Sorry, these pictures are horrible, but I don't want to go try to take some good ones. Blame it on the terrible camera - you'd at least be partially right, though I dare say the person behind the camera had a good bit to do with it as well. :P
Here's my version of Simplicity 4087, which the Simplicity pattern site apparently considers nonexistent. I can't find it anywhere on there, but I found it
HERE instead.
Front. Yes, it's got a yoke; I didn't just randomly add trim in that shape. The yoke is not mirrored in the back. Just FYI.
Side. The zipper's on the other side.
Details, details! You know I love 'em - especially when they're productive as well as pretty. :D
Stories. Pretty much every garment I sew has one. This one is a happy story. :) After lunch yesterday, I decided I wanted to sew. As I had nothing cut out, or even remotely planned, I thought I'd better jump on that inclination. If I hadn't, there's no telling when I would have sewn. Anyway, we've had this pattern for a long time. I actually have made it before... or rather, I started it before. Mama practically did it for me - because I begged, I think. The fabric I used back then was a stretchy, gray plaid, wool-blend. It's extremely comfortable, and I love it. I've often pulled the pattern out since then and almost started it, but the thought of that last time has always haunted me. So, I continued to put it off until I finally decided to conquer my unreasonable reluctance yesterday.
This time the fabric was probably easier to work with. It's thick and not stretchy at all. Probably upholstery fabric (my usual picks from Sir's...). It's sorta like a black brocade, but not really. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it worked well, and, for me, that's all that matters. :) I'd determined to use this fabric for another church skirt. My church clothes are rather pitiful, especially my warm-weather clothes. Yeah, I know. BLACK upholstery fabric for a warm-weather skirt?!?! Well... that's me... :) Anyway, I was pretty sure I didn't have quite enough to do the whole skirt in that fabric and make it long enough, so I just planned on that from the start and found some black toile to add to the bottom for length.
I did everything according to the pattern except that I added the toile flounce, trim, and did the zipper like I do pretty much all zippers. For the flounce, I just measured the width of the bottom of the skirt's gores, the width of the toile fabric, and determined that 2 widths of toile fabric would be more than enough. Then I guesstimated how much length I would want to add, and measured 7" width across the toile fabric (folded in half, selvages together). I cut 2 of those, and gathered one on the front of the skirt, and one on the back before I'd sewn the side seams. Don't know about y'all, but I sure do prefer gathering straight strips of fabric as opposed to gathering rings of fabric.
After I got the flounce attached to the front and back panels, I sewed up the skirt just like the pattern said. I did my little trick/experiment, and sewed up the hem with a decorative stitch. At that point I was tempted to call it done. I decided that the gathered seam could use sewing down... er, up, as it were. In comes the purposeful pretty details! I dug through some of our trims and found a really long piece of trim that we've had for years. (We'd gotten it to add to a formal dress about 6 years ago, and never added it. Go. Figure.) It looked really good with the toile, so on it went. I sewed over that (just a straight stitch), which sewed down the gathered seam at the same time. Then I tried the skirt on. The trim looked a little ... odd... on there all by itself. So, on went the trim just above the yoke seam; I was then pleased enough with the product, though I wish it had pockets of some sort.
Things to note if you're thinking about making this pattern! I think it runs kind of small. I usually, almost on principle, make the smallest size a pattern comes in, waist-wise. True, this one comes with sizes smaller than most (4-12 or so, as opposed to 6- or 8-12). However, I make the size 6, and it fits me wonderfully! So, be sure to measure the yoke pattern pieces, subtracting the seam allowances, before you begin your project. Actually, that's probably a good idea to do with any project. But... I'm lazy, and only do it on the ones that strike me as seeming unusually small. :P
And there you have it. A far too lengthy post with rotten pictures as a reintroduction to sewing after far too long away from it.
