Sunday, May 22, 2016

Kind of FO: plaid skirt

I cut this skirt out ages ago - probably 6 years ago (I had to read back through the blog to check!). Thought I'd carefully matched the stripes (wrong!) and was pretty sure size 22 was going to be too big. But I dug out the pieces at the weekend, and realised that as I probably had enough material to make another one, I should treat this one as a practice. So on Saturday, that's exactly what I did!

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What I learnt:


  • Match the plaid next time, dummy!
  • Be more careful matching seams - I foolishly overlocked it first, thus removing the all-important matching notch - oops! Hence a strange fold at the base of the zip as I tried to match the waistband line
  • When doing stitch in the ditch, check the underside - I didn't manage to cover up all the unfinished hems in the waistband
  • Probably should have cleared the dining table of condiments and paperwork first - too keen!
  • Stitch in the ditch is cool!
  • How to use my zipper foot and how to move the machine's needle (it's elsewhere in the manual and not cross-referenced)
  • Test the overlocker on scrap material and maybe take one needle out seeing as with both needles and loopers it's still doing a funny skip every so often. Perhaps needs cleaning and rethreading. 
  • I cheated on the hem and sewed it on the machine - I decided I wouldn't bother hand-stitching it when it was obvious how oversized the whole thing was. 
  • Very pleased with the sides of the zip and the belt-loops and the back vent
  • The tablet takes shocking pictures, sorry about that! :S
Having googled the overlocker online (I temporarily mislaid its manual), it seems the Singer U234 isn't very keen on having its tensions changed much. Good job I only bought it second-hand, I'd be annoyed otherwise as overlockers and tension changes go hand in hand for different techniques!

If you know anyone who wants a UK size 18 skirt with mistakes in, let me know! The only annoying thing now is that I don't have much free time in the next fortnight to cut the next one.


Current mood: ridiculously keen to make another one!

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