Pencil skirt

Don’t they say pride comes before a fall?

This was going to be a great little project. I was going to use a couple a Sandra Betzina’s techniques (underlining and mitring corners) to lift my humble pencil skirt project to something a little special.

 As I was sewing, I realised that the underlining technique Sandra describes is little different to the faux Hong Kong finish and is not really suitable for bulky fabrics (whereas the faux Hong Kong finish is). The seams joining the centre front and sides together stuck out like speed bumps from the bulk. It was at this point that I was going to throw it away. But sometimes I get a little stubborn and I decided I had nothing to lose. My solution was to topstitch the seams down.

Little did I know that by pressing ahead I was starting a chain reaction of thick seams and dodgy fixes. For example, the hem. It is machine sew because I did not think my hand stitches would hold.

The waistband was chucked because I thought it would be too bulky. Good thing too since it ended up being too small. I finished the edge with a strip of black cotton.

I wanted this to be a post of triumph, a story of little ol’ me battling the fabric giant and winning. Instead, I am stuck with a slightly bruised ego. Care to share your garments of woe with me so that I can feel better.