Third bit from the right

[read Part 2]
I’m wrapping up this project in Part 3. I’m over it. Please, no scrolling straight down to the end to see the final product! I’m going to make you read every bit of what I went through.

Reinforcing the front pockets and back yoke

The fabric is stretchy and this can create problems in areas where you don’t want a garment to stretch. For the front pocket openings and the back yokes I sewed twill tape into the seams.

Inserting the zip

I hadn’t inserted a fly-front zip for a while. It’s not that hard to do but I found a great tutorial by Sandra Betzina to refresh my memory. She suggests you ignore the instructions in the pattern and follow her method. OK, why not?

After some faffing about, and replaying the video a few times, I got the zip in. I liked Sandra’s statement: ‘There are times when you’re a perfectionist and there are times not to be.’ Knowing when you can cut corners and when you need to be neat and accurate comes with experience.

A rant about all that top-stitching

I don’t mind doing a bit of the ol’ top-stitching. It’s pretty easy, especially when you stick with the same thread for the whole outfit. For this skirt, though, I used a light brown thread for the seams, and a dark brown buttonhole thread and dark brown normal thread on the bobbin for all the visible stitching. Which meant continually swapping the threads: stitch a seam, change the threads, top-stitch the seam, change the threads. Over and over. Should’ve borrowed Mum’s sewing machine and had two running side-by-side.

Buttonhole thread doesn’t behave; it’s a pain to get through a needle, it frays, it jams the machine, it looks ugly if you finish off with a bit of the usual back and forwards stitching; and to create a tidy look you have to hand sew every loose end back to the underside of the fabric and tie it off with the bobbin thread (a bit hard to explain, just take my word for it).

Some other stuff I did

• added a split to the back of the skirt
• used a twin needle for the first time in many, many years (to top-stitch the back pockets)
• sewed the belt loops on without too much drama (it’s often a chore to get them looking just right)
• bought a packet of jeans buttons and hammered one onto the waistband

Here’s what we all came for

It’s done. Could’ve finished it weeks ago if (a) I wasn’t blogging about it and stopping to take photos every 10 seconds, and (b) some clever elves with nimble fingers had come in during the night and done all the top-stitching for me.

By the way, I really like my brown suede boots. Have I told you that?