Saturday, August 4, 2012

So many scraps, what to do?????

How to make the skirts that I have in my shop on etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AthenasThreads
The bottom drawer of my dresser was full of wool and wool blends, left over from making pants or jackets for school.  Some of the wool was given to me through the years as well.  So....I needed a skirt for my uncle's funeral and decided to stay true to my Riva roots (which would please Uncle Harold) and make a skirt from scraps.  This had an added special-ness since my Aunt Donna taught me how to sew in 4-H when I was in 4th grade.

I cut strips of fabric, each 22 inches long and between 3 and 4.5 inches wide.  I made sure the strips followed the grain, a very important factor in the success of the skirt.

I serged the strips together, always starting 5/8 inch seam allowance and tapering to 3/8 inch within 3 inches of the top edge.  In other words, I just took a "smidge" off each strip at the waist, this helped with fitting later.

After I had sewn enough strips to go around me and with an overlap in the front, I was ready to fit the skirt.  I overlapped the front from hip bone to hip bone.  Putting the skirt on my dressform, wrong side out, I pinned the strips to taper at the waist, then stitched the strips as pinned.

Once the fit was correct, I layed out the skirt on a large piece of paper to trace the shape of the waist for a facing.  I traced the shape along the top of the skirt, then used my ruler to draw the pattern piece for the waist facing 3 inches wide.  I put interfacing on the wrong side of the facing. I sewed it to the waist, right sides together, understitching along the original seam.

I wanted fringe on the edge, so I sewed a line 1/2 inch from the edge of the skirt and pulled the threads loose.

I hemmed the skirt with hem tape and hand stitched the hem.


Finally, I put a snap on the inside overlap (right hip)  and two dress hooks on the upper overlap (left hip).

 


Voila!  A fitted pencil skirt, very professional and fun.

These skirts are being sold in my shop on etsy.   http://www.etsy.com/shop/AthenasThreads

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