Paris Is Always A Good Idea

…except maybe when the Seine has burst its banks, the city has just had its worst snowfall for decades and all travel in/out/around the city is in chaos. But the Eurostar and Airbnb was all paid for, and I was damn well determined to go and have a good time. The snow boots were packed, and off we went – and it was fabulous! Lots of blog pictures were taken, lots of fabric shopping was done, and a good time was indeed had, despite the cold. And I found the BEST pair of mittens in a thrift shop that actually keep my always-cold hands toasty warm – something that I haven’t experienced in years so I am a very happy bunny.

Of course I just *had* to take advantage of all the beautiful architecture that Paris has going on, and I basically acted like some sort of diva strolling through the city with a photographer (the husbeast) following me around taking pictures ? So here’s the first (of many) Parisian photoshoots… a very non-patterned, non-crazy black skirt ?

I know, I know – ANOTHER plain solid item! Whatever has become of me?

It has a cool lining, I promise…

This is the Pulmu Skirt from Named Patterns, and it brought me several visits from the drama llama. My first attempt was to make the skirt from a tartan fabric, and have the front and back panels cut on the bias and the side panels on-grain. Just, y’know, for a bit of visual interest. Pieces were cut, sewn, and the skirt (minus the zip) was tried on in front of the mirror. Apart from looking crap (that ‘visual interest’ turned out to be an eyesore) nothing sat right and I ended up with all these ripples at the side of the skirt from cutting the panels on the bias – it stretched out all weird. So yeah, lesson learned on that one, and it went in the bin.

I started again, this time with a black corduroy. I cut all the pieces and stored them, as usual, in a plastic ziplock bag (this is the highest level of organisation and tidiness that features ANYWHERE in my life). We then went out for a bit, and upon coming home I found my nice Ziploc bag in shreds. Along with several of the pattern pieces (the traced ones, thankfully, not the originals) and even the poor cardboard pattern envelope got some attention in the form of a chunk out of its corner. Thanks, Leela. I know it’s Leela because she has this weird obsession with chewing all things paper and plastic and tissue. Especially snotty tissues, filthy animal. She may look cute, but she’s a sewing-pattern-chomping machine. She shows no mercy.

**she literally spends 95% of the winter months asleep under that blanket. The other 5% of her time is spent eating and pooping, and barking at the postman. Life’s necessities, obvs.**

So upon assessing the damage and retracing the half chewed pattern pieces (as I hadn’t yet traced the darts, and she had eaten that bit of the template), I set about sewing the skirt. Then I discovered she had also chewed a hole in one of the back fabric pieces as well – so had to cut another one of those. Thankfully I had spare fabric! I then set about marking the darts on all the pieces only to then realise that I’d cut two back lining pieces that were exactly the same, rather than mirrored. OH MY GOD THIS PROJECT IS ACTUALLY CURSED. I soldiered on, knowing that this was a Minerva Blogger make so I had to finish it., come hell or high water or further visits from the drama llama.

Overall, despite my bad choice of lining (SATIN IS SO SLIPPERY – WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF) and also despite the unexplained uneven hem lengths at the front and back (but only on one side – I have no idea why, and lost the will to fix them so I just left it wonky), and even more so despite dramas with the topstitching – I actually really like this skirt and will be making more.

Head on over to the full post here on the Minerva Crafts blog to read about the construction of the skirt, including:

• Dramas with the husbeast trying to install the eyelets in the belt
• Why you shouldn’t topstitch those side seams

I’ve upped my beret game since the last time you saw me wearing one – I spent a bit of time gawking at people (and probably creeping them out) on the Paris Metro when we were there for the weekend. So you could say I’ve learned from the pros. This beautiful bit of architecture you see here (I mean the building, not me) is the Hotel De Ville, which actually isn’t a hotel but a City Hall. It was damn windy and icy cold on the day we took these pics (the corner of the skirt is rebelliously flapping in the wind in most of these pics), but we just had to go with it as we had a lot to cram in the short time we were there.

Saying that, at the time of posting this ‘the Beast from the East’ has now been battering London with snow for a few days and with highs of zero (ha!) and lows of ‘feels like’ -12C, I can confirm that THIS IS COLDER AND THERE IS NO WAY THAT I WOULD STAND OUTSIDE WITHOUT GLOVES AND A COAT TO TAKE PICTURES RIGHT NOW. BIG. FAT. NOPE.

Coming up next week on the Wanderstitch blog… the lowdown on my fabric shopping in Paris! Lots and lots and lots of pictures of fabric, I promise (and some words, as well) ? Subscribe below to make sure you don’t miss out!  

SUBSCRIBE TO WANDERSTITCH

Enter your email address below to receive fabulous new posts direct to your inbox! No spam ever, just awesome sewing stuff for you to enjoy.

Email Address:

Yes please, I want to see more awesomeness

[shopr_shopthepost collection=”New-In!” title=”New items in the WanderStitch Studio store”]