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?

You learn something new

I picked up this purple fabric with no idea what it wanted to be. It was on sale at Fabricland so there wasn’t too much of the worry about screwing it up that I’m usually plagued with. Does anyone else do that? Putting off cutting into fabric for fear of wasting it?

So I pulled it out the other day once Lana’s gift was finished and started planning and pinning. Pleats have been calling to me lately. Yes, pleats. No it’s not really my style, but neither are skirts. This spring (if it ever gets here) I want to start wearing skirts. I get really hot and miserable in the summer, shorts ride up, jeans are too hot, so skirts are my last option. Yes dresses are a possibility too, but I’m baby stepping into the world of girly clothes. I wouldn’t want to stumble this early in the game and relapse only to wake up covered in camo coveralls or something.

So the seductive coolness of the skirt is tempting me. My first attempt came out pretty well formed, working without a pattern. Why do I even buy patterns anyway? I never seem to use them. Ah well, that’s a rant for another day.

The skirt was all pleated, zipper sewn in and the waistband was even attached when I learned something new and very important about myself. I guess there was always a hint that I understood this problem, I did sew the pleats in the back a little longer than the front because of what I thought was a big butt issue, but that isn’t actually the problem.

Hello, my name is Kerri and I have Swayback. I can just hear you all cringe and scream in shock and horror. I have images from the old Godzilla movies flashing in my head. In case you, like me, were one of the uninformed it means that my spine curves in more than it should at my lower back, this in turn tilts the hips forward which causes my butt to stick out. It explains why my shirts always bunch up at my lower back (the back waist length is shorter than the front waist length so there is too much fabric length on my back). It also explains why I usually wear RTW pants higher in the back and lower at the front and why if I pull up the waistband in the front to make it even with the back then the pants gape at the back. It also explains why my skirts are always shorter in the back, it’s not due to my enormous butt! Oh so many things to learn! I am not a monster! I just have a weird posture. I’m sure Quasimodo is feeling me.

If you, like me have fitting issues, I found this site to be very helpful. It isn’t just about the swayback issue but helps with tons of fitting adjustments! This is quickly becoming my favourite quick help site as the written instructions are short and there are helpful little diagrams showing how to chop up and change the offending pattern piece. Go, New Mexico State University!

Oh and here is my skirt I still need to sew the hem - taken up a little more in the front than the back, but on my next skirt I’ll test out the new found alteration information. I will be victorious over the sway back!

I think the next skirt will be an A-line, now if only the mail would hurry up and bring the fabric to me. And there is a long weekend! Oh noes, my fabric is never going to get here in time!