I made a skirt!

I had an idea recently that I'd like to learn how to sew some of my own clothes. I haven't really had the time until recently and I thought it would be kind of difficult to just pick up. But how great would it be to make my own clothes just the way I want? That's the way everyone did it in the olden days, right?

I had a black A-line knee length skirt from the Gap that was a bit faded, but fit just right. So I reverse engineered it to make a pattern. I used my stitch ripper and took it all apart and at each step I jotted down the instructions for that stage and in some cases where it was more complicated - such as inserting the zipper - I took pictures for reference.

Then I cut out the pieces using some recently posted thrift fabric, lost my nerve and left them in my sewing basket for a few days. Finally I decided they would probably sit there for the next year unless I just took the bull by the horns and tried sewing them up. And it actually worked! I even used interfacing for the first time for the waistband. I would take a picture of the skirt on me but I couldn't quite manage it on my own and I wanted to just go ahead and post it rather than wait to ask Bradley to take the picture for me. These pictures show a bit of it, it's mainly just four panels sewn together, then the waistband and zipper on the side and a lining strip along the inside of the hem. I used French seams since I don't have a serger which is what the store-bought skirt had to keep the seams from fraying.

I'm thinking of trying a dress next. I've bought a pattern for one, but it will be trickier than the skirt because I will have to adjust it to fit, whereas I already knew the skirt was the right size and shape.Thanks to everyone for all the sweet comments about Rabbit! His confidence has gone right up since the repairs and my niece has seen the pictures and approves. Oh, and my brother reminded me that it was his idea that Rabbit appear on needle book and have his 15 minutes of fame.