Remember the stash-fabric/vintage-pattern trade I did a while back?  One of the vintage patterns in the trade has been on my to-sew list ever since!  I love the simple silhouette combined with interesting seam lines and built-in belt.  The illustration with checkered fabric cut on grain for the dress and on bias for the belt is so smart!  ("Smart" in the British sense of the word--stylish, nice-looking.)  It made me want to buy checked fabric and make it up just like the picture! 

I recently acquired a bunch of new fabric to play with.  While sorting it, I discovered some patterns already cut out but un-sewn.  One was a simple A-line skirt (McCall's 9398, from 1968).  The original seamstress had cut out the front and back panels (no facings, zippers, lining fabric, or waistband) in two different fabrics: dark gray and light gray.  At first I thought the fiber was an acrylic masquerading as wool, but since it bears a hot iron so well, I now think it's actually wool. 

I make the light gray skirt in one evening, using my serger and sewing machine, and some easy hand-sewing.  I don't have the McCall's directions, so I just put things together my own way.  I'm tagging this "stash busting" even though it's not my stash...! 

There seems to be infinite variety in the words people use for undergarments, so when talking about them, it's good to be clear.  For purpose of clarity, I'll explain the terms I use, before I continue.  Women's underwear for the nether regions, which fits close to the skin, is cut high at the joint of the thigh to the pelvis, and looks like a swimsuit bottom, goes by "underwear", "undies", "panties", or "underpants" in my dialect.  I think they might be called "knickers" in the UK.  Now, in America, "knickers" is not commonly used, and when it is, it has connotations of what the Brits might call plus-fours: baggy trousers gathered at the knee.  If it's clear that underwear is meant, "knickers" implies women's underwear with an element of bagginess or gathering, something more like granny-panties! 

This project was born of necessity: I have a skirt that needs just a little poof to display all its charms, so I need a crinoline.  The word "crinoline" comes from the Italian "crinolino", where "crino" is hair or horsehair and "lino" is linen.  Originally, crinolines were made from horsehair cloth, which was naturally very stiff.  However, the term crinoline can now be applied to any underskirt made of a stiff material that stands out from the legs.  This one is a synthetic net, which I had in my stash.