No matter where you live . . .

There's no place like home! We arrived home pretty late last night, but we're here safe, sound and happy. Thank you all for your well wishes!

While I was away, I worked on a variety of projects, with some being in the planning stages, and others being actively worked on. I did get some more work done on Waiting for a Dress, and I'll update you on that tomorrow, but today I'll show you the Knipmode skirt I made.

No trip is complete without a stop at a fabric store. I had some major plan changes on the dress, so I needed to find some crystal organza. Not a problem, while in Georgia my parents were kind enough to take me to a Hancock's. While I found everything I needed there, I also found the fabric for the skirt. When I saw it, I knew it would make a great skirt - nothing fancy because of the print. I also knew that I had the perfect pattern in my craft container. Isabelle thoughtfully sent me a copy of Knipmode's May issue, and it had a special insert that featured a 7 piece wardrobe which included the perfect skirt.

This is a very basic box pleated skirt, with 2 pieces, a front/back yoke and a front/back lower skirt. I thought this would be a good pattern to try with an unfamiliar pattern company whose instructions are printed only in Dutch. I cut out a 36 according to Knipmode's charts, but I probably could have cut the skirt a size smaller than I did though the yoke, as it's a bit loose. At any rate, the skirt yokes have topstitching, and since the skirt is unlined, I finished off the zipper with binding as you can see below. My skirt is also a bit shorter than the original - my mother agreed that the shorter length looked better.

The only major problem I had was that the pattern calls for 54"/60" wide fabric, and I only had 45" wide. I had to cut the lower skirt in panels (remember that picture from about a week or 2 ago with the skirt in pieces on the dining room table?) to get the correct width of fabric. I was able to hide the seams at the edges of the outer most pleats - with such a busy, large print, you'd really have to look to see the extra panels.

Really, I'm not waving at you. I'm still trying to teach the Jr. photographers that cutting off mommy's head in a photo is not a good idea. I'm trying to get my daughter to frame up the photo so there's more space above my head, and not below my feet.

I wore the outfit to church this morning, and I even had the right earrings to complete the look:

Parting Shots: I've been gone for 2 1/2 weeks and it's amazing how much the plants have grown. Here's my entry way (remember the snow that was in there this winter?):

A close-up of the orange lilies:

Last but not least, you'll have to look closely at this one. Those orange lilies are almost as tall as I am. If you look in the glass pane, you'll see a reflection of me taking the picture next to the lilies.