Sewing Vloggers

Monday, May 28, 2012

Another of Sham's Tablecloth Skirts!

Finished another of Sham's fabulous Tablecloth Skirts, my Summer rendition. Do I mention that I should have smoothed out the skirt a bit before clicking the camera now or when I am done? Guess you get it now.


Pattern:


http://communingwithfabric.blogspot.com/2011/11/self-drafted-tablecloth-skirt-with.html
 The design and pattern are courtesy of the generous and oh, so inspirational Shams over at Communing With Fabric.   She brilliantly figured out how to copy a designer original and inspired many of us to make one too. She even has a gallery of tablecloth skirts.  I really would like to make this out of a sheer next. You'd think I had enough but I love the design and it can be whipped out in a few hours.





 Fabric:


This is a cotton with a bit of spandex included picked up in Joann's clearance  a few months back. If you ever had kids who wore Oshkosh overalls back in the eighties, this is the fabric, just a little stretch added. That stretch did make it miserable to iron. I also decided to use a green blend to run a flat piping to accentuate the odd lantern shape. I think the skirt would have been rather drab without it.

Construction: 

That flat piping did pose a bit of a challenge at the corners but it all worked out well enough. By the fourth corner I think I knew what I was doing.  I did do something different, for me anyway that I would like to share.
I had limited time to make this and found I was out of regular white thread. I did have a huge industrial type spool of lightweight embroidery thread that I use in the bobbin for heirloom work. I gave it a yank. It didn't break so I forged forward. But this stuff was wimpy. How would I make a decent topstitched hem with such wimpy thread? I have seen others do this but this was a first for me. I used my "triple stitch" to topstitch the skirt hem.  This is the stitch that goes over itself three times so it gives a much thicker looking finish. I LOVE IT! Here are a couple of examples for you. Makes a great topstitch, doesn't it? And this was with lightweight thread! I will definitely using this technique again.

Another  construction tip: I recently received an order from Nancy's Notions. Enclosed was a free Klasse needle to try, a bit of lagniappe. Wow, do I love this needle!  My machine just hums with it, like a happy kitten. I will definitely be buying some of these. NAYY, just happy.
Also, I cut different dimensions this time. I am only five feet tall after all, but looking at all the iterations of this skirt in the gallery I decided I wanted to try one with the "points" a bit higher. My inner rectangle is 32 square. the outer rectangles are 17 by 32. I am amazed at how even the hemline is which I thought was unusual. I also staystitched the waist then clipped about every inch before attaching the waistband. This helped it have no ripples unlike my last attempt which seemed to require a lot of fiddling to get the waistband on properly.
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 This is one of the narrower window boxes that I filled with the wool doublecloth. Plants are all doing wonderfully and the moisture level is just right.

You know I am passionate about sewing. You may have figured out I feel pretty much the same about gardening. But here's the big dif: Gardening is my husband's passion too! It is something we are thrilled to share. We put our heads together,talk design,plant our brains out, shop together for plants, break our back moving stones,etc....It truly is a passion we share equally and it is such a delight to be working with someone you love on something you both love to do. You are both exhausted, proud, and shopped out by day end equally.  I know couples who never find a shared passion. We are blessed. You can see why this time of year, my priority becomes sharing this pastime with my hubby and putting my sewing on the back burner. I hope you are blessed with something you are able to passionately share with  your partner. It really makes life great......Bunny


10 comments:

  1. What a FABulous solution to the fast-draining planters - thank you! It's on my list for today now!

    So is a tablecloth skirt (my first of, I suspect...several). I started it last night - the perfect project to get back into sewing with after an absence of several months :)

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  2. both the skirt and the planters look wonderful - yes you are right its great to have a shared passion - for Mike and I its cooking, sadly it adds calories rather than burning them like gardening does.

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  3. I love your summer skirt with the green trim! And you have the best clad planters EVER. :D

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  5. I really like the way you made this one, it has a completely different look (at least to me), I like it so much better starting with a smaller square. Thanks!

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  6. Love it! You find such wonderful ways to solve problems without having to leave the house. Cool.

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  7. Great skirt, especially w/ the T shirt and the scarf. My husband isn't at all passionate about gardening, but he does work at it, so that's something!

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  8. Another great skirt! I thought my mom was the only person who used the word langiappe. You put a smile on my face with that one:-)
    After a month of constant rain, it has been dry and hot the last 10 days here in England and my hanging basket looks frazzled. And I do water them every day! I am dead jealous of yours.

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    1. As a child in the fifties in Southwest Louisiana lagniappe was a word heard nearly every day. For those who don't know it means "a little extra", at least it did when I was growing up. We would be given a nickel and go to the corner Mom and Pop store for penny candy. After spending our five cents she always threw in a little lagniappe. At that time and place, the transaction took place in French. These trips usually happened walking back from Mass on Sunday morning.

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  9. Just a tad late here, but just discovered your wonderful blog and am reading the entire thing - so much to learn from you!
    I 'm from SE Louisiana and heard "lagniappe daily too. In fact , it's the name of LSU's )(my alma, alma mater's) yearbook - the little extra at the end of spring semester.
    Thanks again for your sharing spirit - so much like the Cajun ethos.

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