Skirting the Issue

I finished the waistband casing for the skirt yesterday. On the drive home from work, as I was pondering how to clean-finish the upper edge of the hem facing, I remembered a product I once bought from Clotilde’s catalogue: Seams Great. It is a bias-cut sheer nylon tricot that is wonderful for putting a Hong Kong Finish on one’s seam allowance.

I went to Clotilde’s website, and apparently Dritz is no longer making Seams Great in multiple colors. I drove to JoAnn’s intending to buy half a yard or so of tricot and cut a mess of bias strips, but apparently they no longer carry nylon tricot. So I bought a package of Seams Great in white and the remaining spool of narrow (1/4”) double-faced satin ribbon in dusty plum.



I spent five or ten minutes meticulously taping together the pattern sections from the tie skirt into two larger sections. I will trace around them, later, onto a fresh sheet of paper for future reference. And I may very well shorten these pieces and use them to cut out the upper portion of the tulle underskirt.



In the meantime, I’ve sorted through snippets of silk leftover from cutting out the skirt, thrown away (!) the pieces too small to use, secured the remnants in two sandwich bags for short-term storage, and put the bags into the bin which holds miscellaneous sewing stuff in my studio.

In my studio. Where they belong. [I know!!!]

The inevitable tidying-up as a project winds down, has begun. I put away all embroidery floss but the one strand needed to stitch the casing closed once I’ve inserted the elastic. Also the snaps leftover from the plaid skirt for Cuprit. In doing so, I noticed a small clear box had one of those click-erasers in it. I noticed this because I had just put away another one in the living room.

So I opened up that box to get it out and discovered the sheath which is supposed to hold my Ginghers shears when they are not in use, and the chatelaine for my tiny scissors; it has needed a new jump ring for at least two years (done). And a t@mp°n, which I gleefully threw away because I will never, ever need another one. And a half-used package of hooks and eyes, which are now residing with the snaps.

The jewelry-making supplies are put away, although I did pull out the small strand of amber-colored glass leaves and put them with the buttonhole twist to serve as inspiration. And to spur me to search more diligently for my tatting shuttle.

I cut out the hem facings while the tub filled, and they [along with the Seams Great] are in my work bag, ready for me to head out the door. I think it’s going to be a terrific day.