Filling in the gaps

Here I am in early Fall (or the last days of Summer) in a skirt that I started with intentions to wear on my beach vacation to Tulum in July. I am a procrastinator ya'll, but it doesn't matter because it is still hot here so I can wear my beachy skirt for a while. Besides, my priorities for vacation were in the right place and I finished three new swimsuits for that trip. I took photos of this skirt a couple of weeks ago wearing the same sad black t-shirt that I wore with my Flint pants. I finally forced myself to sew up some much needed knit tops, three in quick succession by the way.
 

Both of these pieces came together after some changes and fixes and make it work type scenarios. The skirt was intended to be a self drafted 1/4 circle skirt with a button placket down the front. That did not work. I went back to Joann for more of the rayon challis (those are always hidden amongst the poly in the silky prints fyi) and added another panel to make a 1/4 circle wrap skirt. It is a pretty easy diy. Just use a circle skirt calculator to draft a 1/4 circle skirt based on your measurements. For a wrap version you would add another half of that pattern. I made a seam so it is basically a full 1/4 circle skirt with another half of that added on. Then just a long waistband, long enough to wrap around and tie in front with a buttonhole on one side to slide the waistband through. Hem both edges and the bottom, attach your waistband and you are good to go. I however, had a crazy hard time trying to hem this thing. I either cut it way longer on the added piece, and or it grew by about a foot. I don't have a dress form so hemming anything uneven is really hard. That is why this never made it into my luggage and with me on vacation. I had to wait for my mom to help me straighten the hem out while I wore it. I really do need to invest in a dress form! I think this needs a belt loop on the center back to keep the waistband from traveling but otherwise I love it.
 

The top also was an adventure. I wanted a boxy, cropped top. I started with Simplicity 1366, which is designed for woven fabrics. I cut a size 12, straightened the side seams to make it more boxy and shortened it. I serged up side seams and shoulder seams and was in love with the fit. So excited. Then I went to add sleeve bands and sewed one on with the serged seam facing out, but only one. Cut both off and had huge, gaping armholes. I was so sad. My fix was to take the top way in under the armholes, angling out to meet the bottom of the side seam. It worked out pretty well and I still love this top. This gorgeous brick pink is my new neutral. I am happy with the outcome, but still want to make more tops hopefully without that "fix" needed. This was just what I was missing in my wardrobe, and I still need more tops.
  We spent last weekend in San Marcos visiting my parents and working on our 1976 Serro Scotty Camper. I am thinking about adding a link to photos of our progress if anyone is interested. The trailer lives there for now and we don't get there as often as I would like, but it is a great excuse for us to go visit them more often. I also spent a good portion of Saturday doing eco and indigo dyeing with my mom and will post photos of what I made soon.