Defeat and victory in skirtland

Unless you are my 22 month old niece, if I offer to make you a skirt, say no.


You don't have to be polite about it either. Really, it's for the best...

The skirt "prototype"

I'm not sure what compelled me to think that I could do it. It's a mystery to me. All I know is that a week ago I, without presentiment, asked my friend Becki to help me replicate a favorite skirt and bless her heart, she said yes. Three DAYS of nearly non-stop effort on the part of both of us and if you determine fashion by the wearability and beauty of a garment, let's just say it's we've got ourselves an epic fail. 

So what do you do with that? Was it all in vain? 


Reasons it was a waste of time...

Approximately 4,000 pins on this dumb zipper

Zippers - correctly sewing a zipper is perhaps one of the most frustrating endeavors of my life. Just as I thought one side of the invisible zipper was good, the other side would be horrible. I contemplated chucking the whole thing, such a mess.


Man-hours - My skirt would cost over $300 if Becki and I were paid minimum wage. I'm not sure it would get fifty cents at a garage sale. :*

"Hi, I'm Nate and I'm
the cutest conehead you'll ever see!"

I've given birth to ALL three of my OS in the time it took to make this simple A-line skirt. And at least during childbirth, I had a finished product. Yes, my OS were gooey and slippery. Nate even had a cone-head but overall I was pleased with the results...three lovely creations.  I'm not able to gloat about my skirt. I still haven't hand-sewn the waistband. The skirt and I need some space...


BUT, I refuse to say that it was a waste of time and here's why...

Becki and I on Day Two - optimistic 
and still speaking to each other!

Friendship - despite her own desire to sew, Becki pushed that aside and poured herself into my project. Who does that? She pinned and measured, explained and repeated countless times. She researched and investigated skirt making. She invited me into her home, she drove over to mine. She laughed and shared, commiserated and forged ahead. When I was literally flat on the ground from the emotional weight of the stupid invisible zipper not working again, Becki pressed on. 

A view from the carpet, that's Becki slaving away

On the third day of our skirt journey, I began taking pictures of the ceiling. I lay on the carpet, far from the skirt because I couldn't take it anymore. There Becki sat at the sewing machine. Gf faithfully yanked the stitches out of that blasted zipper again as I clicked away on my camera phone and went to my "happy place." 

Amazing grilled veggies and goat cheese on a bed of greens

And check this out, Becki even made us a delicious lunch of grilled veggies, goat cheese and salad greens. She was the epitome of being a friend and a teacher.


Hope - If left to my own resources, surely I would have scrapped this project.  Many Bible verses traveled in my brain during our time together. This one, James 1:2-4, resonated the most within me.


Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

A little cherry skirt that will spend more
time in the closet than on my person!

Perseverance finished its work. I collaborated with a person who cared and not just about the skirt but about me.  I may only wear this garment while cleaning the house. Yeah, it's janky, the waistband is awkward, the seams don't match perfectly but WE did it. And as stupid as this may seem/seam (a pun for people who love to sew), guess what? I think I'm going to do it AGAIN!