just about ticked off the list..

I promised Lindsey a short orange pencil skirt for her birthday many (many) moons ago, and then it has sat waiting fro me to finish off for aaaages. I had loads of tweaks to make, and then I forgot what I was going to do, and so it sat.

But now it is done (I think), Lindsey still has to try it on, and there may be issues yet, but I at least fixed the zip which was the major thing holding me back.)

I still need to properly iron it, so its a bit crumpled looking, but its pretty much there. I used Jessie's pencil skirt drafting tutorial to make it, and it went together really easily (barring my own laziness!). I also added a kick pleat. I found it surprisingly hard to find orange fabric that didn't resemble safety wear, and this cotton from Mandors was a little thin, so I underlined the whole thing. The only bit I am not super happy with is the hem, which was my first real attempt (that worked at all) at a machine blind hem. It actually worked pretty well, and it looks quite nice, certainly better than a normal top-stitched one.The stitches are however a little big, and I think I didn't get the tension quite right as there are some places here it doesn't quite iron perfectly flat. there is progress in my skills yet to be made I think. Looking back though this is one of my first projects designed for normal wear (ie not a costume) that uses a block colour, and those are meant to be more difficult to look perfect.

Overall I think it is really fun, and I am pleased with it. I think I am going to use the same tutorial to make myself some pencil skirts.

These skirts will hopefully be worn with some tops made from this pattern (mainly versions of view C). I had a slight set back yesterday though when I couldn't find the back piece, I'm sure it used to have one.. I shall have to search through my random pattern pieces pile!