Diamond Patterns, and A-line skirt

Listening: Red Stick Ramblers. These guys are freaking geniuses.

I'm hoping this is irritation from the dry weather and not, as I suspect it may be, an impending cold. I've felt like this for three days and it hasn't gotten better or worse, so I'll keep chugging tea and orange juice and taking vitamins and trying to get more sleep, and hope it works. I'm supposed to go to the Bayou City Art Festival this weekend and if I get sick, I'm going to be really annoyed.

I was hoping to talk Guy Friend into ropa vieja for dinner, too, and if I don't feel well enough for that, I'm going to be super, duper, double, triple, annoyed.

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I got through most of a quick sewing project last night. I thought I had thrown out the messy homemade newsprint pattern I used for my elastic-waist A-line skirt. I remember finding it and thinking I didn't need it any more since I had so many other, awesome-r, skirt patterns. I wasn't going to waste any more time on elastic-waist skirts, which are my girly equivalent of sweatpants.

Of course, I regretted it. Elastic-waist tube skirts are slightly easier (maybe. Actually, after last night, I'm not sure they are since you have to measure more and manage more fabric at once as you sew) but the A-line is more flattering and uses less fabric because the pockets can be cut from the triangles left alongside the skirt pieces. Doh!

The original pattern had a long and convoluted history. It started out as a commercial shift dress pattern that didn't really fit and got cut off at the waist to make a skirt. Then it got altered a little more to give the back more flare: The back was cut in two halves and the front was one, less-flared, piece. The waistband was cut in one with the skirt for awhile but it quickly became apparent that that was a ridiculous idea, and later waistbands were applied strips, like any sensible seamstress would do.

When I found the folder I discovered that--hooray!--I had been too lazy to peel all the tape off of the pattern so I could recycle it, but all I had was the back piece. I don't know where the pattern for the front half went. After mulling for awhile, I decided this was no big deal: I could just use the back for both halves.

I haven't actually measured it, but my guess is that it was just a long and impractical way to end up with a half-circle skirt. I'll provide a diagram and write out the procedure later. I'm a big fan of free online tutorials.

Meanwhile, I got out the blue roses calico last night and cut out two skirt halves, four in-seam pocket halves, and an outer waistband. The waistband lining was cut from scrap of another fabric; I think I don't recognize my own projects any more if they don't have a mismatched fabric somewhere. Having matching pockets is a bit of a splurge, but it can be done in this case because I could cut them from scrap instead of using up the last 1/3 yard of my skirt fabric. I love the fabric and would like to have some left over.

I got the side seams topstitched, the hem done, one of two rows of bias tape trim (brown; I'll do the maize yellow tonight) applied, and the waistband applied yesterday. I brought it with me to whipstitch the pocket edges today at lunch, and I'll do the yellow bias trim and waistband elastic tonight, hopefully. I want to wear it to the art festival this weekend, with brown boots and a denim jacket. Yeah. Provided I'm not holed up with chicken broth instead.

If it comes out like I think it will, I could easily add a big flounce along the bottom for a long prairie skirt.

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Also, because I am the world's biggest sewing dork, I've decided to give myself a sewing pattern brand name. I'm not actually starting a pattern company, I'm just naming my own patterns. Ha, ha.

This started because I file my patterns alphabetically by brand, then by number. Where do you put your own patterns? "H" for "homemade"? "M" for "mine"? "S" for "self-drafted"? Granted, it's not like I have so many that I couldn't find them, but giving yourself a private brand name is one (admittedly totally overkill) way to solve the problem.

And it's fun.

So, mine are Diamond patterns. Partly because I often name stuff after my dog and partly because it sounds like something an early-twentieth-century pattern company would have called itself.

I assured Amber Jean I wasn't going to go as far as designing pattern packets or anything, but she was not very enthusiastic about discouraging me in that respect. It does suggest some nice logo options, doesn't it? Hmm . . .