Cherry Meringue skirt with Candy Cane Taffy Blouse

What a yummy description, right?  While I am sure those flavors more than likely wouldn't go together, the  skirt and blouse- do!  I finished both of these garments right after I got  the Colette's Sewing Handbook in November, but was a little slow on posting at the end  of the year.   Anyone who wants to learn sewing or even hone their skills should pick this  book up!  The 5 patterns included are all gorgeous and the instructions and encouragement  provided by Sarai Mitnick the author and proprietress of Colette's patterns makes the book  a steal!    Now about the skirt... the material is a bottom weight cotton poplin which was a breeze to sew.   I don't want to give away the extra tips that Sarai provided in the book, but I will tell you that I  used her methods for sewing the invisible zipper and for getting the best finish on scallop bottom  and they both came out lovely.  The invisible zipper is the best I have installed to-date and this task which always disappointed me and made my garments look less finished is now a breeze!  For the Taffy blouse, I made the bias tape for the finish using the continuous bias tape method  for the first time.  I will definitely be using that again!  I wasn't as even with cutting my strips as I would like to have been but once ironed and sewn onto the garment - you really wouldn't know.  Cutting the Chiffon was an absolute nightmare and I was almost afraid the shapes I was left with at the end would not fit but I managed to make them work, and a few days later Sunni from a Fashionable Stitch came out with this great tip for cutting these types of garment.  I am extremely please with the way both of these turned out and hope to make each of them in different color combinations at a later date!