Fun Skirt

I had searched for straight shorter skirt that weren't made out of knit. The body con look is not for my hips but, I wanted more of a mini skirt look. I shopped for the better part of a year with no luck. I had a super basic solid skirt black skirt that was out of a rayon. I basically copied its construction. I love love love this bold zig zag Brandon Mably fabric. I had used it in my Mom's quilt and purposely purchased too much. I recently realized it was enough to wrap around my hips. I think that the high quality cotton fabric will be nice for the spring, summer and even the fall with tights. I like the brown & black paired with bright teal and orange. Yum!
Here's how I made it-
I took three measurements:
1.  H- Around the widest part of hips/ buttocks
2. W- Around the smallest part of waist or where you would like to wear your skirt (dont suck in if you want it to fit!)
3. L- Start at point you took measurement W, measure down as long as you would like your skirt to reach (if you are going much past your knees you will need to add in a slit into the hem.)
4. Cut a piece of skirt fabric H+2 x L+3
5. Hem bottom longest side 1 1/2 inch
6. Cut piece of Elastic 1 1/2 width x W-2(or 3 if you want it to have a tighter feel)
7. Cut piece of coordinating band fabric H+2 x 5
8. With a simple fold over 1/2 inch hem the band fabric along both of the longest sides, hem both sides to same side (this seam will show at the top of skirt).
9. Fold the band in half on the longest side, with hems to inside, sew along the fold with a 1/4 seam allowance, Creating finished binding
10. Tack elastic onto the inside of one end of band, make sure the elastic fits tightly into the binding pocket.
12. Take time to pin in the piece of skirt fabric making sure keep the raw edge of the fabric into the binding, matching up seams onto one side of binding.
13. Fold over binding and sew paying attention to outside seam, use piece of elastic to keep straight line. don't sew into the elastic (your just making a pocket over the elastic).
14. Find the unattached end of elastic in the binding pull tight and attach to end of binding.
15. Match ends of the binding and hem of skirt and sew 1/2 seam allowance
16. Roll over seam allowance and sew again (creates a more finished inside)
17. Turn right side out and ENJOY!
This skirt took me 45 minutes , including fabric brainstorming time at the beginning.
 I can't wait for this cool weather to move on and I can test it out!

Rainy Spring Day

Today was a rather cold gray spring day. I chose not to leave the house. Instead, I slept in, payed bills, did laundry, watched basketball and planned a graduation party for my hubby getting his Masters. I wanted to use this day to be crafty. I never get as much done as I want to but, I did put yellow edge on a few more granny squares. I love the first two rows that I put together way too early. There are other blocks I haven't even began, I generally don't move forward in my processes until the last task is finished. However, I always have multiple projects going on at once. I think that habit actually holds me back in creative exploration sometimes..I'll finish this someday!

I also found time today to make this skirt out of fabric I bought last summer. I had always pictured a skirt like this when I first laid eyes on this fabulous print. This fabric is way out of my general clothing color scheme. I tend to lean towards natural colors. for summer I will venture out of that box. I made it a bubble hem, It makes the hem look a little crazy in the photo. I used a heavier black fabric as the lining and cut it 5 inch shorter than the print.  The waist line band is cut from a super thick stretchy knit. I have used this black knit for multiple clothing applications, this was the last scrap. Looks like I might have to take a trip to Mary Jo's to get more. I look for any reason to go to Mary Jo's!

Yellow Summer Skirt

I have been wanting to make more clothes. I went through a phase in High School where I made clothes. I mostly made summery tops and a few skirts. One of the skirts I still wear and get many complements on. I think that is much simpler to make skirts than most think. I have a 4-paneled skirt that my great-aunt made years ago. I think it is most comfortable thing I own. I wanted to make more like it. I found this beautiful yellow poplin and decided it was destined for a skirt. I bought too much fabric of course and will have to decide on another item to make with it. I found simple instructions years ago to make a 6- paneled skirt. I had copied them down in my notes. I ended up making a template and cuting six from the poplin and six shorter ones for the lining (an old yellow bed sheet) and sewing them together. My waist measurements were a tad big so I added elastic waist band and gathered it mainly in the back so that the front would be smooth. I wanted to add pockets but totally forgot until it was all stitched together. I will make another soon, but with pockets. I have not hemmed the skirt yet. What do you think?