Frog Invasion!

The froggies invaded my sewing room


and now little frogs are hopping across my new skirt. It took me the better part of today to get all the kinks worked out, but I'm so happy with the finished product it was totally worth all the annoyance. Did the seam ripper ever get a workout today!

I drafted this skirt pattern earlier. Originally it was just a plain A-line skirt with a couple of darts on the front and back, with a facing at the waist and it was cut on grain. Well I liked the way the frogs looked when the fabric was on the bias so I decided to cut it that way instead of on grain which led to problems along the way.


Last night all the pieces got cut out, the interfacing was fused to the lining, and the polkadot trim was sewn to the bottom edge. French Seams are my favourite as it keeps the inside nice and clean (stray threads bother me). They are really easy, and great for delicate fabrics (though I use them on cottons). Anyway, just sew a 1/4 inch seam with wrong sides together, open up and press in one direction then realign the fabric with right side together and sew another seam slightly larger than 1/4 inch. Now the nasty raw edges are hidden between two seams. Tada! It looks like the picture above.

This morning I started working on the skirt and everything just went wrong. First the darts weren't working. Why I thought the darts would behave the same way on the bias fabric is beyond me, the end of the dart kept ballooning out no matter how it was sewn. I guess because the bias fabric has so much give on the diagonal as soon as there wasn't another stitch holding it in check the fabric went a little crazy. I ended up sewing long gradual darts from the top to the bottom of the frog fabric so I could keep it under control.


I put this together differently. First I sewed the left seam of the lining together, then the left seam of the skirt pieces, and then attached the lining to the skirt, pressed and top-stitched. So far the right side seam where the zipper is sewn in is still open and it made pressing so much easier. Then I couldn't put the zipper in. First it was too low, then it was crooked, then it was bumpy. Interfacing saved what was left of my sanity. I love the polkadot lining!

So after a day of pulling my hair out and swearing, I have this:


It's cold and rainy here today but I was already wearing it around the house with some black leggings on underneath to stave off the goosebumps. I can't wait til it gets warmer, this will be great with some flip flops and a hoodie.

p.s. You know you want the frog fabric, don't deny yourself the pleasure!

*edited to change the finished skirt pic. I covered up the duct tape with my fav tee. I'll probably wear it with that, I like the way they look together. Anyone recognize the character?