Weekend Sewing

I started this skirt project yesterday afternoon and finished it up this morning. I used the houndstooth corduroy I bought at the Fabric Depot sale last weekend. The pattern is Simplicity 2656. I made view D, not thinking it would be a mini skirt, but it ended up being pretty close. The finished length is about two inches above my knee. The pattern was straightforward and easy to follow, though that crazy yoke was sort of a pain to sew with the pockets and gathers and all. Speaking of pockets, I lined them with some of my leftover Small Susanna Liberty fabric. I like the contrast of the floral with the check. Once I saw this zipper at Bolt, I knew I had to buy it because it would be perfect to sew on the outside of the skirt.

PS Thanks Amy for the zipper/skirt inspiration!

Apples of My Eye

I finished my jacket this morning. I wanted to wear it about town, but it was pouring rain and I didn't want to have to wear another coat on top of it, so it stayed in the closet. This was my first Built by Wendy pattern and it was pretty easy to follow. I only made one alteration and it was to keep the sleeves a little bit longer. They are almost the same length as the body of the jacket and I think it looks more like a cape. One warning: there is a lot of topstitching with this project, so buy an extra spool of thread. I ended up having to use another spool that I had left over from a previous project. The color was just a little bit darker, but you can't really tell. I used my new Janome machine, which was fabulous. I had to get used to a few little quirks, but overall, I'm glad I made the purchase. My favorite features are the needle threader and the automatic buttonhole maker.