I hate hemming...
I have been making the Amy Butler Barcelona Layer skirt and I am not the only one. But I am now at the hemming stage which I always find so tedious. No matter how hard I try I find it so hard to get the hem to look even despite having a dummy to help me - and no I don't mean my husband!
I ordered the pattern from U-Handbag on Wednesday evening and it arrived on Friday - so Saturday I went off to buy some fabric. I really wanted to make it from one of the new Amy Butler Lotus designs but Liberty didn't have them so I opted for the Lashes pattern from her Belle collection. And whilst I came away feeling it was second best I am now really taken with it.
On Sunday afternoon, as the rain lashed down, I cut out all the pattern pieces. Interestingly, whilst on the Wendy Mullin skirt I was a medium I am small in Amy's patterns. It shows you really need to check the measurements rather than just relying on what you 'normally' are.
I then started sewing but by Sunday evening I had to get my trusty stitch unpicker out - I had made a boo-boo.
Luckily nothing major but I hadn't read the pattern properly and assumed I should be doing one thing when really I should have done something else - as they say it is dangerous to assume. So I gave up at that point.
After work today I carried on. I don't have a concealed zipper foot so opted for a normal zip and put it in my own way. The fabric closes over the zip so it is sort of concealed. My own way also means I didn't have to bother with the hook and eye. Next the sides and lining were all sewn up and inserted. And so now you are back where we started, with the boring old hemming.
I have had a quick try on and it is a very comfortable skirt to wear. The pattern is very easy to follow, although far more wordy than the commercial patterns I am used to. Which meant I tended to skip through it and just look at the diagrams hence my mistake.
I definitely plan to use the pattern for the A line skirt that is included and thanks to Monica I now know where I can get some of the Lotus fabric from. I'll post a photo of the finished skirt when I have finished the hemming but that won't be this evening as I have had a glass of wine now and hemming and wine do not mix.
I ordered the pattern from U-Handbag on Wednesday evening and it arrived on Friday - so Saturday I went off to buy some fabric. I really wanted to make it from one of the new Amy Butler Lotus designs but Liberty didn't have them so I opted for the Lashes pattern from her Belle collection. And whilst I came away feeling it was second best I am now really taken with it.On Sunday afternoon, as the rain lashed down, I cut out all the pattern pieces. Interestingly, whilst on the Wendy Mullin skirt I was a medium I am small in Amy's patterns. It shows you really need to check the measurements rather than just relying on what you 'normally' are.
I then started sewing but by Sunday evening I had to get my trusty stitch unpicker out - I had made a boo-boo.
Luckily nothing major but I hadn't read the pattern properly and assumed I should be doing one thing when really I should have done something else - as they say it is dangerous to assume. So I gave up at that point.After work today I carried on. I don't have a concealed zipper foot so opted for a normal zip and put it in my own way. The fabric closes over the zip so it is sort of concealed. My own way also means I didn't have to bother with the hook and eye. Next the sides and lining were all sewn up and inserted. And so now you are back where we started, with the boring old hemming.
I have had a quick try on and it is a very comfortable skirt to wear. The pattern is very easy to follow, although far more wordy than the commercial patterns I am used to. Which meant I tended to skip through it and just look at the diagrams hence my mistake.
I definitely plan to use the pattern for the A line skirt that is included and thanks to Monica I now know where I can get some of the Lotus fabric from. I'll post a photo of the finished skirt when I have finished the hemming but that won't be this evening as I have had a glass of wine now and hemming and wine do not mix.
posted by caroline at 9:04 pm
7 Comments:
Okay, if you're having problems hemming, then I feel much less inadequate!
But I am very very jealous of your nice fabric!
I found the greatest hemming tool a few weeks ago. It's the Dritz EZ-Hem. It's a metal tool with measurements that you use for pressing up your hem. I hesitated buying it for a while but I'm glad I did! It's made finishing hems so much easier.
Wine kept me from working on my latest project last night. Wine and sewing: my two vices of late. Unfortunately they don't mix. Can't wait to see your skirt.
Love the fabric, can't wait to see the finished product! Good luck hemming.
I love this pattern, I will have to buy it. Thanks for the tips. I made the Amy Butler swing bag and even though it was very easy, I had to really think about the wording in the instructions or I would have ended up sewing it inside out. Can't wait to see the skirt finished. I fancy using some of Amy's coriander fabric for mine.
Hope the hemming goes, has gone well.
Great fabric too!
Can't wait to see the skirt........
This pattern looks really nice. How does the skirt fit? I've had such bad luck with making skirts from patterns that I haven't been able to try on first. I suppose I don't have typically-shaped rear...
hope to see the finished product soon~
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