7/23/11: Some More Green Summer Skirts + Sale

While I was in the middle of trying to pull together a Green Summer Skirt design to utilize the green twill I had, I went to an old faithful source for inspiration: Shabby Apple.

Shabby Apple is a online women's clothing boutique that offers mainly dresses and skirts, and for me, loads of great ideas. They have made several collections over the years so it is really endless!

Because I was so limited on my yardage I didn't wind up mimicking any of Shabby Apple's designs. But that has not stopped me from oohing and aahing over these pretty options:

{ the Ain't She Sweet dress }

{ the Gondola dress }

{ the L'Amoure dress }

{ the Mariposa Grove dress }

{ the Ahoy! dress }

Oh, oh, look! Another Green Summer Skirt I could make. . . It is part of their new Set Sail collection.

{ the Land Ho! skirt }

It is a great time to head on over to Shabby Apple because their having a 20% off Summer Sale right now. Make sure to visit soon!

7/22/11: My Green Summer Skirt

I knew way back in May it will be hard for me to keep blogging once the task of harvesting fruits and veggies gets underway in June.

I was 100% correct.

So here it is the end of July and one word matches what's been happening on the farm: craziness. I found a spare moment this afternoon and I thought it was high time to do some blogging so it won't appear as if I have completely forgotten about Art and Needlework.

In order to keep up with all the farm work, I haven't been able to do much sewing/knitting/crafting since my last post (which was June 8). Yes, I have made a few rosaries, sewn some scarves and hair accessories, and finished the stool's mate, but haven't done much else. Or have I?

I managed to FINALLY make a skirt for myself. Yay! I've sewn skirts before but this is the first one for yours truly. I am calling it the Green Summer Skirt because of the light--almost lime--green twill I used. A truly boring title I must say, but I've been calling it by that name for so long now, I can't think of anything to replace it with. :)

I bought the green twill material last year in hopes of joining an apron sew-along that was being held on a blog. The sew-along never came to be so the twill had been laid to rest for over a year, until the prospect of a skirt for me came to mind.

Only 1-1/2 yards were bought to make the apron so there was need for tactics when designing this skirt. I first thought of using Simplicity 4420 (pictured below) and view B from that pattern.

But there wasn't enough yardage. Fudge! 

So I spent the next seven days or so (really) trying to find a complimenting fabric from my stash to create a lower panel or perhaps a stripe. I first thought my polka dot fabric from my underskirt project would be a good contender, but it simply didn't work out once I sewed it together. So I ripped that out and, with loads of help from my sister, found the perfect choice: a blue/yellow/white/orange flower print. And presto:

Now let me show you some of this skirt's inner workings:

First up is the inseam pocket that I added.

Had to use those polka dots somewhere. . .

There is only one pocket for this skirt because there is a side seam zipper occupying the other seam. I spent a long time trying to come up with a way to add a pocket and a zipper to a seam but I just couldn't come to a solution. Any ideas?


And here's the back view of the striped area:

What I am really liking about this skirt is the use of cotton fabric as interfacing for the waist yoke. Yep, there is not one square inch of synthetic interfacing in this garment so it really is light and breathable; yet still structured.

That's all the little details of the skirt I can think of. I am very happy with the way it turned out and how quickly I sewed it once I had a design set. The only thing I wish I could change is the waist seam. The waist has stretched out of shape a bit after wearing it for a few days. I wish I added a length of twill tape to the waist seam to prevent this from happening. Oh well! I am hoping the first washing will help. 

P.S. Since publishing this post, I've washed my skirt and found it to have helped immensely in the skirt's fit. Happy to see that. :)