A Charming Red Skirt in which to Twirl

I originally meant for this project to be my Christmas 2020 outfit, paired with a novelty print blouse in one of the Christmas prints I have stashed away.  But then I didn't even begin working on the skirt until January 2021, and this blouse is from Christmas 2019 because I ran out of time for another.  Get it together, Laura!  

And then someone reminded me that cardinal prints don't have to be consigned to a single month of the year.  I mean, yes, the bright red birdies stand out nicely on a snowy background.  But even so, the snow never (or very, very rarely) arrives here in the Bay Area, and it certainly is still snowing in January, February, and March in a whole lot of locales.  So I am calling this seasonally appropriate!

But with or without a seasonal print on my blouse, this skirt is going to be a mainstay in my wardrobe, and I will probably make another at some point, or as soon as I decide on a fabric.

As I mentioned in my blog post about the construction, this version is significantly longer than the pattern suggests.  And provided my fabric is wide enough, I think I want all of my full skirts to be this length!

And yes, it twirls quite nicely.

It's a circle skirt - what's not to love?! (other than the fact that they require a lot of fabric).

I don't believe I have ever made a gored circle skirt, and it's high time that I did.

And, provided that your fabric can be cut with a multi-directional layout (which this melton wool can), it does save a little on the yardage requirements.

As I previously mentioned, I was a bit disappointed that I did not have enough fabric for the oversized pockets.  But I think that turned out for the best.

That's not to say that I won't make use of the oversized pocket pieces in a future project, but this is my definition of a classic red wool skirt, and you can never have too many of those!

Which reminds me . . . I should wear this again before the weather gets too warm for a heavy wool skirt.

Blouse:  Made by me, Vogue 8772/McCall 8358
Skirt:  Made by me, Charm Patterns "Stanwyck Skirt"
Earrings:  Handmade by Cousin Carole

Some Preppy Snowmen

My annual Christmas themed project is always a highlight of the year.  I actually came up with the idea for this one last year, so I had an entire year to think about it!

And as many of you guessed from the construction post, the element missing on my dress was a tie.  (This was one of the main reasons I finally constructed my first collar stand!)  The tie itself belonged to my Grandfather or Uncle; I have quite a few of their ties.  Unfortunately, most of them are 1970s polyester, but I found myself drawn to this one.  It's not in the best of condition, but it works well with my dress print, so I made it work.

I have worn ties before with a regular old fold over collar, and it's manageable, but there is a reason men's dress shirts have one.  The stand allows for the tie to sit properly, while not bunching the actual collar.

I thought about adding a bound buttonhole to the collar stand since all of the other buttonholes are made that way, but honestly, I forgot my intention until I had completely edge-stitched around the whole thing.  Whoops.  I was so busy following instructions on an unfamiliar technique that I missed the change I wanted to make. 

But maybe my subconscious was onto something.  The buttons that I used for the dress have a built in shank and are rather large to use under a tie.  But they worked so perfectly with the snowman print, I had to use them.

In the end, I used a hook and stitched a thread loop on the opposite side to keep the collar shut.  That hook did come undone as I was knotting the tie around my neck.  That could be that I don't have a lot of experience with tying a tie, but it's probably more likely that I should have used a snap.  This is certainly an easy fix, although I am terrible at completing alterations to already finished garments.  Someday I will go back and change the closure.  Maybe.

I knew that I wanted a belt for this dress.  The only question was, do I use a contrast or not?

I decided that with a contrasting tie, a contrasting belt might be too much.  And, I might as well make the matching belt to have on hand.  I can alway use a different one, but if I don't make myself a belt while I am making the dress, it's never going to happen.

Looking at the photos, I think the self-fabric belt works quite nicely.

I was reminded that snowmen are not specifically Christmas themed, more of a Winter Wonderland sort of thing.  So theoretically, this frock could be worn outside of December, although I will probably always think of it as a Christmas project.  Or perhaps those sleeves will haunt me, and the dress will get another wear in the month of January!  (Did I mention how much I love the sleeves?!?)

Dress & Belt:  Made by me, Vogue 8772/McCall 8358
Tie:  Vintage
Shoes: Remix "Babydoll"
Earrings:  Gift

How to Build a Snowman

Ah yes, the annual Christmas dress.  It has become a bit of a tradition.  Last year, I made myself a blouse and matching quilted skirt, and I had plans to make a dress out of this wonderful snowman print.  Alas, I only got as far as washing the cotton before the holiday came and went, and I lost the motivation for winter themed novelty prints and moved onto something else.

This year, I knew that I wanted to get back to the snowman print.  I gave myself plenty of time, and started working on a muslin at the end of November.  My idea was to combine last year's blouse (already a combo of different shirt and sleeve patterns) and add a skirt to the mix.

I also wanted to change the collar shape, and make the blouse more fitted through the waist in order to add on a skirt, so a practice run was in order.

I never made a complete dress, but I did have a good enough idea that the dress would turn out with part of two skirt panels pleated down into my bodice, so it was time to cut into my fabric.

I made a few minor changes after ripping apart the muslin in order to use those pieces as my pattern.

And then it was time to fit everything on my fabric yardage.

I knew it was going to be a tight squeeze, and it really was a bear.

I mulled things over for a couple of days, determined to use the massive sleeve pattern.  I adore these sleeves, but they are fabric hogs.  In the end, I made it work with a slightly shortened hem for my skirt pieces.

And it was worth it!  These sleeves are ginormous and absolutely fabulous.

I had my buttons chosen early on, but with only eleven of them available (vintage from an estate sale) the two extra cuff buttons would have to come from somewhere else. 

I found a pretty good match that were half an inch in diameter, and while not a perfect match, they pair nicely.

And with that, the sleeves were complete!  It's strange to complete the sleeve so early on in the process, but I guess after being unsure that I would have them at all, I was anxious to see how they would turn out.

Next up, I had more bound buttonholes to make for the bodice and skirt front.

Although there are multiple ways to go about bound buttonholes, over the years, I have found this technique to be my favorite, starting with making marks on the wrong side of the garment which get transferred to the front by hand basting the lines in silk thread (the silk is so much easier to remove than a standard poly thread).

For the skirt, I decided that the majority of the pleats could be in place before making my buttonholes, so that is what I did.

And here we have more marking . . .

and more basting.

After the buttonholes were finished, skirt was attached to bodice, and the seam finished with seam binding, naturally!

Which leaves the dress looking something like this.

And now for my very first collar stand.

Yes, I have been sewing garments for over twenty years and this is my first collar stand.  Embarrassing, but true.

My only excuse is that I love tie necklines, shawl collars, and less tailored looks, I suppose.  The instructions that came with Vogue 8772 were easy to follow, and I have seen quite a few images over the years and in progress shots of people constructing the collar stand, so all in all, not a difficult process.  My reason for choosing this type of collar will become clear later.

And, of course, this dress needed a matching belt.

I didn't have any one inch belting on hand, but I remembered this roll of interfacing.  It just happens to be two inches wide.  I cut two lengths, zig zagged them together, and then folded the double layer in half and stitched again.  It's not quite as sturdy as actual belting, but with a substantial interfaced fabric piece, it does the trick.

Unfortunately, I did not have enough fabric to cut a length of fabric long enough for my belt, and piecing the directional print meant that a center back seamline requires that the belt open opposite to my button front dress.  It's a small thing, but it bothers me.  I doubt that anyone would notice, especially since the print is so busy, and I have no choice but to live with it.

And since the collar was edge-stitched, I decided to edge-stitch the belt and went back and edge-stitched the cuffs to tie everything together.  The process of edge-stitching makes me very nervous, but it all turned out well in the end.  Also, I had the protection of a busy print to hide any top stitching mistakes, which, of course, never showed up.  Do I dare try this on a solid colored fabric with a contrasting thread?  Probably not.

The other thing I was slightly concerned about was skirt length.  In the end, I decided that this silhouette would work as an above-the-knee length which allowed for a decent hem; not the three to four inches I like to have on a non-shaped skirt, but better than what I was expecting.

Which means the dress is complete!

Except for one missing element . . . can you guess what it is?