"New" skirt

We went to Spain last week for our children's spring break.  It was a lovely trip through the northwest countryside of Spain.  We decided to give our son a special trip for his 12th birthday.  He will only be at home a few more years, and my husband decided that while the kids still enjoy our company and before the teenage years we would give him the trip of his dreams.  He loves soccer, so we went to see his favorite soccer team,  Real Madrid, play in their home stadium.

I find it really difficult not to want something new to wear when taking a trip.  However, I had my pledge of buying no new clothing.  So, I dumped out my basket of knit fabrics and found two old t-shirts that my son has long outgrown and decided to make myself a skirt, a la Alabama Chanin.  I don't really know why we had two of his t-shirts of the same color, but lucky for me we did.  I used the short skirt pattern from her new book Alabama Studio Sewing and Design.  I didn't have quite the amount of fabric I needed, so it was shorter than I really wanted it, but I think it turned out well.  I used the grey t-shirt fabric for the top layer, and some white t-shirts that we were got free at a soccer game in DC from Geico.  I figured no one is going to know look at the lining fabric and see any of the print on the shirts.
Although I did not buy any clothing in Spain (although my husband bought me a locally woven scarf), I did buy some shoes.  Here are a pair of Visalis, which are incredibly comfortable.  Excuse the photo and my severe expression, my son, the budding fashion photographer is at school, so I took the best one I could using the timer.  The shirt I am wearing is one that I bought last year, again just before a trip, from a used clothing store here.  I am not so enamored of the color, I bought it mainly for the design which I thought I could copy.  I have yet to copy it, but...

I know that a few people have complained about the hems curling a bit on these skirts, so to stop that, I embroidered and beaded a border at the hem to give it a bit of interest.  I did most of the embroidery work in the plane on the way over, and in the car while we were there.

I love the designs from Nathalie Chanin.  They are comfortable, easy to wear, and really travel well.   They are easy to pack and look great.   Here I am on a street in Barcelona with my daughter.  We are both sporting our Alabama Chanin skirts that I made just before our trip.  

A Dress a Year?

I cut out this Alabama Chanin camisole dress sometime last year I believe, but maybe it was more than a year ago.  In any case it has been sitting a very long time.  I decided that I needed to finish it so I could wear it this spring.  I bought the new book, Alabama Studio Sewing and Design,  just a couple of months ago.  I think it is the best of the three.  Once I saw this book, I knew I had to finish my dress.  Nathalie has a lot of lovely photographs and a beautiful section on embellishing.  We have a wonderful bead shop in our town, so I went and bought some beads for embellishing.  

I beaded a Cretan Stitch on the neckline binding.  I am still debating about beading more around the neckline.  There is a lovely T-shirt  she shows in the book and online that is beaded around the neckline.  I am still debating, but may add more beads to have it look like the T-shirt.

I used a plain Cretan stitch on the sleeves.  Because I can only get buttonhole thread in white, black and sometimes red, I have found that if I use a Gutermann silk buttonhole thread I have access to a lot more color choices.  I love the silk thread, and it is fairly easy to sew with.  I find it does twist and tangle just a bit more than the cotton buttonhole, but I love the sheen it has.  I felled all the seams to the inside.  

I really like this dress, however, if I were to sew another one, I think I would sew it again with less flair in the skirt.  Overall, I am very happy with it, and will wear it when it gets nice and hot.