Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?

Well, orange you?*

Y'all, I made the most fun skirt I've ever owned.
Just a simple A-line, side-zipped cotton skirt, with a little rickrack trim.
And it makes me fantastically happy.

I found this yummy orange print at JoAnn on clearance for $2/yd.
Two dollars a yard!
I had spied it earlier in the season and thought it was cute, but I didn't think I "needed" it. Once it showed up on the clearance rack, though, I couldn't resist. This little skirt only used about a yard and a half. So I call it my $3 skirt (okay, okay, plus rickrack and a zipper - I guess that makes it my $6 skirt).

pattern: Sew What! Skirts, A-Line Skirt, Fitted Waist
This book doesn't really do "patterns" per se. She teaches you how to draw your own skirt patterns based on your own measurements and specifications. It is an awesome book. I first read about it here. I would highly, highly recommend this book for anyone even thinking about sewing a skirt. It was by far the simplest skirt effort I've made (I much prefer the size-zip to the back-zip of Sew U, though with Sew What! you can choose to do back-zip if you prefer. Basically, you can do anything you want.) I added the rickrack trim that the book shows on the "Singing the Blues" variation. I LOVE rickrack.
fabric: 100% cotton, orange print.
notions: black medium rickrack, black 7" zipper.
modifications: You can't really call anything a modification since the whole book is based on modifying everything to your personal fit and tastes. Still, after all was done, I did have to add darts to fit my waist a little better. In fact, I should probably go back and add a couple more. It's a tad loose (and I can't figure out why, since I thought I measured myself pretty accurately).
verdict: I LOVE this skirt. It is comfortable, cute, and a little bit sassy. I've gotten so many compliments on it that I just want to make more, more, more. The best compliment of all, though, came from My Old Man, when he declared it "perfect." Not bad for a few dollars and a couple of hours of work!

My original plan had been to embellish with an applique on one of the lower corners of the skirt (I've never really done applique). I cut a circle out of black fabric (about the size of a navel orange) and then cut a smaller half circle out of the orange fabric. I was going to applique the half circle on top of the black circle and then applique the black circle onto the skirt. But once My Old Man declared the skirt perfect as it was, I decided to stop there (I was a little nervous about my first applique attempt anyway). Now I'm having visions of maybe making an appliqued totebag with the black and orange fabric. In my head, it looks awesome. We'll see if I actually pull it off. (making totebags is kind of far down on my list right now since I have so many clothing items I want to make first)

Close-up of the rickrack.
I loooovvve rickrack.

So, there ya go. My first summery skirt. Can you tell I'm freakin' proud?


And now for something completely different.
Dude.
Look what I did.
Or, I should say, look what I had done.
Kind of by accident.

I went in for a pre-vacation trim.
I walked out two hours and a few inches later.

But I kind of like it.

*This is the punchline from the aforementioned knock-knock joke.
Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock-knock.
Who's there
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?