I made something! Pic heavy (hoorah!)

Yay!

This is the first skirt I’ve made in a long time, and none of the other ones I’ve made have ever fit – too short, too small, too big, too frumpy. This skirt just about scrapes past the others into the world of the wearable. But it isn’t brilliant for both reasons of pattern and my own skills. The pattern is simple and easy to understand, so I can’t fault it for the instructions. I think the whole of the problems in this pattern stem from the elasticated waist. If I wear it with a baggy top, it looks fine. It isn’t meant to be worn with a baggy top tho. The first problem is down to me – I’ve not used elastic before, and it was difficult to work out where to pin it to get the right sizing. I had to find the right point where I didn’t have it so tight as to show a big belly bump or to be really bunched up at the back, but not so loose as to have it falling down and generally looking unsightly. The line was too fine for me to reach it I think. However, I think the way the sizing works makes it hard, certainly for my body shape, to get to that point – I have a comparatively slim waist to my belly and hips, so if I wanted to make the waist fit well, I had no chance of making the line on the belly flat and smooth. The shape of the lower half of the skirt looks fine though, which is definitely something! Any opinions from experienced sewers on what I’ve said above would be handy, because I may have another go at this pattern in the future. Also, I will try not to finish the skirt when I’ve had a dodgy tum and bloating… That might help too 😉

Here is a side view so you can see how loose the elastic is. And below is a pic of the saggy rear end (not my rear end, but the skirt’s. My rear end isn’t too bad thank you very much).

Finally, a view of it laid flat, so you get an idea of the cutting shape – 3 panels at the front, 5 at the back to allow for elastic at the back only.

Also, the yarn from Coldspring arrived today, 24 hours after I had paid for it 😀 Mind you, it is only 45 mins by car there… Two cones of what can only be said is DB astrakhan but isn’t labelled as such.

The colour isn’t really that accurate here – there isn’t as much yellow in it. This is slightly more accurate, even with the glare of light from the window in the door behind it!

So now I have to decide what to make with it. It is between the pattern in Fall 05 Vogue Knitting, and one in Simply Soft (the shawl collared cardi) at the moment. Not sure which to use, but if I use the Vogue one I don’t think I’ll use another yarn for the cuffs and collar. I’d miss the collar out if I could, and just leave the ribbing of the cuff out and knit the length up (perhaps with a looser fit, missing out the increases).
Phew! Lots on here today! Should be more tomorrow too if I fix Angelica like I plan. I’ll have to buy a cheap t-shirt from Sainsburys to wear under it (slashneck, long sleeves, black for a fiver) on Monday. And I need a button, but I might just get this to be wearable soon! About bloody time though… Oh, and I’ll be doing some studying too this weekend. Just your average lazy weekend for me. 😉