Category: skirts

Remember the scalloped skirt that I started working on the other day?

I’ve just finished it, and I’m really pleased!

(Please excuse the gormless squinty face – that’s the first time I’ve used the self-timer on the camera, and I couldn’t tell when it had taken the picture!)

Ta-daa! Two views of the same skirt. This is the first garment that I’ve made from the Bishopston fabrics, in Raspberry and Wine.

It’s bagged out at the scalloped hem, so there are no seams at all on the outside. This makes it conveniently reversible, for two skirts in one! It also holds the two layers neatly together, so they can’t slip about or ride up. As with all of my skirts, it’s elasticated at the waist for comfort.

Now, if I can just work out how to put pockets in the side seams of a reversible skirt, I’ll be very happy indeed.

As soon as I’ve asked Paul to take some photos of me looking slightly less confused, I’ll be adding this one to the shop. (Not this one – this one’s mine. But you’ll be able to order one in your size, in any of the Bishopston colours.)

I’ve been wanting to make some kind of a scalloped skirt for ages.

I bought this reproduction vintage Butterick pattern a few years ago:

I never got around to making it, because the tutor on the only sewing course I’ve ever taken deemed it unsuitable for a beginner. I’d already cut out the pattern though, and by the time I felt as though I wasn’t a beginner any more, it was several sizes too small. Eventually I’ll fiddle about with it so that I can make it in my size, but for now, I’m happy to be inspired by the scallops at the waist.

Then last week I saw this amazing Rob Ryan skirt from Clothkits.

Remember Clothkits? The ones with the seventies-style matching mother and daughter dresses, and the little dolls? Well, they’ve recently undergone the most amazing transformation, and their website has some amazingly cute clothes and dolls to sew!

I was showing this skirt to Paul, and he asked whether you were supposed to cut it out “all wiggly” at the hem. Well, I guess you’re not supposed to, but what’s stopping you?

I’ve been wanting to make a fully lined and completely reversible skirt for ages. It suddenly struck me that a skirt with a scalloped hem would be absolutely ideal for this. You have to join the two layers together at the bottom to make the scallops, so you immediately get a fully lined skirt. All you have to do is be neat and tidy about adding an elasticated waistband (have you any idea how difficult it is to buy a reversible zip?), and you magically have two skirts for the price of one!

I traced out my elasticated skirt pattern in my size, and set about adding the scallops to the hem.

As you may have noticed, I am not a mathematician. I used to be pretty good at technical drawing, but this ability with a pencil and compass appears to have deserted me, as it took five attempts to draw out the scallops to the right size!

Over the weekend I plan to make a first draft of this skirt, and see how it turns out. If it goes well, I have plans for the Bishopston organic cottons…

This is my latest experiment – a circle skirt with an elasticated waistband. For those of you who read my elasticated a-line skirt tutorial, this one is made in exactly the same way. Instead of being triangular, the pattern piece is a quarter circle, which you then cut on a double fold in the fabric.

You have to be a bit careful with prints and circle skirts. If the print only goes one way up, you can end up with it going skew-wiff at the side seams. This particular print is so busy that it doesn’t really matter which way up it goes! Circle skirts also take up quite a lot of fabric. You can get one of my a-line skirts out of a metre and a half of fabric, but the circle skirt takes at least three metres. You also need five metres of trimming for the hem.

The print is lots of koi, highlighted with gold.

Here you can see the skirt displayed without and then with a petticoat underneath.

I was quite surprised the first time I made a circle skirt and saw it without a petticoat. You see full skirts so often as part of 1950s fashion illustrations, and they’re always drawn with the expectation that they’re going to be filled out with lots of petticoats. They look so different when they’re on their own – very flat, and almost disappointing.

I plan to wear this one to work tomorrow, without a petticoat. The one on the mannequin is a bit too tight for me these days, and I don’t fancy wresting with thirteen metres of dress net and fifty metres of trimming to make a new one before tomorrow morning! I keep thinking that perhaps I’ll buy one instead, from Petticoat Perfection, but somehow that seems like cheating, when I’m perfectly capable of making my own.

Mind you, I’m perfectly capable of doing lots of things, but that doesn’t mean they’re all at the top of my to-do list!

I had been planning to make some slippers today, but I realised that I was missing a vital ingredient – the soles! I’ll work on those another time.

Instead, I fished out two pairs of my fiancé’s trousers, which had been in a box destined for the charity shop. They were made from a really nice heavy brushed cotton, with a faint narrow pinstripe. I decided they’d be much better off being given a new home in my wardrobe, so I turned them into a skirt!

It turned out to be a sort of fishtail shape – straight to the knees, and then flared out at the hem. This was dictated by the shape of the trouser pieces, once I’d cut them up. The waistline is in my usual choice of bomber jacket elastic, and there’s a very narrow lace trim around the bottom.

I’m now quite tempted to raid a couple of charity shops, and see what they’ve got in the way of interesting trousers. Two different pairs, in alternating panels, might make a really pretty skirt.

I’ve seen the doctor again, and have been diagnosed with “secondary viral labyrinthitis”. Sounds more exciting than it is, I promise! I have been instructed not to stay in bed feeling sorry for myself, but instead to “potter about” doing a few gentle bits and pieces.

And so, I present to you another skirt:

This one’s made from a recycled duvet cover. It’s faded black, with squares in light and dark grey.

There will shortly be six of these available, in the following sizes:

Waist 24-34", hips 34"
Waist 28-38", hips 38"
Waist 32-42", hips 42" (pictured)
Waist 36-46", hips 46"
Waist 42-52", hips 52"
Waist 46-56", hips 56"

Finished length is approximately 27", including the elastic waistband.

Let me know if you’d like to claim one, before I add them to the shop. 🙂

This morning I’ve made a skirt, as a surprise for my Mum. Who probably won’t be very surprised by the time she receives it, given that she reads this blog!

We had just one small piece of this fabric at work, and it was exactly enough to make one of my elasticated waist skirts. I thought my Mum might like the print – it’s a tiny floral on a black background. The flowers are yellow, with a pink centre.

I didn’t even have to draft a new pattern, as my Mum and I are conveniently the same size, so this one came together very simply and quickly.

This skirt is another commission for Lisa. I wasn’t sure whether the print would be too big for it to work properly, but I’m actually really pleased with the way it’s come out.

Considering the age this duvet cover must be, the fabric’s in absolutely excellent condition. I’ll probably make another skirt out of what I have left.