by lareine

I have only really been sewing clothes for myself for the last two years, and I’m self-taught, so I don’t always understand why certain things are done in a particular way. My attitude was this: if I could take a shortcut or omit a step with no obvious repercussions, then why not do so?

Well, I learned my lesson about shortcuts with my first zippered skirt. I inserted the zip according to the instructions, but I was in a hurry and wanted to wear the skirt straight away, so I didn’t bother with the hook and eye at the top. How important could a hook and eye be? With great fanfare, I put on my new skirt and went out for dinner with my husband and a couple of friends to a local Mexican restaurant, which just happened to be up a set of stairs from the street. We enjoyed a delicious meal, I angled for and got some compliments on my newly-acquired sewing skills, and everybody was in good form when we paid up and left. I was the last of our group to exit and, as I was making my way down the stairs, I got the distinct feeling that something was not quite how it should be with regards to my waist area. As I stepped down from the bottom step to street level, there was a rustle of fabric and my skirt dropped straight off my hips and landed around my ankles.

I didn’t have any chance to grab at any part of the skirt before it reached the ground, and there was no graceful way to put it back on once it had made its descent, so all I could do was step out of it. Thankfully, this happened during a cold snap of winter weather and I had a knee-length coat on. Otherwise, my dignity would not have survived. As it was, I was laughing so hard that I drew attention to myself anyway, but at least I wasn’t standing on the street in my knickers! With head held high, I walked bare-legged to the car, and most people were none the wiser, but I was certainly very careful to hold my coat closed.

Needless to say, that was the last time I took a shortcut and didn’t use a proper fastener at a waistband. Zips are great, but sometimes they need a little enhancement to keep them from purring open at inopportune moments. No matter how tempting it may seem to leave out one little step – don’t!

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