Sewing at a Standstill

The last few weeks have been pretty wild around here. Between my husband's birthday, Father's Day, last week of school for the kids, and a quick trip to Cooperstown, there has not been a lot of sewing going on.

But I did manage to eek out this pillowcase for my son...I got this great PacMan fabric on eBay. My son loves anything to do with video games, and his favorite color is lime green.




I also signed up for Fat Quarter Shop's mystery designer Block of the Month. I got the first block last week and made it right away. I fell in love with the colors scheme and I like getting "surprises" in the mail.



The only drawback for me is that I LOVE doing the blocks and then REALLY struggle with doing the borders and quilting. AKA...finishing.

What type of projects do you like to start, but have trouble finishing??

McCall's 5431 Skirt - Epic Fail

Dear Lord. How could I not have thought of all of this BEFORE I started cutting into my beautiful Denyse Schmidt 80's retro pink and grey plaid??

I should back up. I love wearing skirts in the summer. I wear A-line skirts the way lots of women wear khaki shorts. They are my every day staple. Of course, as a sewist, I love the idea of making skirts for myself with precious pieces from my stash. I buy TONS of skirt patterns...alas, I have not yet found the right pattern for me. Here's why.

I'm 5'4". I CANNOT carry a lot of fabric. That means flowy-ness OR length. I bought this McCall's pattern #5431 for $1 at Joann, so at least THAT didn't kill me. I was going to make version C, the shortest one, with no pockets. Looks to hit a hair below the knee....Perfect. 5'4" also means NO pockets for me. Too much fabric. I liked the fact that it said "quick". I liked that there was a zipper, this tends to mean the skirt will fit better. I should have known when I couldn't cut the front of the skirt without turning the fabric sideways that it would be TOO MUCH SKIRT.

But I neglected to look at the drawing closely...all of the versions are flowy. All of the women have stupid long legs. Unlike me. So I dove in, and took my precious 90 minutes of sewing time and made this...

Sweet Baby Jesus, where do I begin??? First of all, I ALWAYS get screwed up by the sizing. I made it a full size and half too big (yes, that's even MORE fabric). But it's a plaid, going crosswise, too. I put on the skirt, and I looked like the broad side of a barn. Much cursing and foot stomping ensued.

There is one saving grace to this mishap. The skirt has SO much fabric, I will easily be able to cut it up and use it in a quilt. That is only a little bit of solace. I am seriously, like 0-4 on my last few garment projects. What's a girl to do???

Would one of you be kind enough to recommend a good A-line skirt pattern for me??? This trial and error stinks.

On a cheerier note...my daughter walked with her Brownie troop last Monday in our local town's Memorial Day parade.

She is pretty tiny compared with a the other girls. They put her in the middle to even out the height on either side. But she makes up for it in spirit.

I may not be grateful for my sewing epic fail today, but I am most certainly grateful for my wonderful family, and yet another gorgeous New England weekend.