In which PhysicsGirl crashes the reunion and koi is coy

So there was this blog where a bunch of people challenged themselves to sew a new thing every week for a year, which sounds exhausting. They stopped that insanity, but recently they missed part of it and wanted to start it up on a yearly basis and thus was born The Sew Weekly Reunion.

I wasn't following the blog at the time of the original challenges, so I feel a little like I'm crashing the party, but what the heck. This year's challenge is the Pantone Fashion Fall Colours.

I protest! I hear you cry. White and black are not part of the Pantone challenge! And that scarf doesn't count!

First of all, you are being kinda judgy. Second of all, while I could go all physicsy on you and claim that since white is the reflection of all colours and black is the absorption of all colours, I've actually included all the Pantone colours into my skirt, the fact is I've worked one colour in in an ingenious, dare I say koi coy way, thanks to my mysterious Australian swap package partner.

Behold:






Flanges! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Okay, on with the challenge info.

The Facts

Fabric: main: Vintage poly/cotton black and white embroidered gingham won from The Polished Button via So Zo'; flanges: orange koi cotton fat quarter Type by Julia Rothman; underlining: white cotton voile from stash.

Notions: orange koi single-fold bias tape and 18" zipper from a mysterious Australian as part of the Patterns/Notions swap, two 9" black zippers for flanges.

Pantone Challenge colours: Koi

Pattern: Simplicity 2451 view C and Sarah Reynold's Convert Your Skirt flange pattern

Year: 2010

Time to complete: Skirt: A full day, mostly because I was sick and then I realized I should have underlined the main fabric... after I had already sewn the pockets in. Flanges: A few hours.

First worn: Today, for pictures.

Wear again? Planning to wear it again Sept. 4 (first full day of school). And quite a bit thereafter. It's gonna be a staple!

Total Cost: $1.40 for the fat quarter (amortized) + $1 for the flange zippers. The rest was from stash (mine and other people's).

I didn't think I was going to be able to do this challenge at all because none of the colours fit anything I was sewing this month, and I didn't want to add anything new just to do the challenge. I had already planned to make this skirt as part of my 9-in-6 challenge, only with yellow flanges because I found a yellow zipper and I thought it would be fun.

Then I received my Sew Weekly swap package. The idea is that you are given the name of a person to whom you send a pattern and three sets of sewing notions, and then someone else sends you the same, and it's like Christmas in August. I got mine right before I set off to Sugar Beach. When I saw the big "Australia" on the outside envelope, I couldn't wait until later to find out what I got.

What was inside where a whole bunch of individually wrapped packages, secured with cute little stickers.


And inside those...

Three sets of buttons, two zippers, seam binding, and a culottes and blouse pattern. No note to tell me who it's from, sadly, so this is still a mysterious package. I'm not a fan of flouncy peplums, but I like that top with its more tailored style -- it would look good with this skirt, now that I think about it. That middle set of buttons is a really lovely and unusual colour, and the others fall in my beloved neutral palette. But the orange koi zipper and bindings? Score! I could do the flanges in ... koi.

Thank you mysterious Australian sewing person!

More skirt views:

I bought this pattern to make view B, but there was only one metre of this lovely gingham, so I went with the pencil skirt. I cut a straight size 12 and I'm delighted to say that it fits perfectly with no alterations. I have about a quarter of a metre left over.

I'm not completely sold on the pleats in front and the pockets feel kind of weird, but that could be due to a sewing thing on my part. I was concerned that it didn't taper in enough at the bottom, but a sit test convinced me to leave it, and I now think it looks fine. I like the fact that the lapped zipper and vent are part of the instructions, so I didn't have to look them up.

Inside, all the goodies I used: orange zipper and bias tape. I've never bound seams before, and clearly I can't sew in a straight line to save my soul. I have enough tape left over to unpick the waist facing and add some tape there, which would be a much cleaner finish.


The skirt is designed to finish above the knee, but skirts that hit just below the knee are more flattering on me, so I used Victory Patterns's bias binding tutorial to hem.

I love the hidden paper clips on the insert. They go with the whole secretary vibe.

I'll talk about putting in the flanges in my post on modifying the eyelet dress (which is still only half done because I'm avoiding hand-sewing). Mostly, I just like saying the word flange. Flanges on both sides!


And you know what? This is the only 9-in-6 challenge item that met the deadline! Yay me!