Tag: skirts

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Sewing Adventures – Pleated skirt

This is not from the stash of fabrics but the stash of unfinished objects of the sewing kind.

pink pleated skirt

I’ve previously made this fabric up into a dress. When I was cutting out the dress I also cut out a skirt. At the time I didn’t have enough fabric for a waistband out of the same fabric and had planned a contrast waistband. Anyway life happened and the skirt never got made. The dress however got worn a lot and faded really really quickly and was soon quite a lot paler.

When I found the cut out skirt I almost didn’t make it up, as I didn’t want the whole faded thing to be an issue. But it’s hot and I’m stashbusting so I thought a quick no nonsense style skirt might be handy in the summer? And if it only lasts the summer due to poor quality fabric then that’s ok too. I also wanted to try out the skirt portion of this Simplicity pattern as I really like it as a dress. You can see on the hem where I have allowed for the fading by using a paler pink thread. This way the fading won’t be so obvious this time round.

So after a quick sew I used a wide elastic for the waistband (hello 80’s style) and it was done. It’s good for kicking about and I may perhaps make this style of skirt again if I find appropriate fabric in the stash.

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Sewing Adventures

Well it seems I have gone from no skirts to a little bit of a skirt obsession (can 2 be an obsession? or is it more of a set?) I’ve gone from no skirts to 2 skirts in under a fortnight!

pattern runway skirt

This latest creation is based on Pattern Runway free skirt pattern and made up in some voile from a recent Spotlight purchase. It seems to be a popular fabric with it popping up on Top Notch and Sew Brunswick and a number of sewers on Instagram and Twitter seem to have scooped some up too.

First up the pattern, I made a few small adjustments. I didn’t bother with the side seam pockets. The fabric is very lightweight and I was worried if I had pockets and put something in them and then was riding on my bike to do messages that the stuff would either fall or or potentially damage the lightweight fabric.
I shortened the length by about 20cm, and it is now just below knee length. No the pattern isn’t giant, I’m just really short.
I added about 5cm width to the centre front and centre back of the skirt but not the waistbands or the lining.The fabric is so lovely and lightweight and the pattern so pretty that I thought a few extra gathers won’t matter. Plus with the voile lining had the potential to make the skirt slightly less transparent. I used white voile for the lining and cut the waistband in the white, interfaced that and then placed the coloured voile on top. This way I got the strength I needed but I didn’t ruin the coloured fabric by being able to see the interfacing through the waistband.
Sewing it was very simple, in fact the hardest thing was locating a new extra fine needle to go into the machine to ensure a nice sharp stitch. The elasticated back makes it very comfortable and has the added bonus of not needing to put in zip or buttons! I did a smaller double turn hem as I thought it would work better in the fine fabric.

I really like it and am already planning to make another version. The pattern is fabulous and I cannot recommend it enough, not only is it a cinch to sew it’s free! So fab!

Hope you all had a productive weekend of sewing too?

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Sewing Adventures

After last week’s musings on skirts I decided to jump right in and make one on the weekend.

green skirt layout

I had this pattern from one of those buy one get one free sales that Spotlight occasionally has. I had thought to make it up as a work skirt sometime?

The fabric is a vintage cotton with the pattern being printed on (including the green lines that appear to be the weave of the fabric, all printed!). I picked this up years ago at a thrift store and there was miles of it! So far I have made caps out it, dresses, this skirt and there is still heaps left. It is a great sturdy weight cotton and sews up a dream.

Now to the skirt. I omitted the waist tie as I thought this fabric would be too bulky for it to look good, and I added a contrast bind to the top edge instead of a self bind. Just for a bit of a pick me up on the duller green of the fabric. Fit wise the high waist takes some getting used to and the skirt is a bit too straight to be able to ride in (admittedly only an important factor if you ride your bike to work) but for general wearing is quite good.

One thing I didn’t factor in though? All my tops are prints! I have absolutely zero to wear with this skirt that doesn’t make me look like some kind of colour explosion (and  I mean more than I normally do).

So I’ll be keeping an eye out for something to match to this and in the meantime will also be keeping an eye out for other potential skirt patterns?

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Skirts

I’ve been thinking about skirts a bit lately.

skirts

1. elastic waist skirt  2. Green Pattern  3. Pattern knee length skirt  4. Gorman skirt

I’ve never been good with a skirt, as I kid I spent more time climbing fences and riding my bike that I just wore shorts all the time, a box pleated skirt for high school while a flattering uniform did little to endear me to them.

A few years back I fell in love with a denim skirt that I adored and spent most of the summer and part of the winter wearing. But apart from that, my forays into skirts seem to well, not work.

I’m short and have the legs of a cyclist so mini skirts are pretty much out and while knee length dresses look great when its a knee length skirt, I look well frumpy. All too short and wide and just odd proportions.

And yet I keep seeing them on girls in the street and photographs on the net and well, they just look so cool.

Can anyone suggest a pattern that might turn my relationship with skirts around?