The Great Pattern Review Sewing Bee - Round #1

I told you guys a while ago that I would be joining the Great Pattern Review Sewing Bee. The first challenge was to create an a-line skirt. There was much debate about what exactly made an a-line skirt and whether a waistband and yoke were the same thing. I opted to just make a classic a-line skirt, because I felt there would be no doubt that mine was really an a-line skirt. I'm a rule follower if nothing else. I decided on Burda 10-2011 because I loved the topstitching and pockets.

My name is Dawn, and I have the Crazy Eye. Yes, this is my skirt. I made it from a woven wool in my stash. It had a similar drape as wool crepe. I'm not sure what kind of weave it is. I really like how it turned out even though I was on the fence about making an a-line skirt. I usually wear more pencil skirts.

Yes, we still have snow. Yes, these are wool tights.

Yes, I still love these boots.







Duck lips cuz I'm, sexy like that.

Here is the lining. I used a silky fabric from JoAnn's. I like how it's calm and subtle on the outside and par-tay on the inside. 

I also used a sparkle knit fabric to finish the raw edge of the waistband facing.




Here is a close-up of the topstitching. I used a thick Gutterman topstitching thread in dark purple. You can see that I chnaged the pockets. I didn't like how angular the pockets were on the original, so I changed them to be a curved pocket. I think it goes better with the shape of the a-line silhouette.

























I'm curious baout how the contest committe is going to "cull the herd" as it were. It sounds like a percentage of the participants will move on and some will move forward to the next challenge. It will be interesting to see how this contest evolves. This is the first time PatternReview.com has done something like this. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be moving to the next round! Until they tell us, I have this nervous energy so I have been sewing, just not for me. I'll take pictures this weekend so you guys can see!