Oops! Apparently I've accidentally deleted all of my images. I'll see about fixing that soon.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

M5056 McCalls Skirt

Today's post is not about my own sewing but that of someone close to me: my mother-in-law.  She recently had the opportunity to go to a Grateful Dead concert and wanted a new skirt to fit the occasion.  She found an appropriate pattern and some fun fabric and jumped right in.


That's about when I got a panicked call.  


Now my MIL has plenty of sewing experience and even majored in Home Economics in college, but not having need of the sewing skills very often in recent years she was nervous coming back to the sewing machine.  I gave her machine a little TLC last year so she could sew some patches on a bag for my nephew, so I knew the machine was ready. Now I just needed to convince her that she was.

I took a look at the pattern online and convinced her that it was all fine and that she was equal to the task. We hashed out some issues over grainline and the print on the fabric, and when I hung up I really felt like she had more confidence to dive right in.

Now, these pictures are really overwhelming because of the colorful pattern on the fabric, so I've added a duplicate of several of the pics with some guidelines in red that I hope will help you spot where the seams are.

underside of fabric - gore points

A few weeks later I stopped by and she showed me the pieces she had done.  She was concerned about the gores that are integral to the fullness of the skirt. She was worried about the points of the gores, but she really had done a nice job.

right side of fabric - gore points

Having assured her she was on the right track we discussed waistbands and hems, and before long she had the whole thing together.

The elastic pocket waistband is not only a perfect fit, style-wise, for this skirt but was also both comfortable and easier to sew than having to figure out an exact waist measurement and closure(s).

The vertical stripes on the main pieces are paired with horizontal stripes on the gores for a striking effect.
my MIL ready to boogie down (or whatever they do at concerts)

"My daughter-in-law is an absolute whiz at sewing and many other things.  When I panicked (because I had not sewed in centuries) she held my hand and gave good advice.  Even though it was done at a very amateur skill level, I couldn't have made this without her."
(She told me that inclusion of this statement was mandatory.)


Special thanks to my Mother in Law for the photos and for letting me share a little snippet of her sewing story.  Hopefully with the confidence she has gained doing this skirt she won't be so afraid to jump in and try something the next time she wants to make  or alter an outfit!

The moral of the story: just because it has been years since you have sewn doesn't mean you should be afraid of trying. Jump in there and do it!

Hope your week is going well!

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