Bend and Not Break

Happy Sunday afternoon to everyone!  Dad and Mom skipped town right after lunch because, as evidenced by Virginia's recent wild weather, it was snowing down south while it was monsooning here in Charlottesville.  Basketball's not the only thing experiencing March Madness...

I blog today with a heart full of joy because I have finished my very first piece of handmade apparel:  my reversible wrap skirt!  I had several ups and downs while making this skirt.  First and foremost, I consider myself a novice in the vast world of sewing.  I have read article after article and book after book about how to carry out multiple sewing techniques, such as gathering, inserting zippers, sewing buttonholes , etc. Some of you might have just said to yourselves, "Child's play!" but I have yet to try them out.  I suppose I should practice, but I really like to dive right into the project.

Anyway, my low point on this wrap skirt project came when I was turning the ties right-side-out.  Something so simple turned me into the frustrated, irritable R.-monster.  I broke down in tears, people.  Seriously.  That was last Saturday.  I have come a long way since then.  I just wanted to share that tidbit because while I love making things with my hands, sometimes I would like to strangle my projects in a world where they had necks.  I am proud to say, though, that I have conquered this wrap skirt, even though I wanted to finish it before March.  FYI, the pattern I used is called the Audrey Wrap Skirt by Fig Tree Quilts.  I was concerned that it wouldn't drape right or even worse, look like I was wearing a quilt as a skirt, but I'll let you be the judge of that.  

I'm sure most of you have figured out that I love polka dots.  And I love red.  So here we go, ta-da:

Quite possibly the coolest thing about Audrey is that she's a two-in-one skirt:  that's economical, eh? I was expecting to favor the polka dot print, but I fell in love with the blue floral 1930s print (from the Betty Dear collection, designed by Darlene Zimmerman), and its my favorite "side" of the skirt: