Woohoo, I’ve completed my first challenge as part of the Summer Of No Pants.  This skirt came from a Simplicity pattern, #2214 albeit with a bit of a change.  I had a bit of a Goldilocks moment with this when I made up the version in white sheeting – I felt the ‘B’ view was a bit too short for me, but then the ‘A’ view seemed that bit too long… My first thought was to lengthen the yoke and bottom section by a couple of inches each, and then I was flicking through one of my new books, Get The Most From Your Sewing Machine and I lit upon an alternative idea, a ruffled bottom, except I decided to pleat mine.

The things I learned:

• next time, make the next size smaller – I figured with the gathered waist it wouldn’t make much difference, but I think it may bunch a bit much at the waist
• pleats take a long time to measure and pleat, especially when it’s 200″ worth of fabric!
• remember when calculating the length needed for the pleats to use the full length of the section of the skirt, not the folded length (doh!)
• don’t do the baste stitches in the ‘proper’ colour, use one of the 2 identical large spools of bright purple thread that I bought for no apparent reason several years ago, otherwise I’ll come within a foot or so of the end of the thread on the spool and have a complete panic that I won’t be able to complete it!
• when the pattern says 1/2″ twill tape, and they only have 1/4″ or 3/4″ on offer at Mandors, even if the 3/4″ will fit through the casing, it’s too bulky, so I’ll have to redo it with 10mm tape after a trip to Hobbycraft
• whilst the idea to use the double sided fusible interfacing to get the seam allowance out of the way is great in the casing and pleats, it’s not so great on the side seams, it’s a bit stiff, so overlocking is the way forward
• apparently my ironing skills need work on the final garment…

And now for the result – as there’s no-one to take a photo of me, Diana shall have to just pose nicely for me instead for these challenges: