My first piece of clothing is going to be a Delphine skirt, from Tilly Walnes' "Love At First Stitch" book. I'm making it out of this lovely green linen/cotton blend; and for anyone who has seen or heard of the musical Wicked, you should be able to see why I keep calling it the Elphie skirt...that and the exaggerated a-line shape should 'defy gravity', if all goes to plan. :D
After washing, ironing and folding (which took far longer than it should do, but I do like to procrastinate), it was time to cut out the fabric pieces. I felt so nervous at this point. I still need to get used to that feeling of cutting into fabric and transforming it into something. At the moment, it still feels a bit like I'm cutting it up, rather than cutting into it.
The rotary cutter was a very worthwhile purchase, I find it so much easier to cut with than my scissors. I traced the Tilly and the Buttons pattern onto baking paper (my tracing paper was a bit small), pinned that onto the fabric, and cut out the pieces with my rotary cutter. It seemed to work fairly well, but I'm sure there are other ways of doing it. Any suggestions of a preferred method, or any hints and tips for cutting out, would be most welcome.
This is how the skirt looks now it's cut out (waistband not pictured, I've added the interfacing to that and it needs pinning and sewing together). It's not entirely perfect, but it's the best I've done, and progress is what I try to aim for, rather than perfection.
Since taking this picture, I've sewn the first part of the side seams, so it's looking slightly more finished now. I thought French seams would be perfect for this skirt, firstly because it's the only seams my machine can do, and secondly because it's a pattern with a French name, so it seems strange not to! :)
Progress on the skirt will be halted this weekend, as I'm going to a Steampunk festival tomorrow (Bank Holiday Monday) and I have lots of hand sewing to do before we go. My Victorian costume is finished, but I still need to sew some cogs onto my boyfriend's outfit and I have a waistcoat to make for my teddy, for the teddy bear's picnic. First pattern drafting I've ever done, and the whole thing is about 3 inches squared, haha. So I'm still sewing like mad today!
