di, you'll never believe this

Look what I finished!


Not the whole skirt mind you - just the yoke but that took long enough. With the assistance of my lovely friend Di from Clementine's Shoes, I cut out the new yoke for this skirt (which I had bought at the Sacred Heart Mission op shop in East St Kilda - I remember the very moment) sometime previous to September 2007. That's more than eighteen months ago. Here's a bit of the pattern with, look, architect's handwriting.

I have many, many unfinished and unrealised projects on the go, mostly sewing ones because this is what I find most difficult to get around to. There's a bit of a list over in that right hand column labelled 'best intentions' but really, that's only partial. And all of these projects and ideas buzz around in my head as I try to find the time and sort out my priorities. It's not that I don't want to finish these projects (or get around to starting them in the first place), it's just that I have to attend to whatever is buzzing most loudly at any particular moment. Projects can buzz for (many) months until it's too unbearable to not to work on them. Sometimes just a little bit of work quiets them down again, other times they just have to be finished. Like this skirt. Finally.

Yesterday, after eighteen months of buzzing I just could not bear it any longer and voila, I finished it. Well, the sewing part at least - the yoke, the grosgrain waistband facing. I did some finishing today - the buttons, the crochet buttonband, the hook and eye, the press stud.

I am absolutely delighted with how this has turned out. A new skirt - hooray. And a whole heap of inspiration to keep sewing - I have already pinned up two other skirts that were just waiting for new waistbands in order for them to fit me. But really, thank goodness my clothing is 30 years out of date to begin with.