Amanda vs Simplicity 2451

Some ladies love silks. Some ladies like satins. This lady loves her some upholstery fabrics. What can I say, I'm a lady of class and sophistication and I think my sewing record supports this. Let's take a look, shall we? 

Shorts made out of a curtain? Check! 
Picnic blanket skirt? Check!
Cool tulip skirt made out of couch fabric? Check!

Yup. Couch fabric. In fact, SASSY couch fabric! I picked this pink and white chevron up at B&J Fabrics in New York for an absolute steal. As soon as I walked through the door I beelined for it (hello, pink and white and chunky is totes my kryptonite) and got two yards. Unfortunately, the white threads woven through to create the chevron were lame and created a number of flaws in the cloth so I ended up getting four yards at a discount so I could cut around the issues. Win!

It's time for some real talk about this fabric. Don't get me wrong, I do love it so and it looks fab finished up but getting there was painful. You see, gentle readers, some fabrics are jerks. You have lovely fabrics like cotton and jerseys that want to make your day easier. But then there are the jerks like silk and slubbed couch fabric that go out of their way to make your life a living hell. And that's what this was. Those white threads that create the chevrons were committed to slipping out of the weave and ending up on my lap, the floor, the table, my machine and even at one stage on Bimble's back. Yup. Those threads wanted out so bad they fled to my dog. That's commitment to making my sewing life hard, I tell you! In the end I serged the edges of every piece to make life easier and it worked. Suck on that, cloth! Amanda: 1 Upholstery Fabric: 0 

And let us celebrate this victory with the inclusion of the most hilarious photo I have ever been in. What the heck is up with this face? I call it "blue steel"...

BWAH HA HA! That seriously cracks me up. But I digress. 
Let's talk about what I liked about this pattern:

• The slash pockets. I really love how nicely they turned out. Especially when you consider I didn't deliberately match any prints. Lazy win!
• How quick and simple this project was! All up this was a couple of hours with most of the time being taken with cutting the fabric and correcting a reversed zipper issue. Booyah!
• The pleats. I was super sceptical about these but I really like the way they sit. A little bit of floof but not in a "I've just eaten 17 loaves of bread and now have bread belly" way.

What I would improve for next time:

• I'm going to take the waistband in by an inch. It's sitting okay but I would like to have it fit a little smoother.
• If I make a work version I'll add another inch to the length. As it is I already added two inches to the length to get what I have now. I'm thinking this must be quite a short skirt normally... Or maybe I am totes an amazon... Scratch the first idea- amazon it is!

For once I have no idea what I'm sewing next... Crazy, I know! I'm off on a whirlwind visit to Melbourne tomorrow for the Harvest Festival on Saturday. And you know what that means? Fabric, husband time and cocktails. Epic. Win. This gal is jumping for joy!

(My lame puns are why you come back here, it's okay to admit it) ;)