I have every intension of making a skirt from a sewing pattern with my brand-new sewing machine. Someday.
A month or so ago, my lovely mother-in-law took me to Mood, the fabric destination featured in Project Runway’s harried shopping scenes. (It’s truly an experience to be had. You could definitely made an entire day trip out of it, if only it had public bathrooms.)
We picked up this sweet little print there, which I instantly fell for:
It’s got a nice Victorian goth look, but on closer examination, the people and animals in the print all have these curiously cartoonish faces. So I love it.
But the pattern-following is a bit more challenging than I expected. Having forgotten whether or not I had any good scissors for cutting fabric, we ended up struggling with my old dull paper scissors. Strange, cryptic pattern paper was flying everywhere. Finally, we got the sewing machine out, which should be “very simple to use,” according to my in-law. Then, after getting the setup all ready, she tells me to read the manual before attempting any “real sewing,” and splits town for New Hampshire.
So now I’m left with these two pieces of Victorian goth fabric that are neatly pinned together, and no idea what to do with them. Are they even part of the skirt, or something we cut something else out from?
Luckily, I recently got the latest Make Workshop (no relation to Make magazine) calendar. I know what I’m doing on March 27th, April 5th, or April 28th: Intro to Sewing Machine.
Until then, I think I’ll stick to knitting patterns.
I just got a sewing machine a few days ago and I am having a lot fun finding small projects to sew. It was scary at first, but I read the manual and followed the directions.
Your story is an inspiration, Oiyi. I’d love to see what you’ve made!
I guess anything I have to read a manual for is intimidating to me, but it wasn’t actually that thick. I’m just a bit of a wuss.
I wish we were in closer vicinity! I’d be more than happy to exchange sewing skill lessons (an old hobby of mine) for knitting lessons (a new craft I’m considering getting in to … further aided by your cutest toys ever!!!).