fish eyes

high fashion fabrics, houston's wonderful fabric store, has become my second home. the ladies who work there love me, and i could give you very specific directions to any type of fabric you could ask about. well, that is now at least.

back when i was still a complete beginner, i tried to sneak around the store hoping not to let on that i had no idea what i was looking at, even worse what i was looking for! i knew that a gathered skirt would be a simple enough place to start (inspired by a favorite skirt of mine), and selected a cute cotton called fish eyes.

luckily we were in the midst of nutcracker, and i had a number of talented seamstresses on hand for the next month. i learned from one of our great dressers how to make a pattern from my existing skirt. a little wrapping paper, pins, and careful cutting left me with the bones of my first skirt, and a pattern piece for replications. i was taught how to gather, attach a waistband, make a button hole, and make a nice hem with bias tape.

for my first go, i think it went rather well.