Let it be known, I have been obsessed with the
Day of the Dead for at least 10 years. Just recently I recieved the most awesome beach bag from my cousin and it made me think, it would be so cool to have a day of the dead garment. But alas, where would I get one of those?
A series of very funny things happened, to now make me the proud owner of Day of the Dead skirt.
Lets start off by how wonderful the internet is. A friend of mine's husband sent me a link that started this whole journey into making a skirt. They were at my house for a bar-b-q and we got to talking about sewing. A few days later I got a link to
Burda Fashion, and boy what a wealth of information, how had I gone a year without knowing about this wonderful site?? I don't know but I know my pocketbook is not happy that I found it! A few clicks into the site and I found probably the best blog I ever read, no lie--better than mine!
Gertie's Blog not only opened my eyes to the world of garments, but seriously encouraged me and had tons of great links to various fabric places.
Lets talk fabric for a second. I never particually cared about fabric choices, if I liked it I bought it and then I found some way of using it. Since up until recently the closest thing to a garment I have made was some aprons, I also haven't had real issues with drap or how a fabric fits. Nor have any of my projects really called for anything fancier than oilcloth. But oh, now do I get the obsession! And not to mention wearing something is totally different than it just sitting on your couch making a good pillow. Well superbuzzy.com is probably my new favorite place and I will be saving my pennies to buy lots of specialty fabric from there! Anyway---take a pattern for clothes seriously when it suggests a fabric type!
So back to Gertie....I found like I said a place on her site
Superbuzzy and it was awesome. I was thinking maybe I should order fabric, but I didn't really have a project in mind. And then I came across the most awesome fabric I have ever seen in my life (yes!).
"Papel Picado" I squealed! I needed this, now! I didn't care that I didn't have a project for it! I decided that my way to investigate if this site really was as awesome as Gertie said, was to buy some fabric from it. I bought 4 yards (I was really banking on the good press from gertie that this wasn't going to be the worst fabric ever) and oh what a great purchase.
I recalled after hitting "submit order" that I had told myself by this summer I would have made a garment. My very first try at making a garment was a miserable tale of horrible sleeves and uneven, well, everything. I tried to make a "shirt dress" to wear with leggins. The project was from
"Seams to Me" by Anna Marie Horner. I thought I kicked the ass out of the apron from that book, which was pretty complex, I could absolutely kick the ass out of the smashing smock...it kicked my ass. I vowed to never attempt a garment again. I used up some of my absolute favorite fabric that I can't find anymore and well it was just a disaster. It looked like a moo-moo by the time I was done with it. Its ironic becuase the full title of the book says "24 new reasons to love sewing"....and I most defintely hated sewing after this. I had decided that all I could ever make was envelope pillows and placemats.
Sad and defeated every sewing book I had I never stopped an looked at the garment sections because it just made me think of my failure. I kept looking for very very simple things to make, and I didn't get very far. After the smock dibacle I probably didn't sew for about 3 months. I was so depressed because of all the effort I put into that. So I started getting some more books and trying patterns for around the house type things and it was going okay, I even eventually upgraded my sewing machine, which made me much more confident. I successfully made the "get patchy quilt" from
"S.E.W. Everything Workshop" and it renewed my faith in sewing more than just pillows.
The "get patchy quilt"
Then this fabric comes along, and I remember how badly I wanted a garment of something in day of the dead pattern. Here was my chance! Since the "S.E.W. Everything Workshop" book had had the most items I successfully completed in it, I decided that I would pick the easiest garment to make from it. The "breezy easy wrap skirt" it was, and I decided that I would make this the second my fabric arrived. I literally studied the directions. I must have read them over about 8 times to see if the directions were clear enough to follow.
About 4 days later (super buzzy had VERY fast, and cheap delievery) I got my fabric. Of course I had to work 3 in a row and had to stare lovingly at the fabric until I had a few days off to get to work. Oh the fabric felt devine, it was soft yet hardy and had such a wonderful drape to it, I knew instantly it would make a beautiful -- anything!
I followed the directions painstakingly, I made only one mistake on the strap, which I was able to very easily fix, and bam---awesome new skirt. Its longer than I anticipated, but I can always hem it up later, but its a great way to get my confidence up to start making more and more complex things. For sewing as just a hobby I have come a long way from uneven lines on placemats. I can now sew a dart and make a gather. I can even use patterns pretty well now. I plan on fixing up the skirt a little bit more, like hem it a bit shorter and fix the length of the one tie I made (I don't know how I made it so much longer than the other, because I measured it 3 times). I am even looking for a fabric to add a pocket to it. I plan on making many more of these skirts in various types of fabric, because it actually was realitively easy. The level in the book is "2 spools" and I think thats pretty accurate, it was harder than a pillow, but it wasn't as hard as making a pencil skirt (although there is an awesome pattern for one in her book that I am going to try).
And since Gertie got me to the fabric, I think after planning our reception is over (its less than 60 days away) I am going to sign up for her
online class. I would LOVE to make dresses that actually fit me the right way. Who knows maybe one day all the clothes in my closet will be made by me :)
Here's the finished Project
I am quite proud of how it turned out! :)
So what happened to my stupid smock fabric?
I made a few things from it and managed to have enough to salvage into a table skirt. ( I may have overbought in yardage, but it looks super cute)
I made a cover (like the one in the bathroom) for the entire exposed part of my cutting table. I always kept all my batting and pillow forms under there but it looked so messy because you could see it all. I decided to hide it. Tada! It was retardedly simple to make, I measured length and width and added a half inch (for seam allownce. And sewed it up (its just straight lines) I got utility velcro and added it on each end and the middle to hold it up. It worked out great I have to say, it was my first ever "think of it and do it" type of a project. I know it was just sewing a square essentially but it looks so cute!
The left overs of this fabric (which were the little accent pieces) I made into 3 different envelope pillows, that match my living room well. So it worked out in the end.
Cheers!
