Spring has come...sort of...still cold!

Well, I have to say that 2 skirts involving the arrival of the vernal equinox has put me in the mood for French style prints.

Let me say, when I started these in mid-March, I had plenty of things on the go.  I was dealing with a school final exam, resident hummingbirds that sip me out of a house and home, work and the usual things that clog up our daily routine but I managed to keep trekking on with my projects.

First off, let me express my love for antiquated French prints.  One of them is Toile du Jouy, which has been kicking around since the 18th century and that are available in many textures and colours. So, this means it really has never gone out of style and it is so popular for home decorating that you can extend that to making garments because I know that some décor fabrics are not that heavy and is acceptable for garment use.

I also went back  to Hamel's Fabrics which technically is a quilting store, but, as I said, you can use quilting cottons for garments and I looked under the Floral prints and found this print:

Yeah, I'm the bitch that took the last of this printed cotton.

Isn't it lovely??!!!!  They have it a red-cranberry background which I will be going back for(well...duh) really soon.

Here are the company's view of the skirts:

 

And the Toile du Jouy that I bought which was a heavier cotton:

And, this brought forth 2 new skirts to make for the warmer weather look, looking chic, style appropriate, and an all round knock-out.

I can't get enough of Toile du Jouy it's sickening!  I also have my bedroom quilt in this and another skirt that I had made for me about 11 years ago, which is awesome and still wear today and my everyday go-to skirt.

For the grayscale Toile I used Simplicity 2257 in view C, which I changed some things in the general construction:

1. Made the belt carriers wider instead of sewing them more in the centre of the yoke front and back.
2. DID NOT add that gruesome wide trim they had on the cover picture.  It may have been better if it was not so wide.
3. Edge-stitched the yoke facings to the skirt seam as you would with a neckband on a blouse 
4. Serge finished all of my seam edges because this skirt wasn't lined.
5. Hand sewn my makeshift blind stitch.  I REALLY want a blind hemmer machine!

For the other skirt I chose to redo Simplicity 5259 view F in size 16. As you may recall it was 1 of 3 black skirt/white flower series but this time I just wanted a more simpler one which the fabric print can do the talking for me and not the embroidery statements I have done.

Here are the close-ups of the changes that I made to Simplicity 2257

Edge-stitched belt carriers on the seam for skirt and facing for a wider space
for belts of varying widths.
This method didn't cause my machine to spit, sputter and seize up  with the bulk of the carriers and the yoke!

Edge-stitched facing on the seam line like a neckband facing on a blouse

Left biased hand stitched blind hem.  (I am left handed)

So, that is it for this particular Spring run.  I have more coming! 

Stay tuned!!!