It is not just me, right?
When I started planning for SWAP, I decided to just use the sewing plan from last year. It was a bit on the boring side but it followed the EF concept of classic basics. The fact I didn't finish sewing the wardrobe plan the last time should have told me something. The fact that I wasn't excited to just get sewing should have told me something. For fun (and because I didn't feel like cleaning the sewing room) I spent several days watching Silhouette Pattern sewing videos. Watching those videos really made me rethink my plan.
Case in point: the Pencil Skirt
EF uses a pencil skirt as her basic 8 skirt. I actually don't wear pencil skirts--they are too restricting for my life and job as an elementary school teacher. I wear clothing that is neat but allows me to move--skorts, maxi skirts, gypsy skirts. I have made many pencil skirts over the years that got dusty and ignored. Even if EF sticks it in her wardrobe plan, I am not going to wear it.
The bottom line is that if I want a skirt in my wardrobe, I need to find a pattern that works for me that I would make many different ways in many different fabrics. Enter Silhouettes 18 gore skirt.
I would never have even looked at that pattern without watching the skirt episode, mostly because the photo on the pattern has the wrong combination of proportions (long skirt with a short jacket, not a long jacket) and that pattern illustration does nothing for me. I hate most of the pattern illustrations and photos from Silhouette patterns. I don't think they do justice to the patterns in any way. But after watching the videos, I realized this skirt pattern is fitted around the hips and flared at the bottom and I would absolutely wear this skirt. I actually need a nice basic black skirt suitable to wear as choir blacks.
So, (and yes, this is totally off script for SWAP) I went into the sewing cave and rejigged my 8 gore skirt pattern from Jalie in order to create an 18 gore skirt pattern with a shape similar to Michelle's one piece skirt. My first mock up was a size disaster: eighteen gores fit my daughter's friend who is a size 24. Since the skirt looked amazing on her I just finished it and gave it to her. My second try was better and hubbie actually commented positively.
Step one: pattern down.
I decided to make a double layered skirt variation using black stretch lace on the top layer and rayon poly-lycra for the under-layer. It would totally work with lots of garments in my wardrobe including my current choir blacks.
Yeah, no. The 18 gore skirt pattern is a a fabric hog. It takes four or five times the pattern length (there is only one pattern piece) and even though the fabric resource closet is overflowing, I didn't have enough fabric.
Plan, version two: change the gore size from 18 gores to 9 gores (something she shows in the video). That was successful. My black skirt is comfortable and lovely. I have plans for at least five more from the sewing resource cave. And the experience reinforced why I didn't finish last year's SWAP sewing: the plan did not work for me.
