Friday, October 1, 2010

Inspired by a friend

I've been a fairly unspired sewist lately. No question, I've been turning out the work, but it's been focused mainly on the December craft show in my neighborhood, projects that I can do without thinking too hard, and after a while, I stopped thinking well about sewing.

The other night, I went into the workroom and pulled out the half dozen bags I had decided to finish off. I looked at them, picked them up, and put them on the other table, pulled out my TNT BWOF pants pattern and grabbed a black RPL off the stash shelf. By the end of the night, I had a new pair of pants, and I felt so much better.

Back story on that project: last week, I wore my old pair of black TNT pants. They were made for the Patternreview Wardrobe Contest in spring 2008, so they're well over 2 years old. Black stretch twill isn't meant to be worn and washed weekly; it ceases to be quite black, and its stretch gets a little inconsistent. I was miserable in those pants all day, and when I came home from work, I took them off and threw them away.

Mario was a little mystified, throwing away what he thought were perfectly good pants (perfectly good meaning no obvious holes and I could still zip them). I told him there was no way I would ever make a replacement pair when I still had those in the closet, so they had to go.

And now I've replaced them. Yay me!

And now for the inspiration of the title. Andrea wore this skirt to work today. She says she's had it for well over 10 years (though it doesn't look like it), and I think she said it was either Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters.

I. Must. Have. This. Skirt.

And short of sending her home from work in her drawers (which I did threaten), I have to make my own. I have a BWOF TNT skirt pattern (ever notice how the words "BWOF" and "TNT" end up side-by-side?) that will work really well for this skirt. I took these photos of her skirt during lunch, and spent the rest of my hour drawing out the pattern, then spent a little quality time with the photocopier until I got it to the right size to transfer to my skirt fabric.

I didn't get any further on the project tonight because we had plans, and by the time we got in, I was beat. It was a long week, and even coffee couldn't wake up my mojo. I'll let it sleep, and tomorrow, we'll focus on that skirt.

7 comments:

Cassie said...

Ok I give up... what does TNT stand for?

Cute skirt btw :) I especially love the lace edging and colours. Not a big fan of the embroidery though.

meredithp said...

@Cassie TNT = Tried and True; A pattern that has been made multiple times and can be counted on to provide a successful garment (especially fitting).

Karen, that's a great skirt. What are the 3D flowers? Are they buttons, or soft, or? Gives me ideas for my embroidery machine!

KID, MD said...

That is an AMAZING skirt!! I can't wait to see your copy.

Anonymous said...

A Fantastic skirt,love it!

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

First I can't believe that you sketched it out and then stood at the copier to get the sizing right...can we say jealous that you had that kinda time at work! *LOL*

and are you going to add the crocheted edge to the bottom of the skirt? What fabric are you using? Can you tell I'm fascinated by this process! *LOL*

Gail said...

Beautiful skirt, worthy of copying.

Annette said...

What a great skirt - I can't wait to see what you do with the idea. BTW, it would be great for European travel - you'll fit well with the stylish European women.