The “Sandra Dee” skirt

The Theme
This week’s Sew Weekly theme was Musicals – Broadway or film.

The Facts

• Fabric: around 2 metres of bright pink denim, from my stash. No idea where I got it from or how much it cost me, so I’m going with ‘free’, and some scraps of fabric leftover from my Betsey Johnson shirt for the inside of the pocket
• Pattern: McCalls 3411
• Year: 1955
• Notions: 18cm dress zipper ($4), two vintage hooks and eyes
• Time to make: around 2.5 hours
• Will I wear it? Absolutely – it just went to Taupo and back with me and is destined to get a lot more use!
• Total cost: around $4



The Story

What can I say? Grease is the Word for me when it came to my inspiration this week! Remember that gorgeous scene where the girls are dancing around the tables, their full skirts and petticoats flying? Love it. And those jackets the Pink Ladies wore. And the wiggle skirts that Rizzo stalked around in. Yum yum yum!

Although I briefly toyed with the idea of a black wiggle dress (something that Rizzo would wear), or a Pink Lady bomber jacket, I’ve been wanting to make another circle skirt ever since I made my Hummingbird skirt – McCalls 3411 turned out to be so comfy and fun to wear, I needed to make it again! And then I dug this bright pink denim out from a forgotten corner of my fabric stash, and the rest was history. With various songs from Grease running through my head, I stitched this baby up!

(Oh yeah, and it nicely fits in with my spring colour palette too.)

The Verdict
Just like last time I made it, McCalls 3411 was a dream to make up. And a perfect fit, with no alterations necessary. Gotta love that.

Also like last time, I decided to make the pockets in a different fabric, both because the denim is a little bit too heavy and because I love having pockets lined in unexpected fabrics.

I’m debating whether to paint anything around the base. Steve thinks I should (after all, the hummingbird worked out rather well last time), but I’m still wavering between decoration or leaving it plain. What do you all reckon? Flowers, birds, or leave it alone?

The Photos
Steve and I have just gotten back from Taupo – we took Friday off work and headed up there for a long weekend. Bliss! The Sandra Dee skirt and I became good friends on this trip – I wore her on the drive to Taupo, and all around Taupo on Saturday. We stood out bright and colourful against the rainy grey sky. Steve got some photos around the place, so here’s me and Sandra Dee out and about, with a few notes about where we were. (The two photos above were taken near the lodge we were staying in – I love the pink flowers against the pink skirt, don’t you?) I’ll do a Taupo weekend post a bit later, if you’re interested in seeing more.



On the way to Taupo - sitting on the big corrugated iron gumboot at Taihape



At the Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area just outside Taupo. Bubbling mud pools, fumaroles, craters and steam.



Overlooking Huka Falls