True Confession – I struggled with coming up with the title of this post.  Here are a few I considered:

“Happy New Year”

 Immediately discarded.  Why?  It’s January 18, do you really have to ask why… or are you rubbing it in?

 “I’m the Worst Blogger ever”

This title formed from my guilt of not having blogged the whole month of December.  But when I thought about it, I can’t possibly be the worst blogger ever if I’m getting ready to write another blog … Right?  Surely there are worst bloggers out there than me?

 Here’s the confession … as November melted away and December quickly approached … my tightly organized life began to quickly unravel.  I won’t bore you with my plans … my meticulous plans of enjoying my company shut down.  Sewing to my heart’s content and creating a pool of projects to have plenty to blog about in 2014.   In a sentence, my plans didn’t happen.  Work was crazy busy before our shut down.  Then I got the flu.  (stupid flu)  The flu was quickly followed by bronchitis.  (Stupid bronchitis – which also interfered with my trip to Miami.)  My plans went down the drain as I was curled in the fetal position wishing I could enjoy all of that great food my Mom was cooking.

With all of that said, now that I am halfway back to living – I still have a nagging cough (stupid cough).  I can share what I’ve been up to.

 You would think after my previous failure with McCall’s patterns, I would stay away from them for a while.  But, I’m stubborn and  decided to try my hand at McCall’s M6706, version D.  And … I love how this skirt turned out.  It was easy to sew.  I was able to achieve a great fit.  And the construction (based on my own selfish evaluation) is impeccable.  

I know it’s very difficult to see the detail of the fabric on this first picture, but look at how fabulous this fabric is up close.

I love, love, love this fabric.  If it could magically become a liquid … I would take a bath in it.  If it were a good wine, I would drink it.  Did I mention, I love this fabric?  And here’s the deal … it cost me next to nothing.  I came across this little gem at an ASG Junk n Disorderly sale in October of last year.  When I got home and surfed through my patterns I knew I wanted to pair this fabric with this McCalls pattern.  Succes!

We know from my experience with the Sew Liberated Schoolhouse Tunic that I am a lover of box pleats.  Where the tunic was fairly structured, this skirt is … girlie.  The pattern is very straight forward.  And I believe it does properly fit into the category of “Easy”.  Heck, I was able to complete it – that’s the first test right there. 

Before cutting into my fabric, I made a muslin to ensure I could get a good fit on the waistband and through the hips.  One of the pattern options includes a petticoat.  The fabric easily goes from day-to-night and I was playing with the idea of making the petticoat as well.  Once I had a properly fitted muslin, I opted to shorten the skirt by 2½”.  Since I liked the shorter length … I opted to leave out the petticoat.

The invisible zipper is the best I’ve installed so far.  I used the same process I used for the Saltspring dress – I pressed the seam allowance and basted the zipper opening closed.  I then placed the zipper teeth on top of the closed opening and basted the zipper in place.  Once securely basted, I sewed the zipper and removed the basted stitches.  This zipper came out perfectly.  No lumps, no bumps, smooth as buttah!

I will make this skirt again … a longer version with the petticoat.

The Not So Dirty Details

Pattern:  McCall’s M6706, version D

Sizing and Pattern Alterations:  Sewed straight size, adjusted the waist, shortened by 2 1/2 inches

Fabric:  Funky Gray Animal Print in silver courtesy of the Junk n Disorderly Sale

New Skills:  Box pleats, fitting a waist