Hello, My Name is Devon!
For those of you who don’t know me, I am Dina’s evil twin…or not evil…or a twin, but I am her sister (and slightly evil). I am the yin, to Dina’s yang in the craft world. Although we both enjoy knitting, I am more of a fashion sewer…sewist…seamstress…whatever…while Dina likes home décor and quilting. For some reason, Dina has no patience for making clothing while I have no patience for quilting…really, I am going to sew all these blocks together and put batting down, and sew all over the place, and do all this hard work just for this to lay on top of me…please. Dina has very graciously invited me to post my craft projects on her wonderful craft blog along with her. At first, I refused her offer. I’m pretty sure my exact words were “I’ll just bring you down” mainly due to the fact that I have a notorious habit for beginning a project and never finishing (evidenced by the 3 knitting projects and 3 sewing projects sitting in my craft closet at this very moment). However, now that I have finished school and will have more free time, I decided that I should craft more and yes, finish my projects. Maybe this blog is the perfect motivation.
Fabric: Valori Wells Jenaveve Linen Blend Floral Birds Sage ($11.88/yd)
Pattern: McCall’s5591 ($3.59)
Notions: 9” Zipper ($1)
Total cost: $28.35
Luckily for you, my new audience, I just finished a project. Hip hip HOORAY! Yes, that is correct I finished a project. (applause in the background) Yes, thank you, you are too kind. Really, too kind. I just finished the McCall’s 5591 skirt and have to say I really like it. I don’t wear skirts very often, alright let’s be honest, I never wear skirts (I only own 2…yes this is a true story). But in an effort to improve myself (and my wardrobe) I decided that I should embrace skirts and dresses. I always find that skirts at the store are either too short or too long and just hit in the wrong place on my leg. That is why I LOVE sewing my own clothing because I can tailor the skirt to fit me the way that I want it to. For this pattern, I added a whopping 5” to the length so that it hit just below my knee (the way I like it). I used a beautiful fabric that I ordered from fabric.com on a whim. Now I have heard from fellow bloggers of the dangers of buying fabric just because you like it without a pattern in mind. Pretty soon you are piled sky high with fabric that you haven’t used because you have a “purchasing problem.” I am hoping that I don’t get to that stage so I am vowing to use up my fabric stash before I buy more, don’t worry.
The fabric I used was a Valori Wells Jenaveve linen blend with cute little birdies on it. This isn’t a typical print I would wear (black, gray, or white), but again I’m trying to “improve myself.” I’m usually really cheap when it comes to fabric. Like really cheap. I never want to pay over $4 a yard, but I loved the print so much that I bought it at $11.88 a yard. Wowie.
I made the skirt very similar to the pattern except I didn’t add a border on the bottom edge. Instead I just extended the pattern in the bird fabric and simply hemmed the bottom. I didn’t line this skirt but I finished the edges with an overcast stitch to prevent fraying. I only really made 2 major mistakes during the crafting of this project.
Number 1: I cut a size 14 in the pattern which was a stupid mistake as it was too big. I took in the skirt a good 3 or 4 inches. Haha! I really should have cut out a 12 but I have no idea why I thought that at 14 would fit. Oh well, no harm done, I merely took in the sides for a better fit.
Number 2: This was my first time inserting a zipper! That wasn’t the mistake, per se, but my finished product came out a little uneven at the top. But who’s really looking that closely right? I think for my first zipper I did pretty well.
All in all, I think the skirt turned out great and I even wore it out already! I got some great compliments too. Hooray for a first project! Keep coming back for my crafting updates. I have a few projects already in the works…
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