Meringue Skirt #1

        I was happy to receive the Colette Sewing Handbook for Christmas.  And, even happier when I read on Coletterie that  Erin of Miss Crayola Creepy and Sarah from Rhinestones and Telephones were doing a sew along.   It is a nice slow pace  - one design per month, even I should be able to keep up with that.  I really want to learn how to sew garments correctly and with patience.  This group should be a great opportunity to learn from others.  This will be my first sew along and I'm excited to be part of it.
       Project #1 is the Meringue Skirt.  The Meringue is fairly straightforward narrowish skirt that has a cute scalloped hem.  We were supposed to start with a muslin but I had some inexpensive yardage from Fabric Mart and wanted to make something that hopefully I can wear in the future.  I cut the size 12, taking about 1.5 inches off the length (mistake) as most patterns are long on me.  It sewed up quickly.  While the facing instructions seemed odd to me they worked perfectly and I learned a new technique.  I struggled a bit with the invisible zipper (its not invisible at the bottom) but I think that is because I don't have the invisible zipper foot for my machine.

 It looks pretty good from the back.
Strangely it is a bit tight across my belly but still a bit wide across the hips.  I'm thinking I might increase the waist by a tiny bit and decrease the hips.  I also think it is too short (my husband disagrees).  It should be wearable in the summer or maybe with tights in the fall.
My next version will be in denim.  I will make that 2.5 inches longer.

I am proud of how well the scallops turned out -
that was a new technique for me.

Also this was the first time I used the catchstitch to sew in a facing/hem.  I'm quite pleased with that too.  You can barely see the stitches when you look closely at the front.

Bottom line  - already I'm learning lots from both the book and from being part of this group.  I love how supportive and helpful the sewing community is in general.