Toni Starts Sewing

Hello internet. Today has been a good sewing (well, pleating) day. We've had some builders in the kitchen so I've been allowed to keep myself to myself in my room all day and get some stuff done, which was very nice.

I have started a skirt. It is soft, old cotton, it is patterned but it is not a quilting cotton nor a linen, and so I have no idea what it is. It is that sort of cotton that is perfect for making clothes out of as it is soft and doesn't crease easily. If you have any idea what it is contact me, as I found this bit in a charity shop  and I have to buy some more!

It holds pleats very well, as you can see.

Recently I had a little think about my sewing and I have decided to go back to basics and do simpler stuff as I need to work on my sewing skills and not my drafting skills, as my sewing is rustier than I would care to admit.

When I started sewing I started with cotton, and I didn't own an overlocker then. In my head this was starting to seem too easy, as I like a challenge. But more often than not with my sewing, I start something really complicated, get halfway through and think 'yeah, I got this!' then I relax, and leave it under the iron too long, or ruin it in a way that seems beneath me. I guess the message is, is that nothing is beneath you, no matter how long you've been sewing!

I settled on a basic pleated skirt as it meant no patterns, just a few calculations. Below are the images I found on Pinterest, click through for their sources.

(For a pleated skirt with 1" knife pleats you need a rectangle of fabric that measures your waist measurement rounded up to the nearest inch x 3 (plus a little for your fastening, or you can hide it in your pleats if you're clever) add your seam allowances by your skirt length plus seam allowances. You can ease the extra you've added to the waist into your waistband.)

I am so happy you can get away with not serging cotton. I have not made anything for myself in a long time, and so I guess that not overlocking stuff means that I get nice new things quicker, too. I have to say, that doing pleats by hand isn't fun, but it is rewarding as it looks fantastic when it's done!

I've tried to hide the seams in the pleats. I started with three pieces of fabric, can you tell?

The skirt is still unfinished at present, because I ran out of pins and so I had to go to the shops. Whilst I was there I bought some embroidery thread ready for the embroidery on my ring leader jacket.

I am going to finish tracing the photograph for the other lapel, somehow manage to put the pattern onto the jacket and start embroidering. I really hope (but I severally doubt it) that I have it finished by Shambala.

I also bought another roll of lining paper for drafting patterns. (I know I said I wasn't doing any drafting, but better to be prepared, right?)

I also got my summer briefing for my Foundation Diploma in Art and Design through the post, so hopefully I will get some sewing in there too.

Toni