Where Did Today Go?

I can scarcely believe how late it is, we have all been at home today, so although I have done a great deal I have also drunk a lot of tea, chatted a lot and played with my sewing.

I need some simple cotton skirts, no frills, no flounces, no pleats to iron and definitely no peplums.

I had a look at Seasalt , I have some clothes from them that are going strong at 10 years old. ooh err, £49.99, I don't think so.
I had a look at M & S, Next, Matalan, George at Asda and so on, zilch, nada, zero.

I had a cup of tea and looked at the Toyota all freshly cleaned with a shiny new (American}needle,then I looked in the storage box that holds my big cuts of fabric mmmm  promising

I pulled an old skirt out of the rag bag and out with the stitch ripper, and Bingo  3 panels and a waistband. I found scissors and pins and 2 hours later I had these.

You may remember this from a while ago, from Michael Miller, patchwork cotton so a little thicker than dressmaking material, no need for a petticoat.

This has not seen the light of day for 3 years. I bought it in a closing down sale  if I remember right it cost me £2.

Before I cut the fabric I realized that all my zips were too short or too long and all the wrong colours.

I discarded the back panels and cut 2 fronts from each colour and sewed straight up the side seams. I cut a 2 1/2 inch waistband and made it so there were 2 seams at the front,  1 each side of the center. with a gap in each to take a drawstring.

I sewed this to the wrong side of the skirt,making sure to have the drawstring gaps in the right place. I then folded the band to the front, pressed a turning and top stitched it down, I pressed a narrow double folded hem and stitched down. The drawstrings were made from the selvedges, just folded and sewn. It took me almost as long to make and thread the drawstrings as to cut out and sew the skirts.

I am going to run at least 2 more up but will put side seam pockets in those, or maybe patch pockets, just something big enough to hold the car keys and a little purse.

These will be just the job for the summer, I have stacks of little tops in white and cream .It is a long time since I made clothes, but I found it a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. There is still quite a bit of both fabrics left, more for my shoe thingys.

I manages to get 2 loads of  washing done,dried and ironed, I just wish I knew where it all came from, and socks, I have said it before, there are only 3 pairs of sock wearing feet in the cottage so whose socks am I washing!   On that thought I wish you a good evening....TTFN    Pam