Two Steps Forward...

What do you do with some old, raggedy, unfinished quilts a friend gave to you, that have been sitting up in an attic for twelve years? Maybe the picture below will give you a hint:

You guessed right! I'll be making the skirt of this pattern, which is a half circle skirt with hidden pockets. I'm sewing it for this fall, hoping to be taking two steps forward with all the sewing needs for the up coming months.

A lovely bolero jacket, cummerbund, and skirt
pattern from the 50s that Brigid got a while ago
that sadly is too small for her, but fits me!
However it is getting a bit on the small side,
but hopefully the roomy seam allowance will
help with that ;)

A bird's eye view of the cut out skirt and waistband

the back

the front

I haven't yet gotten around to mending a few holes, serging it, or cutting away the knots of frayed fabric threads at the back; but I will hopefully get back to it in a little while.

My initial idea for it is to be piped down the four seams that connect the skirt pieces and the waistband with white piping (hopefully homemade), and to have a muslin lining, and pockets made of the same; which I am hoping to get to after the main part is done, so as not to waste any good fabric in case the quilt part doesn't work out. 

One of the reasons for the uncertainty pertains to the amount of remakes I've attempted, that have sadly failed due to overall wrong design (being a young seamstress, I'm not to educated in what goes with what, if you know what I mean ;). I realize that this is not exactly a remake, but it is still recycling something we've had for a while, and typically projects like that don't really work with me. However I do keep on trying to remake, and through that I'll keep on learning, right? :)     

Do you ever have that feeling of excitement when you find treasure after treasure on or in something that was already really fun? Well, I sure did when I found four vintage feed sack prints on the quilts I'm using! My sister Brigid and I are pretty sure the material is from the 30s, 40s, and maybe even 50s! I took a few pictures of the feed sack prints that will be on my skirt (the fourth I didn't catch, but I'm almost absolute that it was an early thirties feed sack because of the thickness and coarseness of the material) to share with you all for possible future reference to all you vintage sewers/ collectors:

A pretty purple floral print (30s?) If there were more, I would
definitely make a 30s dress out of this!

50s?

I love this rose print!

A nice vintage voile I wanted to share. Too bad there isn't a few
yards of this for a possible 40s blouse...

I've been to a couple of vintage/antique stores that have real printed feed sacks from the 30s that are about 1-1.5 yards a sack, selling for around $5 a piece. I've been pretty hesitant on the sort of high price for such a low quantity of fabric; but because of the inspiration from the quilts, maybe next time I'll get a few. ;)

Do you like patchwork skirts?

TTFN,

The Little Whispering Birdy

P.S- I haven't been posting "Friday's Sweet Raindrops" lately due to lack of material and motivation. Please excuse the silence, and I will try to get up and running again next week, or as time allows!