Alabama Chanin Reverse Applique Skirt - It's Finished

I finished my skirt a few weeks ago. It's beautiful and I love it. I can't wait to make another one.

I finished three of the panels pretty quickly. Then spring and summer happened and my sewing declined a bit. Especially during spring. But I so loved working on this skirt that I always found some time to sit and sew even if it was just an afternoon or evening for a couple of hours.

Sewing the waist band on was much easier than I thought it would be. Because I was a little uncertain about how difficult the waist band would be, I decided to use a cross stitch for my stretch stitch. It seemed like a stitch I could learn pretty easily, and frankly, I wanted to finish my skirt. My stitches aren't quite as uniform as I would like but I think they look good. I probably could have practiced the stitch more but I'm more of a jump in and work things out as I go along kind of girl. I figured I could always reverse sew if necessary. Which is exactly what I did with the panels.

 Once I had all the panels sewn together, the skirt was a little too big. I kept thinking it was as I was sewing it together but decided I would go ahead and sew all the panels together and then try it on.

I was right. It was too big. Especially in the waist. I wasn't quite sure what to do at that point. Do I take it apart and make each seam a little bigger? Will the stretch in the waist band take up the extra fabric in the waist?

So I called the Alabama Chanin Studio and talked with Olivia. Everyone is so wonderful there.

Olivia and I talked through a couple of different options and we both agreed having the skirt be too large is a better challenge to solve than it being too small. :) I ended up going with the option of taking out the seams for two of the panels and sewing them back together, making my seams a little bigger. That worked for me because most of the extra fabric was in the waist. And no, it isn't noticeable, which was the thought going through my head at the time.

Now I need a top to wear with it. That's my next project although I have ordered supplies and yardage for a few thousand projects I have floating in my head. I really can wear myself out sometimes.  I do plan to make the top out of a recycled t-shirt first just to make sure the sizing works for me. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Have a great week.