Sewaholic Hollyburn #2

Summer sewing is drawing to a close for me.  I don't know exactly what happened but I woke up one day and decided I was more in the mood to sew a bomber jacket or button down shirt than a dress.  I'm squeezing in one more dress after this and then it's on to fall and winter sewing for me.

I originally used this print for a Sewaholic Saltspring dress.  Everybody else seems to love that pattern but when I finished it I was underwhelmed and have never worn it.  I think it was sewer error because it looks so great on other people.  I love this rayon challis fabric by Joel Dewberry so much that I ordered more and made a Sewaholic Hollyburn out of it instead.  I've made this skirt once before and every time I wear it I wonder why I don't have another. 

I like the tab detail with the button.

 

And I also like the style of the pockets.

 

 

I never used to like high-waisted styles but I've watched enough episodes of Call The Midwife on BBC that I think I need to be wearing them all the time. 

 

Earlier in the summer, my photographer (my 15 year old son) and I put more effort into staging shots.  Now we just drive around town, find a wall, and snap a few pictures in about 3 minutes. This time even the weeds and random wires didn't stop us.

 

 

I think we'll get our mojo back when fall sewing comes around.

 

 



Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt

 

This Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt is my favorite of the things I've made so far.  It was my first time sewing with rayon challis and I liked it so much I'll use it again. 

I used a stabilizer to keep the fabric from shifting during the sewing process and tried not to handle it too much. 

I also chose to underline (again) the skirt.  I need to buy a book on how to add linings.  If the pattern doesn't call for a lining then I don't know how to add one myself. 

Once again I had problems with picking the right size.  This is the first Sewaholic pattern I've sewn.  Based on my waist measurement I chose a 10 and tapered down to a 4 in the hips for my muslin.  The waist was huge so I sewed a straight 6 for my final product.  I could have tapered down in the hips since there is a lot of volume in the size 6 for me.  However, during the muslin phase I discovered that I had graded down right in the middle of the pocket and that complicated things.  Also, I think grading that far between sizes is probably too much.  I should have done another muslin but I was too lazy. 

I like the tabs and pockets!

This skirt was super easy to make. I used the serger to finish the seams.  It was my best job so far but still not as good as I'd like.  I just noticed there is a Crafty class on serging which I desperately need to sign up for.

I did a catchstich on the hem.  It's a big hem to sew by hand but I just like it so much better that way.