Simplicity 2181 and my Hawaiian Skirt

You may remember this skirt - or not - it has been awhile.  It started out as a long XXL skirt that I bought at a garage sale.    It was part of my 2016 goal of completing all remaining UFO projects.

After taking in one of the panels to make it more my size, and changing the elastic, I still wasn't happy with it.  I tried it on a few times, hemmed and hawed in the mirror, and put it back on the hanger on the UFO wall.  Until one day when I was trying it on I thought, hey, how about making it shorter?  I quickly grabbed some elastic and tied it around my waist and starting pulling up the skirt to more of a knee length version and finally - success!  I even decided to go with a hi/lo hemline and I think it works.  Here is the final product along with Simplicity 2181 - made from a matching teal knit I had in the stash.

But I know, you are thinking "Hey, the skirt was just a plain batik one to start with". Of course the batik looked a little plain for me so I grabbed some coordinating striped fabric I had in the stash and started making some bias tape.  I had seen at some point in time a raw edge bias tape treatment and wanted to give that a try - so instead of folding the tape so it had two folded edges, I folded it in half and left one raw edge - that way when it's washed, the raw edge will fray a little bit causing an interesting effect.  Here's a close-up of the effect: 

Here you can see the bias tape as I was pinning it and experimenting. And, bonus, a little bag of matching yo-yo's that I had recently purchased at a quilt show.  The little yo-yo's matched perfectly and I ended up using all but two of them.  

Here you can see the hi/lo skirt action:

And another look at the bias tape treatment.  I used a triple zig-zag stitch to sew it on and I considered it a "bobbin waster" project, as I emptied about 10 bobbins with minimal thread on them in various colors stitching on the bias trim.

Stashbustin statistics:

Blouse - 1.5 yards
Bias trim - 1 yard

Total YTD = 70.41yards

Another UFO finished - PRICELESS!

Happy sewing everyone~!~
Star