Lessons learned...

After 5 weeks of sewing lessons, my granddaughter finished her gored skirt.  We won't count the week she was more engrossed in what her brother was watching on the computer - she didn't get much done that evening.  Nor will we count the night her lesson followed an afternoon at the dentist to get her new braces put on. So really, it took her 3.5 evenings to complete the skirt.

Sewing the hem....the last step!



It was a good first project for a young girl.

 

 

I heard an audible gasp from Colette in the other room, as Reyna pranced through the house in her new skirt. I knew it was time to make something for her.  The next morning, I went through my limited fabric stash and found some fabric that my daughter and I had found at Nasty Goodwill. 

 

I should explain that regular Goodwill stores are a great place to find second hand stuff, but Nasty Goodwill is a veritable paradise of all things donated.  It's a distribution outlet where none of the merchandise is on shelves and the clothes are never hung or displayed.  Everything is piled in giant rolling carts/bins that you have to rifle through.  The clothes (sadly) are in the same shape as when YOU donated them: often soiled and torn and basically are just plain "nasty".  You never shower before you go there...women wear rubber gloves to sort through the bins and fight over items when a new cart is rolled in.  It's a riot...you just remember to take your hand sanitizer and for God's sake, don't ever touch your face while you're there!

 

But bargains abound at Nasty Goodwill.  I have found Talbot's Capri's, never worn dress shirts, cute jeans, tablecloths and fabric. And all for $.08 a pound!

 

I have a favorite knit top pattern that I decided to try to use on this NG fabric that I found

 several months ago. I knew I would need to cut it on the bias as it wasn't a knit.

 

 

And that I would have to find just the right stitch for the seams...

something that would have some give in it.

 

The fabric wasn't that hard to work up.  However when I tried it on, the crepe nature of the fabric cut on the bias did not lend itself very well to the long sleeves I had designed.  They were too tight and felt scratchy...not like the soft knits that I had used previously. I kept cutting them shorter and shorter until the top felt more comfortable.

 

I looked in the mirror at my top. Again, I thought I heard Colette sigh in the other room.

 

Okay, girlfriend, let's try it on YOU, I thought, and see what you think. Maybe it will look better on you!

 

 

Me: "What do you think, Colette?"

 

Colette is no dummy.

 

Colette, astutely: "It's okay, but have you forgotten that you and I look hideous in brown??"

 

Me: "Evidently so, 'cause I looked like my old maiden aunt in it. And you don't look muck better, hon."

 

Colette: "You better add some pink to this sucker and some accessories, cause I'm dying here!"

 

 

Not bad, Colette.

This is how we learn about sewing: Try a design or fabric and see if it works. I don't particularly like the fabric, but it was cheap and the finished top works with a pair of jeans.

 

Laurel. Nasty Goodwill is calling.  See ya!