New skirt - by me!

Ta da! I am very excited to unveil the first ever item of clothing I have made with my sewing machine.

I started with a metre of fabric, and the basic idea that the width of the skirt should be about twice as big as my hip measurement. The most complicated part was the threading of the elastic through the waistband, mainly on account of the number of times it came off the threader midway through! I think there must be an art to this I have not yet mastered. The finished skirt is in fact a bit shorter than I intended, because the easiest way to resolve that problem (coupled with the other problem of my channel narrowing far too much halfway along) was to cut off the waistband and start again!

What kept me going was a combination of grim determination and the fact that I love the fabric, it's perfect for a simple summer skirt. It's a pretty bluey grey colour with a small repeating circular pattern in greys and occasional blues, interspersed with little inconspicuous Liberty logos hidden amongst it.

The very charming assistant who measured it out for me told me that this fabric had been very popular for menswear, particularly for shirts, and I can see why. I think the small repeating pattern also lends itself perfectly to a skirt, which is fortunate given that my sewing repertoire does not yet extend as far as shirts (and on the evidence of this project, is not likely to for some considerable time)! It is available in other colour ways too, but the base colour of these were mostly white and cream, which while lovely, is not terribly practical for skirts in the city.

If truth be told, the amount of unpicking and re-sewing that ended up being involved in the making of this means that it probably won't stand up to detailed inspection, but it is most definitely wearable and I am pretty pleased with it, all things considered. 

Incidentally, I had great fun trying to photograph it while wearing it. The one above was achieved by balancing the camera on the ironing board, putting it on its timer and finding the correct distance to get it suitably in shot with extensive trial and error! 

In fact, trial and error pretty much sums up my whole approach to sewing, but it is definitely worth it when it all comes together at the end.

Weekend shopping: pretty new things

Ahh, the start of something new.

One of these is going to be a yoga mat bag and the other is going to be a skirt. Can you guess which is which? Of course you can.

I've been shopping today. I had never actually been to Liberty, shockingly. It is a marvellous place, although perhaps I had best not make a habit of it, my purse may not thank me for that. But so many pretty things! I never like taking photos in shops, but so many people in here were doing it that seemed to be almost expected. This was one of my favourite displays.

Rainbow glass, I'm so predictable. I bought an orange glass, I love that they are handmade and the tops are not at all even and they are all slightly different. Perhaps I will acquire more colours by degrees. :o)

I also bought a new dress. This was bargainous, the fantastic Anthropologie are having a sale.

If you have never been to their Regent Street store and you find yourself in the area, they are most definitely worth a look, their pricing is wildly sporadic (either very reasonable or unexpectedly extortionate), but their store is beautifully designed and laid out and worth a visit just to look. They have an entire wall covered in plants and lots of coloured glass made out of old green bottles. I have no photos of any this, sadly, so you will just have to go and see for yourself.

I also spotted several more elephants, and will leave you with some of my favourites.

There are two in this last one, look at the little mini elephants on the last one, so cute. If you are entirely mystified by this elephant thing, just click on the image below to make bigger.