Crescent skirt!

The Crescent skirt is the second pattern offering from Sewaholic patterns, and I'm happy to report it was just as awesome to sew as the Pendrell blouse!   I thought about waiting for the sew-along, but I had time to sew and the Crescent was what I wanted to make.  I made View A, and consider my first attempt to be a "wearable muslin":   I wanted the waist to sit a little lower than the pattern intends, so I made a bigger size.  Because the narrowest part of my body is actually around the vicinity of my bottom rib, skirts worn at my true waist tend to ride up.  For some reason this doesn't happen with skirts that sit closer to the hip.

Now that it's finished, I can see that what I should have done is sew my proper size and take an inch or so off the top of the yoke.   On my version, the fullness starts a little low, and I can see (by pulling up the skirt to where it was meant to sit) that it is more flattering as designed.  That said, it is still a great skirt, and super comfortable.   I think I'm gonna make a lot of these!   One other thing I'll change for future versions is the length: I added an inch, but even so it was still barely long enough for my taste, hence the bias tape hem-job.   I wish I could have found some blue that matched my ribbon, as the orange I used is close-but-not-quite and it annoys me a little.

The fabric is just some I had lying around.   It's the same quilting cotton I used for the godets in this skirt.   I lined with a pale peach batiste, also leftover from another project.  The trim on the yoke is grosgrain ribbon, which I also used in lieu of twill tape for reinforcing the pocket edges as the pattern instructs.  And speaking of what the pattern instructs -- the instructions were great, and I learned several new tricks.  They were also very clear ... until I got to how the zipper and yoke facing were attached. There I got lost, and ended up doing it my usual way.  I'll be watching this step closely during the sew-along, to figure out how it is supposed to work.

Two things I love:  pockets and lens flare!

I love, love, love the pockets on this skirt, and I think they may sneak into other skirts and dresses I make in the future.  They're nice and roomy, and so easy to sew!  

I finished this last weekend, and my next project is well underway.  It's a knockoff of an Old Navy skirt my friend schmeebot and I both bought.  She wanted another one like it, Old Navy no longer has them, and I figured it would be easy to make one.   The basic shape of the skirt is not so different from the Crescent, so I used it as my starting point.  I'm hoping to finish it today.   I'll probably make one for myself too.

Finally ... I decided to take the plunge and buy zippers in bulk:

This is what 100 zippers looks like ...
sort of a bouquet of zippers.

I acquired these from Zipperstop (who also has an online store in addition to selling on eBay) in color assortments of the two sizes I use most: 7" to 8", and 14": 100 of each!  That should keep me in zips for a while.   The 7" and 8" group was only $9.95, so a HUGE savings over buying these in brick-and-mortar stores, as I have been doing.  (The 14-inchers were $32.)  And it's the same YKK zipper that my local fabric store carries.   I didn't get to pick the colors in the assortment, but I often don't care if my zipper (or my thread, for that matter) matches perfectly.

I've also picked up some vintage sewing notion lots on eBay recently, and at some point I'll share some of my favorite items.   Provided that someone else doesn't have their heart set on it, you can often pick up these lots for cheap, and they're like finding buried treasure.  It's a blast to sift though the box when it arrives!