Behold, my latest creation: a new skirt in an old style.
I got the pattern for this skirt from a swap with lovely Carmen. I was very excited about it because it had lots of instructions about sewing at fitting. And illustrations!
I am more used with sewing from Burda or Patrones patterns, and their instructions usually come written. Not drawn. In my own sewing tutorials I try to make as many photos I can – sometimes way more than necessary because I need to see how the steps of making a garment are to understand. When I read, I try to imagine how it will look, and that takes more time than sewing itself.
I always sew a second garment from the same pattern in a third of the time it took me to make the first. For a long time I thought that’s the time it takes to “learn” how to construct a new garment, but I recently realized it’s the time I take to understand which piece goes where and in what order. Looking at the photos or at the illustrations (even though I prefer photos) work much better for me, as I don’t waste time reading about how to insert a hidden zipper, for example – I just see the steps I need to take – and when something is confusing I read the details.
It was the first time I used a McCalls pattern, this one is from 1983 and the skirt was supposed to be long and serious so of course I made it short and orange 🙂
It was also my first time I used a pattern that was three sizes bigger than my own and I shrank it well enough to get to a perfect fit (but more about mathematics, why it’s cool to have an engineer in the house and how to shrink a pattern in a next post).
What do you think about the skirt? 😀