First Made by Me Skirt

Today I finished my first skirt, Simplicity 2451. I did view B (the one the model is wearing).

I haven't sewed anything since Christmas, and have never sewed a garment piece before. The pattern said "easy-to-sew" so I thought I would give it a go.

And this gave me the chance to break in my new sewing table.

I spent 2 to 3 hours cutting out the pieces and deciding which size I should cut out. According to the back of the pattern I'm a size 12, but I read that these estimates are not accurate. On the pattern pages it said I would be a 6 or an 8. I decided to go with an 8.

My pincushion given to me by Melizza

The next weekend I started sewing. The instructions were very clear and I was moving right along. And then I got to the waistband. I had no idea how to attach the waistband to the skirt without seeing any raw edges. I kept trying different ways and having to rip it all out when it didn't work. I decided to stop after about 5 hours of sewing and research.

I sent my friend Melizza at Pincushion Treats an email and she pointed me in the right direction. Today I spent 7 hours finishing the skirt. The waistband alone took a full Harry Potter movie, plus 30 minutes. It took me about 14 hours in total to make this "easy-to-sew" skirt. Whew! Since this was my first time, I had to look at a lot of youtube videos and tutorials. 

It's not perfect, but it's my first one so I'm happy with it. I need to work on lining up my seams, and next time I'll mark the pieces instead of cutting out notches. Since I'm short I need shorten the pattern in the middle, instead of  at the bottom. The size worked out well. Half way through I held it up to me and I was sure it would be way too small. To make it bigger, I gave the sides a 1/4 seam allowance instead of 5/8. To my surprise when I tried it on it fit. It could be a tiny bit tighter but it's not bad and it'll work well with a sweater.  I think next time I'll do a 1/2 seam allowance on the sides. 

I really like this pattern. I saw a lot of awesome variations online, and I'm excited to make a few more. I want to make a couple wool skirts for the winter. And I want to try adding lining.