Sew Long Summer: Fabulous Fall Skirt

So I suck at project photos.

(I was also in a hurry and feeling a slight bit under the weather, so there are those factors as well.)

Here be a submission for Sew Long Summer Fabulous Fall: a linen half circle skirt, lined in quilting cotton (forgot to get photos, hopefully I'll remedy that soon) with a 7" zipper and elastic in the waistband. All fabric and notions are from the stash.

The reasoning for this to be a transitional garment is that it is composed of linen and cotton, lovely fabrics to wear for Summer, and it's the very Autumnal brown.

However, it is also 18" long, which is 4" shorter than my other half circle skirts.

The pockets are semi-drafted (I took the pocket pattern from Megan Nielsen's Veronika, placed it over some of the pieces of linen leftover from cutting out the skirt and waistband and did some finagling) and not-quite-topstitched (I hand sew) onto the skirt. The pocket opening is edged in bias binding and strengthened with selvage to avoid stretching.

Not much else to say as this is such a simple skirt and I've already made two like it, which bored me a little, which is why I tried new pockets. I'll report later about how I rate them.


I can, and will, talk a little about the effort I put into this skirt.

Sewing is an enjoyable hobby; it's creative, relaxing, a great activity while listening to lectures or audio books, and it's a hobby that has tangible results. (Wearable mistakes!)

But it is only a hobby.

In the week before finishing the skirt I same across The Great British Sewing Bee and I half watched, half listened to all three seasons while doing a mass purge of my belongings. In the watching I became a little guilty about my messing around with sewing and decided to try to up my game a little.

I will endeavor to:
- Stitch evenly and straight
- Hem evenly
- Use the notches indicated in patterns
- Use 5/8" seam allowances (I start out well but tend to peter out to 1/4" seam allowances)
- Learn a little more about fit
- Make casings and thread elastic through them
- Gather fabric using dental floss (I tend to gather and not baste and then stitch while I hope for the best)
- and other sundry challenges

I don't have the inclination to attain great skill or technical excellence; I don't want to spend the time and energy.

In essence I don't care enough.

Sewing is a wonderful and relaxing hobby and my life does not depend on my technical excellence.

So this skirt has an uneven waistband, slightly uneven hem, and lots of wobbly stitching.

But some straighter and even stitching around the hem.

Onward.