You had me at “meat tornado.”- Simplicity 2451

I’ve actually gotten a project completed- what the what? This is my version of Simplicity’s 2451 in a red plaid. I got the fabric over a year ago- it was a dress I found at Goodwill that happened to be homemade as well! I cut the fabric out, and stuffed it in a bag for a year, and found it again when I finished the cross-stitch I made for the Hubs. ha.

Here it is, in all its red, plaid-y glory.

I didn’t have enough fabric initially to make the pockets, so I got some narrow wale black corduroy for that part. I can’t remember what size I made, but Kestrel said she made an 8, so I’m guess I probably made a 10 or 12 (she’s tiny like a bird, yo!)

I don’t have a great place to take photos in my apartment right now; everything’s all messy, and since we’re moving in a few months, it’s hard to be motivated to get everything organized. It’s mostly clean, just cluttered as hell. Anyhoodle…

Front view; knobby knees

I did have my fair share of problems with this skirt, which is ridiculous because it’s supposed to be an easy 2 hour number or something, but I didn’t read through all the directions, because I am SUPERMAN. For example, I forgot the darts on the butt, and didn’t realize it until I attached the waistband and it was roughly the size of a butt-dart shorter than the skirt. D’oh. This is what happens when you cut a fabric out and leave it for a year, and then don’t read the directions. wamp wamp.

Dart-less Ass

Another small (ha!) issue is that the waistband didn’t really, like, FIT the skirt at the side seams, so I just rolled that puppy over and figured it’d be good enough.

I WAS WRONG.

But I didn’t go back and fix it, because I was using this as kind of a “practice” considering I got the fabric pretty cheap and everything. SO, learning. I guess. It doesn’t look so bad when I’m wearing it, but I hate myself a little for being a spaz and not cutting carefully, haha.

The zipper was weird when I put it in as well….

WTF?

It’s a lapped zipper, which I’ve done before, so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that for some reason, one side of my waistband came up higher than the other, and it looks pretty mental up close.

I added a lining, and used some leftover fabric from a grilling apron I made for The Hubs for the facing on the inside- this fabric is ITCHY.

Peppers, wee!

To make the lining, I just cut out the pattern pieces in lining fabric, sewed them together like the skirt (minus butt-darts) and tucked it under the waistband, then rolled the hem up and zigzagged it. Not sure if that’s the proper way, but meh.

Hem finishing- I used this blue iron-on tape (hopefully) to keep this unravelly fabric from doing just that.

So as you can see, this is a plaid number, which normally means you need extra fabric to line up the pattern. Did I try to do that? NOT EVEN A LITTLE. Unfortunately, it’s close enough that it looks like I tried and biffed it. Derp!

Issues with the pattern- there are like five and a half inches of ease on this thing! Quoi le quoi?!?! That is a TON of ease, from the (very) little bit I know about such things. Kestrel just made her own version, like, last week, and she had the same sense of astonishment. Luckily for me, she and a commenter talked about how the strangeness of the fit could be disheartening for a new sew-er, which I am, so I don’t feel too bad that it’s loose and droopy.

The only other problem with this skirt is that IT SMELLS. I washed this fabric after I bought the dress it used to be, and you’d NEVER know it. It smells like your great-aunt Elsie’s garage, the one with all the rusty birdcages, moldy luggage, and old duck-hunting decoys that she just can’t part with. Ironing makes it worse. It releases the smell to form some kind of Stench Cloud. Yick. I hope further washings eliminate this problem.

Do I LIKE anything about this project? Yeah! It was a good learning experience, and I actually really like how the skirt looks with different colored fabric for the pocket yokes. I think I’d do that again; I’m feeling like teal with black pockets would be fun.

That’s it for this pattern- here’s what’s on my sewing desk (which is actually my dishwasher)-

I’m finally starting that pencil skirt! So far, I’ve sewn the darts in, sewn the back pieces together, and the back to the front. I also learned to sew a vent, which was confusing for me, given the vagueness of Simplicity’s instructions and diagram. I ended up using Sunni‘s vent tutorial, which helped a LOT. I’m a derpo who needs step-by step instructions a lot of times. I’m considering buying or making a tailor’s ham- it’d really help with ironing darts and curvy bits (which is what it’s for! duh!)

Here’s a close-up of the fabric-No idea what it is- it was a remnant at Joann’s. It’s nubbly and itchy and will need a lining. I’m hoping I can do that alright considering there’s a vent and I may need to add “wearing ease.” (whatever that is.) 😛

There is the obvious black and white of the fabric, but there are also silver threads, and some red and yellow-ish bits, so it’s kind of fabulous.

I’m considering using a fun color for the lining; any suggestions as to color and fabric choices?