Inspiration: Pretty, Pretty Peplums!

"Pretty Pretty Peplums" inspiration featuring a Modcloth striped dress and top and a Stop Staring dress

With the Cake Patterns Hummingbird Sew-Along humming along on day 2, it's time to cut my third Hummingbird top, and I was on the hunt for a little inspiration on what I might do differently this round. Man do I love a peplum...

You might guess I was leaning towards a dress version... maybe with stripes...

And I was. Until I remembered that my daughter's third birthday party is this weekend and I only have two actual sewing evenings before both my parents and my husband's mother and young cousin come to stay in our little apartment for several days...

So I think another top it is—probably View Blue, which has a deep wide neck, with a woven dickey and cuffs. (A little step towards making my first button-down shirt, but way less commitment!). Here's Steph's version for an example.

I'm doing mine in a nice chevron jersey from my recent trip to Mood:

And the dickey and cuffs in some scraps of sheerish black Swiss dot lawn from the Stash that Must Be Busted, left over from my self-drafted reversible shirred skirt:

I hope sheerness won't be an issue here... we shall see!

P.S. On another note, this just made my day. I have a bad case of laryngitis and have been very cranky about not being able to talk properly. I got home today and my husband had washed a recent fabric purchase (sorry, can't tell you what it's for! sssssssh!) and put it on my sewing cabinet with this little note:

So are you pro or anti-peplum?

DONE: Short striped & piped Hummingbird skirt (Cake Patterns #0289)

Until I made this skirt, I hadn't inserted an invisible zipper in EIGHT years. It's probably been just as long since I wore short skirts regularly, too—I got into a rut in 2005 when I decided all skirts MUST BE KNEE LENGTH.

But that is old news now because I LOVE my new Hummingbird Orange denim skirt AND I inserted the invisible zipper with no issues on the first try with help from a little video tutorial linked in the pattern.

But screw zippers. What I really love about this skirt is the fit. Which is, well, PERFECT.

And now that I have a perfect fitting woven skirt, it just emphasizes how ill-fitting most of my RTW woven skirts are—gaping at the back waist, droopy in the rear.

In fact, while wearing my Hummingbird peplum tops (and now the skirt) I've had a number of people spontaneously ask me "Did you lose weight?"

While the body image warrior in me wants to be cranky and ask why that should be a compliment, I do think it points to the perks of wearing well-fitting, flattering clothing. (And no, I haven't lost weight—in fact I've gained quite a bit thanks to oral steroids I had to take while I was ill. But thank you anyway.)

I also love:

• The smartphone-sized panel pockets, just right for my so-old-it-can't-run-any-apps first generation Apple iPod Touch. Of course I lined my Hummingbird Orange pockets in, well orange:
  
• My striped piped seams (try saying that five times fast)—they look like a dotted line! Yes I should have made them more even and no, I don't care. I cut 1 1/2" wide strips, pressed them in half, and basted them to one edge of the fabric (raw edges to raw edge) before stitching the seams:
  

Anyway, on to the juicy details:

The pattern: Cake Patterns Hummingbird Peplum Top and Straight Skirt 0289. (Disclosure: I draw illustrations and flats for Cake, but I don't get paid to sew, blog or otherwise promote Cake!)

Pattern Description: Hummingbird view "Orange" woven skirt with no gape panel pockets sized for smartphones, back zipper and simple straight waistband. Optional back flounce, aka Hummingbird "Pink". (There's also a knit top with sleeve and neckline variations and optional dickey and cuffs which I have made twice already.)

Pattern Sizing: Full hip sizes ranging from 35"-57", with waist size cut by actual size. I cut the size 40" with a 30" waist. (My full hips are 38.5" and my waist is 29").

There is a "fit check" step in the instructions where you baste the side seams to check and adjust fit, and I ended up taking in the waist by about 3/4" on each side (or 3" total), the hips about 1" (4" total) and the waistband about 3". This is mainly because I was working with a stretch woven—I think in a plain woven I would have taken out half that. After that, it fit PERFECTLY and I made no adjustments to the darts or anything else.

The skirt is designed for this side-seam adjustment, and can be taken in up to 1" on each piece (4" total) without distorting the pocket design. Here's a photo of me pinning the waist and hips in to fit—can you see the chalk and pins?

Fabric: All from the stash, aren't I a good girl?

• Dark pinstriped black stretch denim I've had since high school—less than a yard.
• Scraps of orange stretch cotton sateen for the pockets from a $1/yard FabricMart sale three years ago.
• Bits of gray and white cotton/lycra blend knit, $6/yard from Spandex House a long time ago (also used for panties and my Tiramisu test top).

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I added flat knit piping to the front and waist seams to create a dotted line effect. If the piping hadn't been so uncooperative and shifty I would have gone all out and done the pockets and side seams too, as in this lovely Milly skirt.

Wear for: Work (with flats or boots) or weekend (though maybe not going down a slide on the playground or riding a bike?) and definitely for a date with the husband.

Successes:

• My first invisible zipper in EIGHT years. Smooth and perfect!:
  
• First time attempting flat piping—it totally works, even though it's not perfectly even.
• Second waistband EVER. (I used a hook and eye closure).
• First time sewing with stretch wovens. I used a small zigzag stitch (1 mm wide, 2 mm long) for most seams to prevent popping.

References used (in addition to instructions of course):

• Marcy Tilton's The Easy Guide to Sewing Skirts. LOVE this very thorough book and the whole series.
• Claire Schaefer's High-Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers. For piping instructions.
• Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy. For tips on sewing with stretch wovens.
• Steph's invisible zipper video tutorial and straight waistband photo tutorial.

I can't wait to make my next pencil-style Hummingbird "Pink" with fancy back tailfeather flounce during the sewalong (join us! orange envelopes are in my House!), in a nubbly turquoise linen blend from ancient stash.

So, do you wear short skirts? How short is too short for work (or equivalent social settings?)

P.P.S. Notice the new red flats, after my agonized blog post on my search for bright and comfortable shoes? Little Z calls them my "Dorothy shoes!"

Hummingbird Sewalong: I'm Head of Rufous House! (June 17 - 27)

If you get an orange envelope in the mail, you've been sorted into my House!

It's pretty much no secret that I'm obsessed with the new Cake Patterns Hummingbird Separates—they were my favorite cover illustration to draw so far, and they are even more fun to sew and wear.

I've made the knit peplum top twice already (in B&W polka dot and an eye-searing bright print, and I'm almost done with my first Hummingbird skirt (in dark pinstriped denim with knit striped piping—will photograph this weekend as soon as I hem her up).

Naturally I jumped at the chance to be a Head of House (you get the reference, right? or are the hat and wand too subtle?), and I got Rufous—the orange envelope team.

The Hummingbird Sew-along starts June 17(days 1-5 for the top, days 6-10 for the skirt), and you can get your print or PDF patterns here, join the Flickr group for support and fitting help here, and find all the posts and blog badges here.

Here's a shipping update and more on the other distinguished Heads of House.

Let's get sewing! Are you in? The house with the most official Finished Hummingbird Objects when it's all done gets a lovely prize!