/2" to each side so my hands fit comfortably in the pockets. I also took a wedge out of the center back panel seam - another usual adjustment. But aren't the pockets great? They are always my favorite thing about this pattern - it makes a great basic with a little something different.

The back is where I'm not entirely sold. I had this sewn - waistband stitched in the ditch and everything - only to try it on and it was just tight enough to be uncomfortable. I was going for a comfy everyday type skirt here, so that wasn't good. I picked the entire waistband off, lengthened it by 3/4", and sewed it all back together. That was a lot of added work, but it feels much more comfy. The one big issue I have still is wrinkling on the back. Even on my first version of this pattern that I hardly altered at all, the skirt had to be gathered into the waistband a little at the end. The pattern does not mention easing the pieces together, but it happens to me every time. The panels are cut on the cross grain, so it's not stretch from the bias or anything like that. With me adding to the sides of the pockets, that does create excess fabric at the waist, but the wedge I take out for a sway back adjustment should take care of most of that. I'm stumped on it, but I always have to ease - this time I had to down right gather. I tried to keep the gathering at the back, but it seems I got an almost pucker along my center back seam.

You can see the pucker here. For the top picture, I deliberately smoothed it all out, but as soon as I move it will look like this picture again. This fabric has a good deal of body, which I'm hoping will soften with washing, but I know that is part of the issue. At the moment the fabric feels so stiff it's like I'm wearing a bell, but if this twill is like my brown twill from the favorite version, it will soften with time. I'm still trying to decide if I should unpick the waistband across the back and redistribute that pucker, but I feel like it will just pucker again somewhere else.

I forgot to mention - I couldn't get quite all of my pieces cut out in the twill fabric - the center fronts are supposed to be cut on the fold, but I had to cut them as individual pieces. To compensate, I cut a piece out of a white acetate lining for the inside. I just sewed them together and understitched the lining piece to make sure it doesn't show outside. This worked like a charm :)

I even used buttons from my stash :) These came from the Hobby Lobby clearance section a few months ago and they work perfectly - just a touch of contrast but still neutral in the darkened silver metal, and they have a neat design on close inspection.

So will this take the place of my brown version? Only time will tell. I'm excited to see how this washes up and if it softens any. If it does, I have another piece of this fabric in olive green lined up and waiting to become the next Melissa :)

Summary:
Fabric: 1 yard khaki twill - $0.25 (thrifted), 1/2 yard white lining - $0.25 (thrifted)
Pattern: Melissa Skirt by Muse Patterns
Notions: 1/2 yard Pellon SF101 interfacing - $0.50, khaki thread - $2.50, 7 metal buttons - $1.50
Time: 8 hours
Total Cost: $ 5.00

OAL2017: Gray Melissa Skirt

Today you get part 2 of my Outfit Along project: my skirt!

After deciding on my sweater pattern, I had to pick what to wear with it (to see Part 1 of this outfit - my sweater - click here). I'm a fairly practical dresser, and while I love the idea of dresses I almost never wear them on a daily basis because of my work. I'm a strictly separates gal everyday, so I decided to make a skirt. After throwing around a few ideas of skirt patterns I had planned, I decided to be boring predictable practical and make a pattern I've made a few times before and love: The Melissa Skirt.

This is the skirt portion of the Melissa Dress by Muse Patterns. I seriously love this pattern, and I've still only ever made the skirt! I have a Blue Jean version and a Basic Brown version of this skirt that I wear ALL.THE.TIME. For real. These are the skirts that I grab when I want to run out quickly or walk the dog or just need to be comfy but not look like a slob. These skirts are the perfect fit, perfect length, and even have the perfect pockets - thus they are worn to death. During Me Made May this year, I decided my old ones are looking a bit ratty (I'm looking at you, light weight denim!), so in a fit of "I can't decide what to make for the Outfit Along" I just grabbed this pattern and decided to kill two birds with one stone and sew up another great neutral version.

Having made this before and perfected the fit, sewing this was a breeze. Also having sewed this in 3 different types of fabric I knew what would work best. My denim version is a bit too light weight for the sea breeze where I live right now, and the green stretch heavy sateen was a very unfortunate disaster (I still lament you, green fabric!), but my brown version is just right. How's that for a Goldilocks statement? The brown fabric was a poly blend of some kind that is heavy enough weight o hold its shape in the wind, but it wasn't rough like a canvas tends to be and it doesn't have the diagonal weave that twill has. Maybe it's a gabardine? I thrifted the fabric, but that stuff is magical. I know it has some poly because it doesn't wrinkle much at all. With all that in mind, I started digging through my stash to try and find something similar to the brown fabric. When I unearthed this gray heavy cotton twill that was just the right length, I knew it was meant to be. I honestly have no idea where this fabric came from, which I very odd for me (I can't remember if I washed my hair or not, but I can remember where I acquired all of my fabric and how much it was - thanks, brain). I'm not sure if I bought it years ago at Hancock Fabrics in hopes of making some other project (as I was prone to do) or if I got it from a thrift store or what. I'm just happy I had it! This fabric is a great weight with just enough body to keep its flare and not blow up in the wind.

As far as fitting, I did the same adjustments that I did on my brown version: I added 1/2" to each side of the pocket panels (so my hands would fit in the pockets without straining the fabric), and I removed a 2.5" deep wedge from the center back. This worked out great and this is the smoothest fit I've ever achieved on the back of this skirt. Since this skirt will be worn a ton and therefore washed a lot, I overcast every seam and then top stitched them down. This really helps in keeping everything tidy inside no matter how much it gets battered in the wash. It definitely takes a lot of thread though.

And finally the aspect that makes this design so great: the pockets! These are seriously the best pockets. These skirts get so many compliments when I wear them and they always refer to the pockets and how cute they are. I can fit my entire phone in them. Or my hand. Or my keys at work. They are a very useful but cute touch and I adore them. I also love that this skirt has a button front, and I lucked out with buttons again as I bought a tube filled with miscellaneous buttons at The Sewing Studio in April for $3 and it had the exact amount in this size. I like the lines across the center - it kid of echos all the top stitching I think. Also this was my first time using the button sewing function on my sewing machine, and man I am hooked! It was so nice not to have to sew these by hand. I'm keeping an eye on them to make sure they stay on, so I will report back on that.

So there's my new Melissa skirt! I'm thrilled to have this in my wardrobe and I know I will get a lot of use out of it (especially as it looks fantastic with my favorite gray embroidered Taos shoes - you can see them in the first photo). Yay for useful basics!

Come see my final piece of the outfit up next!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.75 yards of 50" wide gray cotton twill - $2.00?
Pattern: Melissa Skirt by Muse Patterns
Notions: Pellon SF101 interfacing - $0.75, gray thread - $0.75, 7 gray buttons - $0.25
Time: 5 hours
Total Cost: $ 3.75

FO: Green Melissa Skirt (A Cautionary Tale)

This is a tale of fabric woes ... A sad tale in which the perfect color bottom weight material just wasn't what my beloved pattern called for, but I tried to force it anyway. It's a wearable lesson though, so I wanted to post about it anyway.

This is my latest finished item (and long standing WIP) - a Melissa Skirt from some jade green stretch sateen-ish fabric. I bought this fabric as a designer factory remnant and didn't know what the content was, but it feels like the stretch sateen at Hancock if that helps anyone. I thought, "Oh sweet, it should make a great Melissa skirt!" since that is my favorite skirt pattern. Favorite pattern + favorite color must = favorite skirt, right? That was my train of thought. Having never worked with a stretch woven fabric before, I thought it would fit the same as a woven just with a little extra give as you moved. I'm sure more experienced seamstresses out there are laughing to read that, but that was my notion when I started this in January. By the above picture, the skirt looks pretty good, so what is the hold up? Let's investigate...

I made this skirt up with the same alterations as my Brown Melissa Skirt since it's easily the most worn item I've made thus far. Since I've already made this pattern two times, I didn't bother to check the fit as I went. Really, that's not very effective on this skirt since the buttons and waistband aren't added until the end. I could vaguely tell that it was wider than my previous skirt, so I took in the side seams before attaching the waistband. Then I pinned the waistband in place to check fit, and it was still too big! I then took it in even more. I think I took about 1.5 inches off each side seam - yeah, that's a ton, right? It's all from the stretch in the fabric, which is still pretty bewildering to me. Even after taking in the sides, the waist is still too loose now that it's all done, and the unfortunate side effect of the stretch in the fabric is that it hugs the area I am most self conscious about. From the front, all is well here in the above photo. With my shirt untucked. On purpose. And with a shirt that covers my hips. But when the shirt is tucked in ... Oh my.

Please keep in mind that I only post these photos in the name of sewing science. As a curvy lady, there are areas of my body that I accept but deliberately dress to smooth over. I'm a total pear shaped body type, which I why I love the fit and flare look on me - hug the waist to look slimmer, flare away from the hips to disguise them. That's why I love this pattern so much! It's interesting but still flares away. Usually. The stretch in this fabric and having to take it in so much just to get it to not look like it was way too big means that now it hugs my gut area. Seriously, this skirt makes me look like my gut/hip area is a swimming donut. At least that's how I feel when I wear it. Not good. So let's just quickly scroll past this photo if you please ...

That's better. It's such a shame, too! The green is seriously my favorite color and it matches the leaves in this tulip shirt amazingly as well as my epic Chinese shoes I bought recently. Realistically, I always wear my shirts untucked just for my own comfort and preference, but having the waist so loose does me no favors either. I wore this out for a few hours last week and it loosened up even more to where I could probably have just accidentally walked out of it if I hadn't paid close attention. Really not good. Another bad side effect of this fabric is that it's stretch prevents it from flaring away from the body, making it just hang straight and sad, thus all the photos of me holding out the sides. Plus it creases like the dickens. *sigh*

All other aspects of this skirt are fantastic though, right?! I adore the pockets (again altered to be wide enough to fit my hand easily), the top stitching is on point (and holy crap did it take a ton of thread with top stitching and overcasting - this is the first time I needed to buy a new spool to finish a project), the buttons are subtle but fun, and THE COLOR, people. The color. Ugh. So sad. The bad fit is the reason this skirt sat since January waiting to be finished. I just didn't have the mental fortitude to work out its issues. In the end, I just finished it to get that guilt out of my head and feel like I accomplished something, but the loose waist has still got to be addressed. I'm not unpicking the whole thing, so there will be a side seam in the waistband, which just bugs me to think about. Oh well. One of these days I'll get around to the alteration, and then I'll never buy a stretch woven again, lol.

So there you have it - a sad learning casualty. I hope to find the same color in a more suitable bottom weight fabric one day, and then all my jade green dreams will come true :) At least I stuck it out and finished this one and it's slightly wearable. Live and learn!

Summary: 
Fabric: 1.5 yards green stretch cotton sateen - $6.00
Pattern: Melissa Skirt by Muse Patterns
Notions: fusible interfacing - $1.00, 7 buttons - $2.00, 2 spools of thread - $5.00
Time: 6-7 hours
Total Cost: $14.00

FO: Brown Melissa Skirt

I finished a sew-jo improving project last weekend - and it's a total staple item! 

 This is my second time making the Melissa Skirt by Muse Patterns. I picked up this pattern in the Sewing Indie bundle this year and it has turned into a TNT for me. My first version was made of jean and in spite of the little fit issues I still wear it all the time. This skirt is basically my equivalent of jean pants. I even had to do a little repair on the skirt, but it was worth it to get it back in rotation. I knew I wanted to make another version in another basic fabric, so when I found this material at a
thrift store I knew that's what it would become.

The fabric is a bit of a mystery since it came from a thrift store, but I think it's some kind of stretch twill. It's definitely got a heavy polyester content to it because it doesn't wrinkle like other twills I've worked with. The stretch is pretty substantial, meaning it's a thick fabric with a slight give all over. The fabric is not quite as heavy as canvas. Anyway, it's a really nice fabric and I was thrilled to find it and for the ridiculously cheap price of $0.50 - I mean, really.

 I love this pattern so much. It's a gored skirt (which I love), button front (which I love), and has interesting pockets so it's not plain (which I love). The pockets are really the star of the show, and while it is a great opportunity for a pop of color I decided to go with all brown so that I could wear this with everything. I did have to make some little alterations this time around. On my jean skirt the pockets are too narrow to accommodate my hands. I do not have large hands, so I think this may be a slight pattern issue. To fix this, I just added 1/2" to each side of the pocket panel pieces. Since the skirt flares out, this extra 1" overall didn't effect the fit and now I can comfortably insert my hands to retrieve things in my pockets. Woo hoo! I also did an on-the-fly sway back adjustment. My previous version showed a lot of bunched up fabric at my center back below the waistband, so this time around I just changed my sewing angle at the top of the piece and came in 1" overall there. This fixed the bunching just fine.

 I'm particularly proud of the insides of my skirt. I faux-felled all the seams by overlocking them, then pressing to one side and top stitching them down. It makes the skirt feel much more professional. I still had issues easing the skirt into the waistband, so there are still a few puckers. It just seems like so much fabric to pull in! It's more like gathering, not easing. My puckers are small, so I don't really mind them on this dark color. I also love how nice the pocket bag looks inside the skirt - so neat!

I'm pretty proud of my details on this skirt. It's still not perfect by any means, but I can see a great improvement in my sewing. The top stitching is nice and straight - I had the idea to use the blind hem foot with the guide rolled all the way out and then the needle in the far left position - this left the stitching a nice distance from the seams and kept things nice and straight. I really love the buttons - they're hard to see but if you zoom in they are a coppery brown with a scroll design on the top. I overcast the hem, then folded up and top stitched. This fabric was so hard to gather up! That's what I get for favoring these heavy fabrics, I guess. It was worth the effort though :)

So, there you have it - another Melissa skirt :) I wore this on Thanksgiving as well as the next day and it is super comfy. This project ended up being a good sew-jo inducer. I wanted to get sewing again, but couldn't get motivated. I cut this skirt out, then didn't start sewing it for 2 weeks! It was a nice success though, so I'm back in the game. I also finished this in the month of November, so it was eligible for the Muse Loves Merino contest. I know it's probably boring to others, but I find it pretty exciting, so wish me luck :) Yay for cute and simple sewing projects!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of heavy stretch twill - thrifted $0.50
Pattern: Melissa Dress/Blouse/Skirt by Muse Patterns
Notions: 7 buttons - $4.50 , fusible interfacing - $0.25, thread - $0.50
Hours: 6
Total Cost: $5.75

FO: Blue Jean Melissa Skirt

 I've officially finished another entry for the Sewing Indie Month contest - a blue jean Melissa skirt!

I made this using the Melissa Dress/ Blouse/ Skirt pattern from Muse patterns. I liked the dress when it was originally released, but I picked it up in the Sewing Indie Month bundle for a sweet deal (this was one pattern I was most excited about in that bundle!). Originally I only thought about this pattern as a dress, but then Rochelle from Lucky Lucille posted her skirt version earlier this month and I saw more of its potential. While I love the dress, it does remind me of an 50s bowling team dress or a waitress' uniform at an old school diner. That look definitely has it's place and I fully plan on making the dress and blouse at some point, but seeing Rochelle use all the same fabric and basically making a gored button up skirt with cute pockets really sealed the deal. I needed a skirt now, and I had the perfect denim in my stash.

Since the finished measurements listed on the pattern were very close to my own and this really just has to fit at the waist and fall, I skipped making a muslin. I figured I could work out any issues as I went. The only fitting issue I ended up having was the waistband area (the one fitted spot, of course). I had to add a little piece to the waistband (I made sure it was to the side that will be covered by the buttonholes) so that was easily fixed (*after wearing the skirt, it has loosened up and it looks like it's a little too big now with this piece :/). The other issue was a little beyond me at the time. The pattern has you ease the skirt into the waistband piece, and it's a good 2" or so you have to ease in. That just wasn't wanting to happen in denim. I have a few little puckers, but knowing that my shirts will always cover the top I didn't bother taking it out. The thing that frustrates me is that there is actually excess fabric at the top of my waist under the waistband. It actually bunches up there. I think that next time I will try taking the ease out of the top pieces just in that top inch or so - I guess my back waist decreases faster than the average or something.

I had to find a piece of fabric for my mom in her really (really) really old fabric stash a month or so ago, and I cam across a huge cut of this lightweight denim. She said she intended to make me, my 2 sisters, and herself jean jumpers back in the early to mid 90s with this fabric. I told her I'd add a removable bib to my skirt to make her dream a reality, lol. In the end she was fine with me taking a small amount and putting it to use instead of it waiting around any longer. This skirt only took 1.5 yards, so she still has plenty left for her dream jumper :) I love gored style skirts, and in reality this so close looking to my Altered Navy Button Front Skirt it's scary, but I know this will be one of those garments that matches anything so I don't mind at all that it's similar to another item I have.

The gored style is really flattering to my shape (at least I think so), and I just love the little pockets! I will confess that the instructions were seriously confusing for the pockets. I think that the diagram actually made me more confused because of what it shows as the right and wrong sides. When I realized that all you have to do is press the seam allowance under, lay the pocket edge piece on top of the front panel piece (the one that is the length of the skirt), line up the top edges, then top stitch the bottom edge, I was surprised it was so hard for me to get it. This is the very first step of the pattern, so at least I was raring to go and willing to try it and rip it out a few times without chucking it in the naughty corner. In the end, I love how the pockets look, though they don't quite fit my hand inside. Next time I will make the piece a little wider to actually fit my hand into the bottom so I can take things out of my pockets. The way the pockets are inserted would make this very easy to just remove them completely and have just a plain gored skirt (I may actually do this in the future and add side seam pockets).

I was really torn with what spots I should use gold top stitching on! At first I thought I'd use it on every seam, but when I started thinking I knew that would be a lot of gold lines for such a simple skirt. In the end I decided for gold thread on the pocket V, the hem, and the buttonholes and all of the other seams have navy thread that blends in so well it's basically invisible. 

I wanted my insides to be nice and clean as well as hold up for a long time to frequent washes, so I overcast the seam allowances inside and then top stitched them down to make faux-felled seams. I love how nice and flat this turned out. I did make one flub up that resulted from me just not reading the instructions well enough - I lined the entire front pieces with fusible interfacing instead of just half like it calls for. This made the front quite thick compared to the rest of the skirt, but honestly I kind of like that about it because my tummy is my most self conscious area and this really prevents any clinging to lumps. You can also see the pocket bags in the above shot :)

And some up close details! My top stitching isn't perfect, but considering I didn't use any type of guide foot for it I am pretty proud of it :) I used some satin finished brass buttons from my stash that a friend of mine gave to me. These are quite old, and some are a little scratched, but I really like how they look on this skirt. The upper right pic is to show my faux-felled seam. The middle shots are the waistband issues - you can see the seam line from the piece I added to the waistband, but I'm sure no one will see it when I wear it. The other pictures are just to show my top stitching and how neat the insides look. For the hem, I didn't want it to be too bulky and the pattern only allots for one turn up of 5/8", so I just overcast the edge, turned up 5/8", and then top stitched 1/2" from the folded hem.

So there you have it - an awesome wardrobe basic with a few special touches to keep it different :) I know that I will wear this a ton. I've already worn it once and it was really comfortable, so I'm already trying to plan another version. I think once I get the little things fixed that I need to tweak, this will be a tried and true and quick project!

Summary:
Fabric: 1.5 yards of lightweight denim - Free ("borrowed" from my mom's stash)
Pattern: Melissa Dress/Blouse/Skirt by Muse Patterns - $3.80 (from Sewing Indie Pattern Bundle 1)
Notions: Pellon fusible interfacing - $1.00, gold top stitching thread - $0.50, 7 gold metal buttons - Free (given to me by a friend), Navy blue thread - $0.50
Hours: assembling pattern, tracing pattern, and cutting fabric - 2 hours, actual sewing - 5 hours
Total Cost: $5.80

WIP Wednesday: So Close Yet So Far!

Well the good news is that I've finished the knitting on my Agatha Cardigan! I've got it all blocked and ready for button band stabilization.The bad news is that when I tried to put buttonholes in the ribbon with my sewing machine last night, it freaked out in a big way. My buttonhole foot is plastic and it seems that the needle has been hitting it on occasion, making a rough ridge that the thread likes to catch on and pull upwards in the stitch generally making it look like crap. I'm planning on sanding the piece when I get to work tomorrow, but until then my cardi must sit unfinished :(

I did manage to sew the ribbon onto the button side of the band, so at least there's that. I'm really pleased with how that finished side looks now and you can't see the black through the purple yarn at all - definite plus :)

In light of my sweater not being able to be finished, I finally started a project I've put off for too long. I'm making Giddy-Up the horse for a baby shower on Saturday. I used this marled black wool that made for the perfect color to mimic the intended owner's own horse she grew up with, so I'm hoping this gift is a slam dunk of sentimentality, lol. I'm working to finish it up today.

And I also cut out another project for Sewing Indie Month a few days ago - a denim Melissa skirt by Muse Patterns. I'm really keen to get started on this, but I'm not sure if my buttonholer will cooperate. We'll see. I'm sure that a denim skirt will come in really handy in my wardrobe.

That's about it for me this week :) I have to go make my signature butterscotch cream cheese swirl brownies now, so if you'd like to see more projects just head over to Gracey's Goodies to see what others are up to!