Life is good. Seriously, it is. Kids mostly healthy again (and shuffled to and from more playdates and parties than anyone should get to pack into a two-day period), had a good hang-out with a girlfriend (and fabric-store trip!), and pre-Valentines dinner and a movie with my sweetie (quite enjoyed The Eagle, despite the complete absence of female characters.) while enjoying a fabulous chinook. Aside from that little looming deadline on Monday and barely having time to breathe, life is awesome.
Sewing… ehm.
Men’s shirt sewalong? zero progress. Jeans for Syo? Zero progress. Skinny cargoes? Zero progress.
What little, incremental progress has been made has been on the next circle skirt, which is slowly (I hope) moving from this:
Circle-skirt, first instar.
Towards this:
Corset-waist circle skirt
I’m actually really excited about how it’s going. But I need to finish off the closure and figure out how to hem it; I don’t have enough horsehair braid left and I pretty much cleaned them out last time I bought it, and I’d really like to try something a bit wider than the 1.5″ braid available locally. I should look into ordering online, but I’m far too impatient for this particular project. I’m thinking I’ll give bias strips of hair-canvas a try, since I have a bunch left over from the Lady Grey coat project.
Speaking of hair canvas, one of the things that had me delay making this particular version of the circle skirt was deciding what to do about the corset-waist panels. I was seriously considering boning them, but I didn’t have any boning and kept forgetting to try and pick some up. So I wound up going with piping (I think I’m officially in love with piping) and some more of that hair-canvas. I think it’s firm enough, although if I decide on boning later I can still open up the lining if I need to. I was terrified during
Hair-canvas interfacing in "corset"
the construction that it would turn out too small, but after I got the full waist-piece to a point where I could try it on, I had to add a second row of snaps (we’ll talk more about the snaps later) to bring it in. Heaven help me if I gain or lose any weight, with all these fitted clothes! Though really aside from pregnancy/nursing fluctuations, my measurements have been pretty steady since I was 18. Muscle tone and skin elasticity… well, that’s another story, but anyway.
Tanit-Isis Sews 
You sketch pretty well! I love, love, love the idea of a corset-waist circle skirt. Ever since I first noticed the Bella pants pattern, I thought that maybe when I’m grown-up and learn pattern drafting, I’ll make a full skirt out of this pannelled waist, but this is much better!
I love your sketch, I can’t wait to see the finished product, I think it will be very flattering.
Your definition and my definition of “little progress” with regard to sewing are clearly based in different languages, maybe even realities. But I do say “oi” an awful lot.
Fitted clothes are the best weight control on the planet.
Your skirt will be beautiful!
wow that skirt is going to be AMAZING!!! swishy and corsety? i’m a happy girl! glad to her Tyo is much better and that no one else caught that dratted virus. good luck getting everything done and happy valentine’s day!
Love the sketch! For boning items that aren’t meant to be fancy or for the ages, I highly recommend cable ties. So much cheaper than the plastic boning from the fabric store, already flat (I’ve had trouble getting the plastic, which comes on a roll, to lie flat), easier to store, and much cheaper. They come in various lengths; 15 inches is long enough for just about any sewing application. The only downside is cable ties don’t come with casing, but I’ve always used seam allowances as the boning casing anyway. I do have some spiral steel boning that I use in projects I want to be perfect, but for everyday trendy items it’s all about the cable ties.
Wow I never thought about cable ties, my husband has a huge stack of various sizes in the garage, hehe, I’m going to try this out!
Yeah, I have heard that! Unfortunately I don’t have any of those kicking around, either… But I will keep my eyes open!
The thicker, heavy – duty kind wotk the best, but they are so easy to experiment with! Any store with a hardware section will have cable ties. I have found mine in Walmart, Canadian Tire, or any one of the Farm Supply / Hardware stores that are in our little town! The best thing to use to cut them is a pair of tin snips. (well worth the investment in my mind!)
Good to know, I will keep my eyes open next time I’m at Canadian Tire 🙂
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