I finally get to place the decorative waistband, which is something I have been looking forward to very much. There isn’t a how-to guide for something like this; it just takes some strategic placing and a lot of creativity. To do this, I placed the skirt onto the dress form inside out so the band could be properly pinned to the garment.

After making a few adjustments to the waistband and then trying the garment on, I stay-stitched the band into place. I don’t believe that this was an absolutely necessary step but I didn’t want it to slip out of place (better safe than sorry!).

Normally, I would opt for a machine stitch but the fabric overlapped a few times in the ruffle, which made it extremely thick. My fear was that I would break the machine needle. So, I decided on a simple hand stitch. I am very pleased with how it turned out:

Once the band was stitched into place and the pins were removed, I started to work on finishing the inside of the band. The fabric (as you can see) frays terribly. So, I wanted to use a finishing stitch on the machine to prevent further fraying. Big mistake! My initial fear about using a machine stitch was correct. I broke the needle. Stupidity or a right of passage? I’ll go with a right of passage. I decided to give it a rest for the night after the needle deal breaker…

Tonight, episode 2 of the new season of Project Runway. Can’t wait!!

It’s been quite the productive day. I went ahead with the dart placement on the pencil skirt. The darts, in my opinion, were falling too low. So, I decided to take in the side seams a bit to lessen the fabric in the midsections. I’m much much happier with where the darts fall now. Time to sew!

After sewing the side seams and darts into place, I went ahead and cut away some of the excess fabric and did a finishing stitch on the side seams. The fabric that I am using is linen and it frays terribly! Usually, I would wait until the garment was complete to finish the seams but I felt this was necessary step so the fabric wouldn’t fray too much.

At this point, I tried the skirt on. The fit is spectacular! You’ll never have a better fitting garment than one that is tailor made to your measurements. The only thing that I would like to change is the darts. They need to come down just a few more stitches for a smoother look.

I was able to get started on the waistbands today as well (hence the productivity ☺). After attaching the standard waistband pieces together, I pinned them to the skirt only to find that the seams on the band did not match up with the seams on the skirt. I reattached the band pieces together taking them in enough to match the skirt seams. After stay-stitching it in place, I attached the decorative waistband pieces. I’m really excited about this part because, up until now, this has been a simple skirt making process. Now, I get to add an extra dose of creativity!

On another note, I did some serious sketching last night. After the season premiere of Project Runway topped off with a dose of the Rachael Zoe Project, I was feeling inspired. I’m obsessed (like most of you are) with the red carpet. Gowns are my favorite things in the world to design. My dream would be to see my dresses on Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and especially Anne Hathaway – the old Hollywood glamor girls of today. Once I start to work on these dresses, I will post the sketches.

After tweaking the darts a bit, I finally got them into place. Continuing on from yesterday, I stay-stitched the skirt panels and darts into place and removed the pins so I could try it on (pins = OUCH). LOVE the fit. Working with an adjustable dress form definitely helps when tailoring a garment to your own measurements.

Next task – drafting the waistband. After some consideration, I decided on a thin standard-looking waistband below the decorative ruffle waistband, which steps away from the original design a little but helps to streamline the look and add functionality.

Drafting the waistbands was fairly easy since both required a rectangular shape. I took the waist measurement and added a 5/8 seam allowance with enough width to fold for the standard waistband. The decorative waistband required more length in order to create the “ruffle”. It also needed a greater width for a more dramatic effect.

After cutting the patterns from Muslin, I started to stay-stitch the bands into place. Small folds were added to the fabric at certain points on the decorative band to create the ruffles. Once the bands are attached, I will be able to determine if any alterations needed to be made to the patterns.