I made this skirt a few weeks before we went off to Japan and I've not had the sewjo to sew anything since. Why? Because this skirt (that I HATE) was meant to be another knit Gabby Dress...but it just didn't turn out the way. If I hadn't just flushed $100 on fabric down the loo it would be kinda funny.
The first disaster was the fabric which I bought from Tessuti in Chatswood - which cost me $45 per meter (that's A LOT of money if you ask me). I initially bought it for a Casual Lady Dress but when I got it home and washed it it had shrunk SO MUCH that I would've been lucky to get a tunic top out of it. Into the cupboard it went. A few months later I was at Tessuti in Surry Hills and saw this fabric again (helpfully this time with a warning on the swing tag that said this fabric suffers "serious shrinkage" so be warned...would've been helpful if the other store had that warning too). I umm'd and ahh'd and ended up buying another meter...with the lady at the store very generously chcuking in half a meter for free..."just in case" it shrunk again (which it did).
When I got the fabric home I realized that the fabric was the same same as my original piece, but different. Same pattern and colour, but on one piece the printing was very offset so the two pieces don't look the same. This is more than enough to send my OCD and anxiety into overdrive. You can "sort of" see that in this photo, but trust me when I say the front does not match the back!
Anyway, the Gabby Dress just did NOT work in this fabric...I think it was too slinky and that pattern works best in the more stiff knit I'd made my first knit Gabby out of. It also just looked...so BAD! I also had HUGE trouble with the neckline...I just cannot seem to do necklines in a knit and have them look neat. If I turn it under I get bulk at the shoulder seams that is impossible to sew over; and I'm hopeless at neckbinding. I'm not sure how to ready my neckline disability. There was something also very weird going on with the sleeves - heaps of extra fabric, bunching and twisting. Fail fail fail fail on so many levels.
In the end I hacked off the top part of the dress and kept the rest as a skirt. I used the Mabel Skirt waistband and attached it to the skirt piece and voila...I have a skirt.
I know the skirt looks alright in these pictures but alas the elastic holding the waistband up is too lose (though it might fit now as I've put on 2kgs since I made it). When I wore this outfit into the city I ended up buying a dress in Uniqlo and getting changed in the public loos so I would feel more...comfortable. I also just know that it's a fail...and that I've wasted over $100 on now ruined fabric that makes me want to cry! I look at this skirt and all I see is failure and a big waste of money (added to all the other failed garments and all the time and money I've wasted since I started sewing)
I did try and hem the skirt normally, but I also suck at hemming. More umm'ing and ahh'ing and I decided to use my rolled-hem function on my overlocker. I actaully think this bit looks OK, and this is the perfect material for a rolled hem.
So there you have it. At the moment sewing can go f**k itself. I'm sure I'll get back to it eventually, but right now I'm enjoying shopping for what I need and building myself a nice, considered wardrobe that way. I have a few things I'm thinking of sewing up (Mabel Skirt I'm looking at you) and I think for the upcoming Frocktails in Melbourne this year I want to make myself a zip purse to take (zippers = eep)...and forgo the homemade frock. I'm also about to embark on a big fabric destash...I feel like I might have more motivation if I have less fabric...
On another note, how awesome are my clogs! I love them to bits.
Mel x
