When Good Projects Go Bad

Months ago I bought Brett Bara's Sewing in a Straight Line, but I never sat down to make anything from it. This week seemed like the perfect time to whip up a quick springtime skirt, and the one-hour skirt seemed just about right.


Some kind of selective memory issue caused me to completely forget everything I've ever known about elastic-waisted skirts. It was probably in part to do with the fact that the model in the book is exceedingly thin and posed perfectly.


At any rate, two hours later, I found myself with this skirt.

A teensy bit too reminiscent of something I wore as a four year old. 


I'm sure that a darker, less flowery print would've toned down the childish vibe. And another 3-4 inches on the length would help tremendously. I'll admit that I was 1 inch short on fabric, but I decreased all the seam allowances to try to make up for it. Clearly, it didn't. And while I thought this fabric seemed like a very soft cotton, it keeps very stiff and doesn't fall in the way that the skirt in the book does.


But more than the fabric and the length, I was reminded of that wise old adage:


Elastic waists take no prisoners. 


Even if I decided to wear this out of the house, there's no way to style it. If I tuck my shirt in, I look like a chunky box wearing a poofy skirt. If I leave my shirt out, I look like I'm trying to smuggle something around my waist. 


And - a problem I had also forgotten about - the elastic has already folded over on itself in one part of the skirt, something that used to drive me crazy when I wore these types of things in elementary school.


So, it will likely go back into the fabric pile and come out again one day to be made into a pillow or a skirt or some child's garment. 


Tell me about one of your projects that went horribly awry. Please? 

Katie