Monday, April 22, 2013

The Spring Suit: Skirts and Buttons, Oh My!

What I can't show you is a finished suit.

What I can show you is the contents of a package that arrived today - self-fabric covered buttons, from California:


This photo best captures the colour of the suit fabric, btw.

I've got to put these on the jacket, currently sporting pretty (but not optimal) rose buttons. I have to say, they're likely to elevate an imperfect garment substantively. I got all of these for 13 bucks, btw.

(Totally off-topic, but a propos of not having any time to sew on new buttons (much less the inclination): When I'm going to have 5 minutes without a headache is beyond me. Did I mention that my gardens are not going to spring-clean themselves?)

I can also show you a bunch of gratuitous skirt shots (is there any other kind??):

The higher left-shoulder of my dress form drives me INSANE

You can see how the fabric has not responded optimally. I've treated it with kid gloves and it's still kind of crappy (where I've underpressed it, to avoid what happens to it when I press it right)

The waist is rather well-executed. Note that the little wrinkle on the right side of the photo is just that - it's not a permanent flaw.

Ooooh, sassy! Gotta love that colour combo, yes??


Oh, the zipper looks alright here... Just don't pull too hard.
True story: When your notes tell you that you need to use 2-inch petersham ribbon at the waist (as you did once before) - LISTEN! I looked at the previous version and thought: That ribbon's not 2 inches - it's 1.5 inches. (Alas, that's the thing about a half-inch seam allowance is that it eats up half an inch.) I am one of those peeps who really benefits from a wider waist-facing because I have a little tummy that begins below my natural waist. I can only assume that this skirt isn't going to last too long (vis a vis the zipper-insertion stupidity), so I'll have a chance to try again.

10 comments:

  1. Don't you love it when you know better than your past self who left you a note because she/you knew you would do that? Wait, now I'm confused.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trust me, no one's more confused than me! :-)

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. The buttons may be my fave thing about this jacket :-)

      Delete
  3. Love those buttons! I'm not sure if it's just the photos, but the skirt looks pretty good to me -- no overpressing or underpressing evident unless I'm missing something. Can't wait to see the whole thing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know how I'll ever use non-self fabric covered buttons again! This is my second time doing this and I love it. Since I got my great new machine, I'm half inclined to make that beignet skirt (the Colette one with all the buttons, isn't that what it's called?). Not that I'm particularly into that style.

      Delete
  4. I love those buttons. The centre circle is really nice.
    I'm with Peter, the skirt looks good from this side of the screen. I love your choices for the interior. The red petersham ribbon really pops!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! They're called combination flower buttons. And, yet again, your computer shows cerise (by my eye) as red.

      Delete