How do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways...1...

I love the skirt from Simplicity 4599, an out of print wardrobe pattern. It is my favourite skirt of all time. You could say that it rocks my world. It has a lovely flowy A-line shape, falling from a waist hugging yoke. I have made this skirt at least 8 times, with many more versions to follow.

So when I was looking to create couple of quick, elegant and flattering skirts for the transition from winter into spring, I turned to S4599 and two lovely suiting fabrics that I purchased from Vogue Fabrics a while back. To the right, you can see the Theobroma and Harvest Weave suitings (as an aside, I love that Vogue Fabrics names their fabrics and creates a little story to go along with them in their swatch club). Both fabrics were a bit lightweight and a touch see-through, so I underlined each skirt with a toffee coloured silk gauze that I purchased from Timmel fabrics. The gauze not only beefed up the suiting fabric, but it also provided an interior to which the hems and seam allowances could be hand-tacked (leaving no unsightly stitch marks on the front of the garment).

Here I am on my way out the door this morning, heading off to work. I am wearing the skirt made of the Theobroma suiting (I will post about the other skirt as soon as I wear it). My top is a former dress that got the chop. I love the concept of a bias cut dress, however my arse does not. I decided I wasn't comfortable with how the bias fabric highlighted my ample rear, so I shortened the dress into a top because I still loved the fabric.

I took this photo with my new wireless remote control. I am still fiddling with it, but I seem to be getting the hang of it. Although my husband is more than happy to take pictures of me, it's nice that I can do my own when required.

Finally, I wanted to answer a few questions from the comments on the last few posts:

kiltsnquilts writes, "i am curious to know about your stats in the side bar - particularly the money earned and money spent bit - do you also find time to sew for others? Do you mind me asking? Or have you given yourself a budget and that is your tally?"
The tally I have in the right margin is related to my New Year's Resolution. In an effort to get off my duff more this year, I decided that for every hour I spend exercising, I earn $10 to spend on my hobby. If I don't exercise, I don't buy fabric and the like.

gwensews asks, "You were concerned about the polish which had no ingredients listed. If you wear base coat--does it matter what the polish contains that you wear on top? I am thinking the colored polish doesn't touch the nails. ????"
I must admit that I am only minimally concerned about the nastier ingredients in nail polish. However, I figure with all the "healthier" (big 3 free) polishes out there, why spend money on ones that could cause health issues. I do think you're right though, applying a less healthy polish over a base coat would lessen the health impacts, but I find that big 3 free products don't tend to play nice with big 3 full products, so I just avoid the whole problem and only buy the big 3 free stuff.

Maggie writes, "Shannon, just wondering if you try to coordinate your polish with your outfits?"
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but I do more than I don't. Did ya follow that? It really just depends on my mood and the amount of time I have for a manicure. My toes tend to stay one colour for a couple of weeks before a change, so I gravitate toward neutral colours for pedicures (although my neutrals are not everyone's neutrals - my toes are navy right now as I prefer dark colours on my toes - black, navy, dark purple). For my fingers, I switch things up every 1 to 3 days, so I can't always coordinate my clothes and my polish, but I try to as often as I can. I actually have a girl in my class that checks my nails each day and loves it when my nails match my clothes.