Getting Back Into My Dressmaking Groove

At long last I finally seem to be getting back to doing some dressmaking and it is about time too.  I made a couple of skirts last spring/summer and then apart from a few snoods, I stopped making anything.  I'm hoping that the same behaviour pattern does not recur this year.

At the very end of last month I made a pencil skirt and then after watching the GB Sewing Bee semi- final last week, I popped up to the sewing room to get started on my next dressmaking project.  This one was another skirt, but an A-line one this time, using a striking print in waxed cotton. 

I loved the luxurious colours in the fabric, which I picked up at a charity shop for a couple of pounds.  I think it is an African waxed cotton, which you see quite a lot of in East London, as many colourful traditional outfits are made with it and worn by African women when they attend church on a Sunday.  I have long admired some of the designs I have seen in some of the fabric shops. 

There was just enough of this fabric to make this skirt, which I have made before in several different fabrics.  It's an old and trusted favourite.  As I wanted the print running in a certain direction, I didn't lay the pattern out along the grain line, so I'm not sure what the consequences of this might be once it has been washed.  Matching the print was a bit tricky.  I was able to match it at the back reasonably well, by cutting the back pieces separately, and the front was one full piece, but at the sides it was harder as I didn't have enough extra fabric to play around with when laying out the pattern.  Regardless of this, I was quite happy with the outcome.  I am wearing it today for the first time, with some matching purple pumps I bought from Primark for walking the dog.  Here's a picture of the finished result. 

For my next project I think I need to step out of my comfort zone a little and make something I've never attempted before.   Not sure quite what yet.  I'll keep you posted.