I totally forgot to mention that Sarah from SEWN came and took some photos at the Handmade market and has featured a couple of mine on their site. If you go to the gallery section, then Handmade market in Bloom you will see some lovely goodies that were on offer. I am picture 14 and Gret was picture 13. Sewn has some great features including interviews, find a fabric search tool, sewing and quilting glossary (great for beginners), free patterns, tutorials – what isn’t to love?!

Charlipopkids are having a sale and I got two little pieces of OUCH clothing for Anya for summer. She has so many hand-me-downs from generous friends with lovely taste but sometimes I love to buy her the occasional outfit that is very ‘me’…. for her of course! Charlipopkids stocks lots of lovely brands, reasonable prices, delivery was super quick and Kat was lovely to deal with – what are you waiting for??? Jump online!

Photo courtesy of Amanda Keeys Photography.

Well here it is – My versatile wrap skirt! I am pretty happy with how my skirt turned out. It ended up being a quick sew, something you could definitely whip up in an afternoon and a great pattern for beginners (Pascale;). Although I have to admit when I first opened the pattern I was slightly annoyed there was no pattern pieces (you have to draft your own). I looked at the rather long a,b,c explanation of how to draft the pattern and and threw it aside for a while. Once I got over it, I dug out the pattern and had a better look, saw 3 easy diagrams with measurements and I was set.

This is how the 3 pieces sewn together are meant to look in step one.

I cut my 6 x strips (which become your hem edging and waist edging/tie) in step three, out of my left over Birdie Sling plain material to contrast and even though it’s not a perfect match it really makes the skirt I think. I again used the selvedge to guide me for a straight bottom line and then measured them all out and cut.

This is after they are all sewn together in one continuous line and ironed in half.

Attaching strip to the bottom of the skirt in step four.

Step four (b)

How the hem looks once attached. What a great idea to hem a skirt hassle free! You might just notice my seams are different in size, you might want to make the end seam bigger on the edging if you are a perfectionist and want them to align… perfectly

Step five – this is how the top tie/waistband should look when you have sewn it.

The pattern doesn’t say too but I clipped my corners for less bulk when I turned my tie inside out.

• I originally made a button hole on the waistband to pass the long end of the tie through like the pattern suggested but when I tried it on it didn’t sit right and for some reason the button hole ended up too far over.
• I also found it way too bulky around my waist and because I have a narrow waist and a healthy rounded butt, so I found the best solution was inserting two little darts at the back (over each cheek;)
• Fortunately the darts took care of my bad button hole alignment. I decided to go without a button hole for now.
• The last photo is the waistband/tie at the side seams. Because of the shape of the top of the skirt (see 2nd photo) I had to pinch the material in where the side seams met and top stitch it because as I pinned/sewed the band it gathered. Sometimes you can work the material so that it doesn’t but I found there was too much allowance in the tie. You’ll see the angles in that 2nd photo where the sides meet.
• I think I would prefer it slightly longer too, mine did not look as long as the picture on the front of the pattern. I am around 5’6 and it sits just below my knees.
• I like my skirts to sit on my hips and not around my waist so I think I allowed a little more room width wise (choose medium pattern) but I probably didn’t need to as I think it is generous in it’s sizing and wrapping around your body!
• I love that when you walk – it doesn’t flash your knickers

Happy Sewing and I would love to hear your thoughts if you have also used this pattern.

I hate early morning starts and 5.30am wasn’t my idea of a good start to the morning. My poor little babe wet through to her PJ’s which is fine, we dealt with that promptly but normally she goes back to sleep snuggled in with us quite nicely… not this morning. Aghhh…. Anyway, I am trying my best not to be grumpy and would definitely like a shopping fix to brighten my day – however shallow that may be… a girl can dream. It is supposed to be spring here in Canberra but it’s been freezing… the weekend was a killer. So these Anthropology pieces might help me feel I am heading into summer and a little retail therapy never hurt anyone.

I bought these Freesias from our farmers market last weekend $6 – still lovely. They are one of my Mum’s favourites, I always made sure I grabbed her some at the markets when they were in season – back in my floristry days. They give the room a soft pleasant, perfume.

It was freezing here over the weekend – what the hell happened to Spring? Thankfully we didn’t have the crazy dust storms like the photos I saw of Sydney and Brisbane. Ours were rather mild. We grabbed some more goodies at the Lifeline book fair on Sat – proper second hand book prices. All in all it was a good weekend.

I bought this print for Anya’s first birthday last year. I love it and smile every time I walk through her bedroom door and see it. Sarah Jane was one of the first blogs I followed (still do) and the first thing I purchased on Etsy I think!?! I just adore her work and plan on adding another lovely print to Anya’s wall sometime soon – don’t you love the Aussie dollar’s value at the moment!

I just finished making the Versatile Wrap skirt by Make it Perfect. I did a few things differently and will put a little tutorial up next week when I take some photos of the end product! I ended up using the material I had intended for a gum drop pillow and scraps of plain fabric from my Amy Butler birdie sling Soooooo happy to finally make something for me Now it just needs to get warm!!