Finished Beignet, now known as my happy autumn skirt

Yay, I have finally completed my Beignet skirt.

This is a great pattern, it definitely deserves it's intermediate status though, as I found it a quite time consuming and complex project.  I did deliberately take my time with it, as I wanted it to feel solid and well made.  I have to say I love the result. No wonder this pattern is so popular.

I made mine from a medium weight denim for the shell, some polyester anti-static lining fabric for the lining and used a patterned cotton for the facings.

I had a few new sewing experiences with this project, most notably:

• Sewing buttonholes

My machine has a 4 step buttonhole function, and once I'd had a few practice goes, these were pretty easy to do.  My machine makes them quite neatly I think, but making 12 was pretty stressful!

• Sewing with polyester lining fabric

All I can say on this subject is argh!  It frays ridiculously, it slips and slides all over the place, it wouldn't hold a crease when I was trying to press the hem and my chalk marks wouldn't even stay on it for more than 5 seconds.

• Sewing with denim

This fabric was the polar opposite of the lining fabric, it's sturdy, hardly frays at all, chalk loves it and I love it. Would be tempted to make an entire denim wardrobe just because it's so easy to handle.

• Basting

I am a cheat, if a pattern tells me to pin, then hand baste and then sew, I usually skip the basting.  I mean come on, I have to pin it then sew the thing up a bit rubbishly and then do it again properly, and finally pull out my basting stitches after I'm done.  What's the point.  However on this pattern, those two evil curves on the lining and facing, one concave one convex, well basting twas the only way to go.  And even then I had to unpick and re-sew them because I fudged it up the first time.  Rubbish slippery lining fabric got caught up underneath my needle, grrr.

• Under stitching

I'd not done this on anything before, but the pattern instructions suggested under-stitching the facing to stop it rolling out to the outside.  I found sewing right into the corners a bit tricky though.  Did anyone else have this problem?

It's such a relief to have a well fitting garment that I have made myself.  After all my fitting issues with the upper half of my body, this skirt has really improved my sewing confidence. 
It's not perfect by any means.  I got bored when sewing the buttons on and Downton Abbey was on the telly and I'd had a glass (or two) of wine by this point, so a few are a bit wonky.  Plus the hem of the lining is dreadful, but it's on the inside so nobody will ever see that it isn't straight.

Don't buy cheap interfacing!

You may remember a while back I was cutting out my Beignet and had a strange interfacing-creating-bubbles dilemma.  Well the interfacing I was using was not Vilene which I usually use.  For some reason Fabricland is phasing it out and is now stocking some other interfacing (don't know the brand).  Anyway I went out and bought some Vilene elsewhere and had another go with some freshly cut facing pieces. 

Spot the difference:

Lesson learnt, use decent interfacing.

Right I'm off to start sewing my Beignet, but will leave you with a couple of Corfu piccies.  Twas a lovely hot 35 degrees out there.

A weekend of progress, and a weird interfacing dilemma

I have been quite a busy girl this weekend.

John went on a boys only camping trip (sleeping in a cave, no less) leaving me free reign to cover the flat in bits of tissue paper, scraps of fabric, threads, pins, and other such sewing related mess.

So what have I achieved?

Well first off, I completed one of my gifts, so here it is one Parisian buttercup bag (please ignore the fluff and lint, this fabric is like a lint magnet!!):

This is for a work friend who is off to live in Paris for 3 months (I am very jealous).  So this cute little print seemed to be the perfect choice for the lining.

I also popped to the shops and bought all I needed for my pretty summer dress.  I decided on a large polka dot fabric for this, and will use New Look 6457 view A, making the top band and straps out of a plain white cotton.

All the fabric is washed and ready to go.  Not looking forward to fitting the bodice though, it's my first attempt at an FBA on princess seams!

I have also (finally) cut out all the pieces for my Beignet.  So that's good to go now.

But, when I attched the interfacing onto the facing pieces, the fabric ended up being a bit bubbly / puckery. Have a look at these pics:

I swear I pressed and didn't iron the pieces, so I'm not sure what happened!  Should I cut new pieces and try again, or leave them as they are.? What might have caused this problem and how do I avoid it happening again??
Even besides the weird problem with my interfacing, I am feeling a lot more focused and productive at the moment, so hopefully I will do some sewing in the week.

Oh also, I found out on Friday that I passed my final AAT exam.  Woo, no more exams ever!!!!

Beignet muslin

I decided to cut my muslin in a straight 12 and see what happened.  Please forgive the wobbly pinning at the front:

Thoughts?

It feels like a good fit at the bum area.  Any smaller and it wouldn't lie right.

There is a bit of ease at the hips, but I'm not sure how hip-hugging the pattern is supposed to be, so I don't know if it needs taking in or not.

The waist is too big, there's a fair bit of loose fabric here.  But when I sit down the waist is tight so if I made it any smaller it might be too tight and cut me in half when sitting, not comfy during meal times!!. 

Lastly there seems to be a bit of bagginess in the tummy area.  Again not sure if it's best to leave his (my front pinning was very dodgy)



It doesn't seem as snug a fit as some versions I've seen, but I'm not sure how snug it needs so be.  I quite like the fit overall.

What do you think?

Quicky question: How to adjust a pattern if I cross 2 sizes??

People, I need advice please.

I'm 32 inch waist 44 inch hip (not actually my hips but the tops of my thighs really as that's my broadest point).

That makes me a 12 on the waist 14 on the hip on the Beignet pattern.

I recently read Sunni's ace post on her series for her Ginger sew-along, which shows you how to grade between sizes, this seems pretty straightforward on a skirt with only a couple of pieces.

However the Beignet doesn't have a waistband, so I am not sure where the waist line actually is on the pattern pieces, so don't know where to start the grading. 

Also it has 4 skirt pieces, 4 lining pieces and 4 facing pieces, so that's going to take a lot of adjustments! Do I therefore just adjust the side pieces (there's a front piece, side front piece, back piece and a side back piece for the shell, facing and lining) or the front and back pieces too? 

Lastly the lining and facings attach to form the inner shell so my grading will have to go across pieces.  So how do I grade across the facing and lining pieces on the pattern, bearing in mind all the pieces have seam allowance?

How should I do this grading?  Is it too much faff, should I just cut a muslin in a 14 and take in the seams around the waist a little?

See, this is why I struggle to actually make any clothes, and I haven't even gone near my sewing machine yet.