And we're off!

The mini wardrobe contest has begun! I'm so excited to start sewing. Geez...who would've thought! I'm washing my grey wool/spandex as we 'speak' and my red skirt is cut out.

Let me tell you about my red wool drama. There's always a drama, isn't there? LOL. It started with the pre-shrinking squares I mentioned in the last post. The thing was, the wool didn't shrink when washed in cool water. So off I go...dunk the 2m of wool into the cool water, swish around, spin it in the machine & line dry. While it's hanging I thought I'd check the measurement of the width. Well bugger me if it hadn't shrunk 12cm. ARRRRRRRGHHHHHHH! How the? So I consider my options.

• I could make the skirt shorter - this is not really a goer as I did that last time and it was too short, even for my short legs. Cross that one off the list.
• I could fudge it with the smallest size and it would probably still need shortening - that's not a goer either as, really, I need the size 20 if it's going to look half decent. Cross that one off.
• I could add a seam somewhere - hmmmm...this sounds like the answer. But where? Centre back? No - that would make a bias seam if I want it to be straight. And I do. Centre front? Well what would be the point as the lapped bit is almost at centre front so this wouldn't work either. Solution? The side. Yes viewers, only 1 side. It works because the pieces will now fit on the fabric and the seam will be on grain and also straight. Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

So the (now) 2 piece skirt is cut out. Later on I will re-thread the overlocker with red & serge all the edges of both pieces. Then I can change to black overlocking thread & finish off both my Simplicity 2603 cardi and the one I just made for my mother which I haven't mentioned. These have nothing to do with the mini wardrobe contest BTW.