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The Colette Diaries – Ginger {Week 2}

This post is part of my Colette Diaries series. Feel free to check out my original Colette Diaries post for schedule and previous posts!

Time for Week 2 of my progress on the Colette Ginger skirt. The aim is to break these Colette patterns up into 6 posts over 6 weeks, but this pattern is so easy that honestly I’ll have to try and stretch things a bit. There’s only 6 steps total. The pattern is just so short and sweet!

 

Today, I assembled the waistband. When I cut the waistband pieces out, there was one segment that was cut on the fold (for the front of the skirt), and then the back panel, cut twice, which is where the zipper goes in the back.

When you sew the waistband together, one back panel is sewn to the front waistband on the left side, and the other back panel is sewn on the right side, making one long band. I can’t remember where I read this, but I did remember seeing somewhere in blogland that someone, with a similar figure to mine, had made the skirt, but the band ended up sort of ‘blousing’ away from their body. I especially kept this in mind when making that waistband panel. I tried the band on (covering my belly button area, since that is where is seems like the skirt sits), accounting for the seam allowance for the zipper in the back, and did notice that the band did indeed sort of leave my body, at the very top of the band. I suppose everyone is different and this would depend on your shape.

The picture above is of the right side of my waistband (the top of the band is at the top of the photo). The stitching on the right is my original stitch with the 5/8″ seam allowance. The stitching on the left is my adjusted stitch after trying the band on. I took it in a little bit at the top since that’s where the band started to go away from my body. So, I would just recommend trying the band on, before and after you attach the skirt, just to make sure you’ve got it right.

 

And this is my skirt with the front sewn to the two back panels at the sides. The band was a bit smaller than the seams at the top of the skirt (probably because I made those adjustments above), so I had to tweak it a tiny bit.

 

Skirt side seam with zig-zag finishing…bumpy. Boo!

 

Skirt side seam with French seam…smooth. Yay!

After I finished the side seams on my skirt, I zig-zagged to finish the seam in place of a serger. I’m not sure if it was because of the decor-weight fabric or just my sew job, but the zig-zag made the edges curl and look bumpy on the outside. Since I had to take in my skirt a small bit to match the seam on my waistband, I ripped out my zig-zag and instead made a French seam using this tutorial from Colette. I’m not sure if you can see the difference in the photographs, but it worked out perfectly…when I held it up around my waist, it looked clean and smooth. Plus, the seam was completely hidden.

 

The French Seam

So, as you can see, the first few steps of the pattern are incredibly easy. If you can sew a straight line, you can assemble the waistband and the skirt (before the zipper goes in). As with any garment, I think trying it on several (or in my case many) times during construction is key. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a clothing project and realizing that it’s too tight/big/wrong!

See you next week for some more progress…I’ll be adding some light blue piping to the top of the skirt.

3 thoughts on “The Colette Diaries – Ginger {Week 2}

  1. KristyLou says:

    I read about someone using the French Seam on a pillowcase. I sort of winged when I was making an outdoor tablecloth (http://kristylouscreations.blogspot.com/2011/07/outdoor-tablecloth.html). I really had to dig in my memory for how it was done. I did not want the edges of the tablecloth fraying after sitting out in all of the weather conditions. I loved it! I will be using it on a lot of different things now. So easy.

    Looks like your skirt is coming along nicely. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

  2. I’ve been back and forth about purchasing this pattern (and the Eclair after seeing yours). I’m excited to watch your progress with the Colette patterns. Very cool idea!

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