Sunnybrook Kelly Skirt

I finally finished up my muslin for the Megan Neilsen Kelly Skirt.  I am so in love with this pattern! There will be lots and lots of variations of this skirt in my future. 

This one is made of some vintage cotton/poly gingham that I got at a thrift store when I was making dolly clothes.  I liked it because it's sort of a micro-gingham, which was perfect for minature dresses.  It's not the finest fabric, but it was around and I had a vision of making it with these mismatched, but same-sized, vintage yellow buttons.  I think the different yellows are very cheerful and I quite like how the skirt turned out, even if the fabric leaves something to be desired, quality-wise.

Most importantly, I worked out all the details for how to make it again.  I made a few significant changes.  I did my version of an FBA - no, that's not a full bust adjustment on a skirt, it's a full butt adjustment.  I cut the skirt size for XL and I cut a waistband for medium.  I made larger box pleats in the front so it would fit into the waistband and in the back, I decided to forgo pleats for gathers.  I think that two box pleats over my haunches would not have been a good look... I am really happy with this hybrid of pleats and gathers that can feature the pocket too.

I finished after dark and my dear one was at a Mason meeting, so I just snapped these picture inside on a hanger. You'll have to take my word that it's really flattering and fun to wear.  Tomorrow, I am going to wear it to work and I"ll hopefully get some action shots. 

It's fun to sew.  I really enjoyed making the pockets & they have a lot of possibilities.  I want to try piping and also contrasting fabric.  I did French seams on the side seams.  I wasn't sure how that would work with the pocket in the side seam, but it was fine and it makes a really nice finish without a lot of fuss.

I also learned a great tip from By Gum By Golly about using a different foot with a guide to make even top stitching.  This is the second tip I have gleaned from author, Tasha - she also did an amazing ribbon placket guest post that I am almost ready to put into action with my current knitting project.

This really made the hem and the waistband topstitching a breeze.  I always learned to use the notches on a regular foot for a visual guide, which works fairly well - but this physical guide takes some of the stress and room for human error out of the process.  Excellent information passed on - her blog is one of my very favorites!

Even though it was a short week, I am so glad that it's almost Friday!  We're going to visit my father-in-law for the weekend which means lots of knitting and possibly some good finds at the thrift stores.  They sure were good to me last time we visited!  

When I was up in Portland last weekend, I didn't have much time to shop, but I did manage to stop at a Goodwill and a Vintage-by-the-Pound store where I got some great fabric scraps for doll clothes last fall.  Turns out that by-the-pound isn't the best deal for a lot of larger pieces of fabric, but one was worth it - a 2.5 yard piece of cream and dark brown wool gingham for $9.  I was almost certain it was wool in the store, so I took a gamble and sure enough, it passed the burn test when I got home.  Too bad you can't set stuff on fire in the store!

At Goodwill, I got three cute patterns and a some vintage hem binding and bias tape. All in all, a pretty good thrift-score!