Today is the day! After nearly 2 years and countless tears my book is now available from Stash Publishing! Now you can wait a couple of weeks to get it from Amazon but then that's two weeks without a new, amazing skirt (you decide). But you can take a peek at the inside over at Amazon (read the beautiful forward by my dear sweet friend Heather Bailey).
I'm thrilled and oh so proud and wanted to start sharing a little bit of the inside scoop. First, the cover....
When I first saw this picture my heart nearly leaped out of my chest. I could not believe how hip, sleek, and sexy it was and when they picked this for the cover I was over-joyed. Dang, that's my name there.
Here is how that skirt started....a couple of little sketches combined into one big idea. This skirt is called the Take Ten Skirt and I named it that because I'm sure this skirt will take 10 pounds off the person who wears it (visually, not literally so call off the lawyers). The solid fabric on the side becomes negative space and the focus is on the narrow center panel. The Waist Trim pieces (the epaulet type attachments) are optional or you can do them all different colors or use different buttons or just about anything.
I've always wanted to make mommy skirts to match my girl skirt patterns and so I did! The nice thing is this skirt (The Apron Skirt), which was inspired by my Evelyn Apron Skirt, is really sleek around the waist instead of full and fluffy like the girls pattern so you get the cute, matching look without the added "girth" of an elastic waisted skirt. Nice. The skirt in the book is above the knees (the added ruffle is right about at the knee) but, as with all the skirts in my book, you can make it as long as you like (there are a multitude of cutting lines for different lengths).
This one (The Contrast Layer Skirt) turned out a little different than my original sketch and ended up being one of my very favorites (I'm buying boots just for this skirt). You can go absolutely crazy with all the different layers and put small ruffles in between each, or a small folded bias trim, or both (like I did here). Each layer only takes 1/2 yard of fabric so you can pull from smaller pieces in your stash and come up with something fun and lively.
I'm completely in love with this one (the Double Pleat Skirt). There are only two pleats in the back since I didn't want to add to much business back there. It's so sweet and spunky and the pleats are sharp and crisp. It reminds me of Catholic school (but I made this one too short to pass the "kneel so we can see if it touches the floor" test the nuns liked to use). Like all the skirts in my book, this one can easily be lengthened if you're like me want to hide your winter legs (and it's got belt loops!)
I've started a Flickr group so please come join and when you make a skirt from the book post a picture so we can all see and be impressed! Thanks! I'll post more pictures soon and share a little more of the process (the good, the bad, and the....well it's all pretty so nevermind!).
