On a Pretty Blue Skirt and a Bag to Match

Last week while waiting for the buttons for my overalls to arrive in the mail (I am VERY ready to be done with them), I decided it was time to use up some fabric I’ve had sitting around for awhile.

This print makes me unbelievably happy!

In order to keep the print going in one direction and to avoid having to do too much matching, I chose the gathered skirt from McCall 3829, which I had made once before. It's not exactly my favorite pattern since I have an aversion to gathering, but it is one that is really quick to make and it turned out to be perfect for this.    

Originally, when I bought it I had thought to make a dress, but I’m extremely glad that I didn’t because matching up the print on the fabric was quite a challenge and that was only for three seams! Overall, I think I spent more time on this skirt trying to make sure the print matched up or was even when I was ironing the waistband and hem.

I even managed to make it match on the lapped zipper!

Having made the skirt, I then realized that neither of the blue hued bags I had would go with it and since I was in such a sewing mood figured why not make a matching bag.

It’s been awhile since I’ve made a bag and as a result I went a little bit crazy with the embellishment using both bias tape and ric rac for the pockets, as well as adding a pocket with a flap (it still needs a red button).

I really love the way both the skirt and bag turned out and it was certainly nice to sew two things in a week! Now if only I could finish up those overalls...

♥♥♥