We recently visited family in Chicago and played some tennis! I have been experimenting with making a lot of different styles of tennis skirts with my serger.
By the end of the trip, the whole family was learning and it was really fun.
I gave my sister in law my earliest skirt and it just happened to match a cute top she had already.
I’m particularly proud of my skirts because I make them with pockets. Most tennis skirts don’t have these so you stick the ball in your pant leg… I prefer a pocket lol
My brother in law did a great job taking these photos! Here’s a few more fun action shots
My loud scrap busting sewing continues with the poodle top!
This was the leftovers of the blue squares blouse that was too loud… and I think I’ve transformed it into something else that is also… kind of loud
Here’s where we left off. I was finalizing the fit and it was SO MANY poodles!
This peplum used only a forward facing pleat and not a box pleat. That made it have a little less volume as a box pleat includes two pleats that face in toward each other.
From here, I sewed on the peplum and decided to drop the neckline into a v-neck. I think this makes the outfit a little less busy.
This also inspired me (who are we kidding? D totally said I should just make this) to make a basic black pencil skirt. I used the skirt block we developed at Mood U. That pattern is the ULTIMATE pencil skirt and I’m so happy with it.
We’re back from Chicago and it was time to tackle some of the projects I have hanging around the house.
A few weeks ago I went through my closet and picked out some clothes that I wasn’t wearing any more and wanted to donate. In that process, I unearthed a dress that had a yellow skirt and white bodice. The bodice had become worn and a bit yellowed but the skirt was still wonderful material. It was time to make it into an official skirt!
Goodbye! I will salvage the buttons
I accidentally broke the invisible zipper when I was taking this apart so I added in a new one. I actually hand stitched this in because I dont have an invisible zipper foot and I’m a little nervous about the process still. I need to do a little more research.
I added in the little blue tab to protect myself from the metal head of the zipper. Sometimes I get pretty bad metal allergic reactions and so I’d prefer to save myself from that trouble.
Here’s the final look:
Overall this was a pretty quick project that only took me one evening! Not sure what I’ll work on next but this project was exciting because it felt good to make something old feel new and become a highly versatile wardrobe piece!
I’m now working on my first upcycling project using a silk skirt from my grandmother. She was really skinny so I have to shorten the skirt to broaden the waistline.
I am going to try and make a ruffled gathered top out of a silk chiffon to match but for now I found this old shirt in my closet.
So far, I’ve been hand sewing the chiffon as it helps avoid pulls in the fabric. I’m making a front panel and a back panel that I’ll join at the sides and gather at the neckline.
Well I’m starting to feel pretty confident about whipping up these skirts 🙂
The fabric has some stretch so I did not add any beading after all because I was worried it might tear out. This is still a fun skirt and it worked well for a training spring day. It should be nice as it started to get warmer too!
I loved this fabric so much the first time, when I saw a cotton version I knew I had to make something else too!
To me, it feels very business appropriate – but I’m not a lawyer lol so I think I get to have a little more fun with my choices.
See below for all the steps – but overall I’m quite happy with the skirt!
I am planning to make a pencil skirt and another peplum style top that I can hopefully mix and match with some other outfits too. See below for progress on the first working session!
Sometimes you need a black skirt for work! Continuing my secret plan to always be comfortable and look nice.
This was a beautiful fabric we saw at Mood. My husband was with me too and we were over in the brocade section, but someone had picked this out and the fabric cutters hadn’t put it away yet. It is a very thick (silk?) with a super interesting stitch in it that makes a swirl design. It can be very subtle depending on the lighting as you can see in the photos.
Sometimes I think about redoing this skirt. I gathered the waistline and I think the print of the fabric could possibly “speak” more if I turned it into more of a tailored pencil skirt. I will think about that more. I also think the leftovers of this could one day become a cool back panel in some type of motorcycle jacket. We’ll just have to see!
We had brunch with friends today and I knew I wanted to be able to wear this in the spring weather and to my final class. This morning I decided that the skirt wasn’t hanging right and so I tore out the seams on both sides all the way to the hip and I re-measured and took in the sides to further taper the skirt. I was listening to a podcast and I kept making one more fix…and one more fix… Suddenly our train was leaving the station in 30 min and I hadn’t showered! Thankfully I had just finished the last last adjustment and we rushed through getting ready and headed out the door. We made it to lunch and after I jumped on the train to class.
All week I had also been trying to figure out what to try to use to design in my final pattern class…
