A new skirt

I'm going through one of those phases when I hate all my clothes and want everything new. I'm not a big shopper, and I generally like my clothes, so this is a pretty rare thing. Maybe once every eight years or so? And I'm caught in its throes now. So here is the first of several planned summer skirts. The fabric is April Johnson from Jo-Ann, a surprisingly good quality cotton with decent body. I'm very hit or miss with Jo-Ann, usually more miss than hit, but this fabric is a good one.

I won't tell you the pattern number because the pattern was awful. It was one of those multisize patterns, but they failed to include the yoked waistband pieces for all sizes. So I had to tinker with that waistband quite a lot to make it work, not an easy feat without a hip curve or French curve to re-draw the pattern pieces. (I used to own these shapely rulers, but snapped one during a move and can't locate the other. It might be in a storage box somewhere.)

So the fit at the waist isn't quite right, but it's good enough that I can wear the skirt as long as I don't tuck in my shirt. The only other pattern modification was to use a solid black bias binding instead of a regular hem. Basically, what happened there was I decided to bind the hem edge because the fabric is a little ravel-prone. So I sewed on the bias binding, and before I turned and marked the hem, decided it looked cool and left it as it is.

Finished it a week ago, have already laundered it twice and worn it three times. I think this one will get a lot of wear. Very comfy in this blistering heat, so much cooler than pants or shorts.

Knitting Update

It's not all fabric and thread here right now.  I've also nearly finished the gusset on a second sock, have started balls 9 & 10 of a double-stranded bed-sized blanket (which will take 12 balls total), and have knit more than a few rounds of a stranded mitten. But none of these are finished, and the sock and blanket are boring projects -- I'll post when they're done, though.