Round and Round

I'm sure it will look better on me than it does on the floor, but I just finished the crocheted edging of my Christmas snowflake skirt last night, and I pinned the skirt on my bed to shape the points. (I used a fine water mist and stainless steel pins, and I probably also will lightly starch the lace and then iron it this weekend.)

I bought the fabric for this skirt the year after we bought our house 16 years ago. At that time, my beloved Viking Husqvarna was in my bedroom, and so that's where I stacked all my sewing and quilting projects. (The 32-year-old sewing machine gave up the ghost in 2016.) My mother-in-law visited shortly thereafter (and her husband replaced all the storage shelves and hanging bars in all our closets) and pointed out the sun coming through my bedroom window while I was at work each day was going to fade the quilt on my bed, the wall quilt above the bed and all my projects within the sun's reach.

what we started out with

custom-built

much better now

I moved all my fabric into one of the new closet storage compartments (which it outgrew in just a couple of years or so!!!), and began closing the blinds during the day, a habit I still observe to this day. I didn't pay attention to what may have faded until I got ready to use each old thing. I had saved a couple of sheets to use on the backs of quilts, and one had suffered some pretty significant sun-bleaching when I pulled it out nearly five years ago! (Thankfully, the recipient of this particular quilt LOVED the mottled effect on the back! She said it gives the quilt so much more character!)

When I pulled out the white snowflake fabric last November to make the skirt I intended to wear all the way through the Christmas season, I discovered it had some extremely faded spots, too.

I went through my stash and found another few yards of whitish snowflake fabric, and I thought perhaps I could alternate panels in the handkerchief skirt I wanted to make.

When I sat down to begin cutting out the skirt panels, I realized I had more of the first fabric than I remembered buying. With a little bit of creative placement, I was able to cut out all eight pieces with minimal fade spots. Two of the eight panels have a bit of fading in them, but I put them in the back of the skirt, so who is going to notice, right? I then used the badly faded pieces for pockets (which are not included in the pattern but will come in so handy) and the waistband.

The second snowflake fabric went back into my stash, where it may stay for a while. I had ordered it years ago when it went on clearance (because I can almost never resist snowflake fabric), and when I pulled it out of the package, it kind of turned my stomach. I still don't really like it very much (because it almost looks like snow that got peed on!!!), so I'm glad I didn't have to use it in the skirt. (I may overdye it one day to make it more lovable.)

I finally got to begin crocheting the skirt edging last week while I burned off some much-needed vacation time by visiting my in-laws. We have no overhead lights in our living room or bedroom, so working on the skirt at my mother-in-law's was a tad easier. I could crochet when the sun came through the windows because I wasn't tied to my work computer all day, and I could crochet a bit in the evenings because there is adequate overhead light in two rooms at my in-law's.

That first round took about 15 hours!!! I was so happy when I reached the end! The second and third rounds took about 12 hours combined. So there is a significant bit of work in this creation that won't be worn until next November! But, it's done, and done is better than waiting to be finished in the closet!

This is why we block our thread crochet.

After I finished the first skirt panel of the third round (both the second and third rounds were designed in my head as I went), I thought of an idea I liked better. Rather than frog that segment, I decided to do the new pattern on the second segment, hoping I could come up with six more variations, forming a sort of patchwork crochet no one will ever notice when I wear the skirt. Onlookers will just see the lace. They won't study the design.

And I did come up with six more variations! This is what I do sometimes when I'm designing a crocheted snowflake. I just keep trying out new ideas as I go. But a snowflake is a lot more forgiving. It's a lot easier to rip out six points than it is to rip out an entire skirt edging!

I've already designed one snowflake based on the skirt edging. Now I have seven more ideas I can pursue in snowflake stitchery as well!

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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