back to the seam ripper and stash explosion

Burda 8155

I was so sure this skirt was going to go together smoothly and easily. I've made it twice before and I got it 80% done in just three hours--everything but the trim and the waistband. But oh, not so, not so.

Well the trim went on fine, but the waistband is a mess. The left side of the top of the zipper tape is a bit too far from center. It wasn't noticeable until I sewed on the waist band, but now I can see that it pulls a bit creating a little gap above where the zipper teeth meet and the waist band starts. Also, when I sewed on the piping, I used the 3/8" allowance attached to the piping instead of the pattern recommended 5/8". This means the waistband is 1/4 higher than it should be, enlarging said gap above where the zipper teeth meet. I can't have a peek-a-boo of flesh showing, so I am going to have to remove the whole waistband and start over.

But I'm not done with the waistband woes yet. This is the first time I used piping. It went on quite smoothly but I didn't leave enough to wrap to the other side. Instead I cut it even with the edge of the skirt so the unfinished white interior was showing. I tried fray stop, a black sharpie and stitching the ends closed. Still looks like ass.

And next, instead of top stitching all the way around the waistband, I just stitched in the ditch to attach the inside of the waistband to the body of the skirt. I thought the top stitching would compete with the piping. Well I managed not to catch about 80% of the inside band. That's not going to be fun to remove those stitches.

When I've made this skirt before, I had to add 2" to the length of the waistband because I couldn't ease the body of the skirt to fit it. Well, this time the two inches made the waistband way to big and it flares out when on my body.

So basically it's a total waistband do-over. About 3 hours of wasted time. More when you add the time it's going to take me to rip out all the stitching. Rats!


(Yuck!)
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(Better)

All done now. I cut the waistband length down to the pattern size and it now fits the way it should. I fixed the zipper tape and redid the piping in the correct location. I looked at the piping section in the Kenneth King Cool Couture book but it didn't give instructions on how to finish the edges. I just did what we do in upholstery class--opened up the stitching and cut the interior cord flush with the edge of the skirt, then wrapped the now flat cover fabric to the inside of the skirt and stitched it down. It's almost hidden by the waistband but not quite. There has to be a better way. I'll google it.





This time I followed the instructions and topstitched all the way around the waistband. It doesn't compete with the piping too bad and at least it lays flat and the interior side looks clean. However, fresh off my excellent edge-stitching job I did attaching the ribbon to the hem, I didn't draw a line to follow while top/edge-stitching the waistband. I should have. The stitches are not straight or an even distance from the edge. But you'd have to be standing quite close to me to notice.
I now have three versions of this skirt. I think I'm done.

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While in L.A. last weekend for my 20th high school reunion, I somehow convinced Corey to drive in traffic, out of the way, to go downtown so I could spend 20 minutes in Michael Levine's 60,000 sq foot fabric store. If only I had more time. I bought 4 ITY knits and a rib knit (3 yards each) and got out of there for $42. I got home to see the linen and crepe fabrics I purchased from fabric.com had arrived too. Although the blue crepe doesn't feel or look like any crepe I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure it's a stretch broadcloth labeled as crepe.

With the red linen, I plan to make this:


The waistband will be the blue linen. Either that or it will all be red, but piped in blue.

And this with one of the ITY knits:


The pink with sheer stripe knit will become a pair of leggings for winter:


I planned to use the blue crepe for this:


But I think it's too stiff. Hopefully once I get my first Burda issue (B-day present from my mother-in-lay) there will be something I can use the crepe, I mean broadcloth for.