Friday, March 15, 2013

Green + gold lace statement skirt

It's lace month at the Mood Sewing Network and in the past few months there has been a flurry of excitement and activity concerning the picking out of a choice piece of lace. I did not participate in any of that excitement, though, because way back in July of last year I used my Mood money to purchase some exquisitely beautiful green lace. (It sold out quickly so I unfortunately cannot link you to it. Here are some of their other laces.) Oh I had plans! I bought 3 yards and could have done just about anything.


So why are you looking at a plain straight skirt that could not possibly have taken all 3 yards to make? Because I screwed up, people. I had wanted to make a dress but I picked a pattern with princess seams. Despite all of my careful laying out and measuring to make sure this linear lace lined up, a dress with princess seams on the bodice simply will not look good with any fabric that has to be matched along the seamlines both vertically and horizontally. Plus I made some dreadful mistakes while cutting it out. I was very fortunate to be able to salvage the skirt portion. But oh, how my heart aches for that lost yardage!


This is my TNT straight skirt pattern, McCall's 3830, which I used for the straight skirt portion of the dress. I've used this pattern quite a lot lately and you are probably tired of hearing about it.


Thankfully I didn't make any laying out mistakes on the skirt portion, and the pattern of the lace flows nicely across the side seams and back.


I used green bemberg from Mood for the underlining and lining. I tried several different colors but kept coming back to the dark green.


I really wanted to underline this skirt so that the seams of the lace couldn't be seen through the skirt. I also wanted uninterrupted scallops along the hemline. In order to get the look I wanted, I had to sew the lace to the underlining down to the top of the scallop. Then I sewed the bottom of the lace together, clipped the lace to the seamline at the bottom of the underlining hemline, and sewed the underlining together. I pressed the scalloped lace to one side and secured it with some hand stitching. After that I had only to whipstitch the underlining in place. This is a difficult process to describe, but here is what the final outcome looks line:

This picture is of the lace and underlining with the LINING PULLED UP AND OUT OF SITE.
And here is the pattern I used, McCall's 3830:



This skirt is not what I had pictured in my mind's eye, but I do love it. The fabric is very fancy with gold thread woven throughout, so this skirt definitely fits my lifestyle more then a dress would have.

57 comments:

  1. good thing you got 3 yards! gorgeous skirt - you wear it well.

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  2. Both the skirt and you wearing it are gorgeous. Great job.

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  3. It's beautiful. So glad you were able to salvage the lace for the skirt.

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  4. It's a shame you weren't able to make the dress you intended, but the skirt still looks incredible!!!! All your projects are impeccably made. I love stopping by to see them.

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  5. Love the skirt! So sad you lost so much yardage. I hate that, especially with such a gorgeous fabric. I saw that and almost ordered it. Now I'm kicking myself :)

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  6. Gorgeous skirt! Sorry to hear that the dress didn't work out - but I agree, you'll get much more wear out of the piece as a skirt than in a dress.

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  7. Amanda, I just peeked in after a few weeks - wow! The lace skirt & dress, the Cynthia Rowley that looks more sophisticated with the straight skirt, and oh the yellow velvet blazer! Your skills and fashion sense simply amaze me! So happy Mood network recognized you!

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  8. Perfection as always!
    Thank you for your comments on my dress...I love it!

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  9. So lovely- youd never know that this wasnt your original plan!

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  10. Amanda you so set the MOOD for stylish dressing! Beautiful garment.

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  11. Your muck up is still so gorgeous and perhaps you can use the lace from the bodice in some other creative way in other projects.

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  12. This is so pretty and versatile! I'm so glad you were able to salvage enough lace for this skirt!

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  13. Pretty skirt. I love green and this is such a pretty green lace.

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  14. Beautiful! The lace is fantastic. Too bad about the dress, but at least you will get plenty of use out of your awesome skirt.

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  15. Yes, it is sad you lost the yardage, but thank goodness the skirt worked out. Can you use the bits leftover as trims perhaps in a jacket?

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    1. Thanks Sarah! And no, I can't use any leftover bits because it was a really narrow lace and there wasn't enough for much else.

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  16. Holy crap - the pattern matching at the seams is sick!! At first I thought maybe it didn't have side seams. Gorgeous.

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  17. It's too bad the dress didn't work out, but maybe this fabric was just meant to be a skirt! It's really perfect and looks like you can wear it a number of different ways.

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  18. Amanda, the skirt is beautiful. I am sure that most of us find it heartbreaking when someone admits to making sewing errors. It lets everyone (new sewists and old alike) know that these things will happen. Actually, it kind of put a bandage on our wounds. I have a bleed right now in the form of a jacket.

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    1. Thanks Dorothy! I am always amazed when people like to hear about my mistakes. :)

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  19. Looks great, good job:)

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  20. While this isn't the planned garment, it's a fabulous skirt. It really is.

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  21. I think a simple style like this looks great with such an intricate lace pattern. You are sure to get lots of wear out of this beautiful skirt!

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  22. well it sure is pretty. A good save!

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  23. What a beautiful job you have made, looks fabulous.

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  24. The skirt is beautiful! Congratulations!

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  25. Beautiful skirt. The use of underlining and lining creates a perfect finish.

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  26. You have great taste. I love the other lace you used a while ago too, the copper one. Fabulous skirt!

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  27. So sorry to hear about the lost lace...but I think you're right that you'll get more wear out of the skirt than you would a dress. It's beautiful and your print-matching at the side seam is breathtaking as usual. Thank you for the photo of how you did the underlining and handled the scallops.

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  28. Hi there! I've nominated you for a Liebster Blog Award! What is it? In a nutshell, it is basically a blogger's way of saying "You're one of my favorites! Great job."
    I received a nomination and answered 11 questions given to me. Please don't feel pressure to participate, but if you would like to, see the bottom of the post here to find the questions I asked you! Thanks and take care! Kristin

    http://sunnysewing.blogspot.com/2013/03/liebster-blog-award-what-is-it-and.html

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