Tag: skirts

Organic cotton/bamboo skirt

Cotton/Bamboo Skirt

After years of buying only sample pieces from organiccotton.biz, I finally got around to ordering some yardage. The skirt above is a blend of organic cotton and bamboo, and it’s beautifully soft and drapey.

I don’t believe most of the claims about bamboo fabric having practically magical anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. The plant material (which does have those qualities) needs to go through so many processes before it can be spun, it’s doubtful whether any of its beneficial aspects would survive. However, it’s a very good fibre to use for fabric. It needs no pesticides to grow, uses far less water than cotton, and it grows so rapidly that it’s quick to replenish, which means you don’t need acres of space to plant it. Even better, the fabric it produces is unbelievably soft.

This is my usual ruffled skirt – take one calf length a-line skirt pattern, and stick a ten-inch ruffle on the bottom. Simple! It has pockets in the side seams, and the edges of the ruffle are overlocked with a satin stitch.

Waistband

The waistband I pretty much made up as I went along. It’s based on an old favourite skirt that wore out long ago. The centre channel has a bias tape drawstring threaded through two eyelets. The channels above and below have narrow elastic threaded through.

Things I learnt as I was making it?

  1. Thread the drawstring through before the elastic.
  2. Make absolutely certain that the elastic isn’t twisted.
  3. Whilst the bias tape foot for my sewing machine is a marvellous invention, I need to learn how to make the joins in the bias strip go through it more smoothly.

Leaf detail

The finishing detail is this pair of little leaves on the ends of the drawstring. They each have an offcut of batting inside, making them a little bit textured and squishy. I was torn between overlocking the edges or leaving them raw so that they’d fray a little in the wash. I do like the satin stitch edge, not least because they make the leaves stand out against the skirt, but it isn’t as tidy as I’d have liked. A little more practice needed, perhaps.

I keep going on about the softness of the fabric, but that really is its stand-out quality for me. It’s like the softest sheets you’ve ever slept on, or that favourite shirt you’ve been wearing for years.

I’m working on a set of costumes at the moment, all of which seem to be made with synthetic fabrics and have lots of fiddly little details. It’s been really nice to take a break and sew something simple, that feels like a little bit of luxury.

Herringbone Skirt

Herringbone Skirt

Please excuse the terrible photo, it’s very dark out here in my Shed! I took a couple of hours off from making theatre costumes, to treat myself to a new skirt for work.

It’s made from the same herringbone linen/wool blend as my giant trousers, and I should have enough left over to make either a waistcoat or maybe even a small jacket.

The skirt’s based on my usual a-line pattern, but with added jeans-style pockets. Next time I’ll make them a little deeper so I can put my hands right in without pulling the skirt down. I couldn’t find any matching fancy elastic, so I made a simple straight waistband and threaded plain elastic through.

One day I’ll find a nice strong elastic that I’m happy with. I haven’t yet managed to source one that doesn’t stretch out and go baggy – sometimes even as you’re pulling it through the casing! At least with this style it’s easy enough to take the old elastic out and replace it.

I’m still working to find that balance between the streamlined look of a zip and waist facing and the comfort of elastic. This fabric doesn’t help because it’s quite bouncy, which adds a bit of bulk to the gathers. It’s also soft though, and I’m hoping it’ll calm down a bit after a trip or two through the washing machine.

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the skirt’s actually a sort of greyish-brown colour. I ‘m thinking of teaming it with burnt orange tights (if I can stand to wear them all day) and a mustard coloured top. Failing that it’ll be brown knee socks and a brown t-shirt, with my purple boots and purple lace shawl for a splash of colour. I’ll see how I feel in the morning – and I’ll try and take a photo or two in daylight!

Organic Cotton Skirt Ideas

Skirt ideas

Starting to work with the organic cottons again reminded me that I’d already put together some designs for skirts that were very similar to the blue cotton tunic dress. Large pockets and a ruffle, although I think I’d go for an elastic waistband rather than darts and a zip.

I drafted these little sketches way back in 2008, when I was also going through a phase of buying lots of recycled fabrics, mostly in the form of duvet covers. I thought I could use the matching pillowcases to make the ruffles and pockets, and do you know what? I think that might just work! Why it’s taken me three years to get around to doing anything with this idea, I’m not so sure.

I have four colours of organic cotton left in the stash – blue, green, pink and cream. My favourite place to buy organic cottons has a special offer on pot-luck remnant pieces, so I might buy a bundle and see what turns up. That, along with the Kaffe Fassett fat quarters, should give me plenty of choices for contrasting waistbands and pockets.

Skull Print Skirt

Mini skull skirt

So, this is a bit of a departure from the type of thing I’ve been sewing lately – in fact it’s a skirt pattern that came from my first business, about eight or nine years ago.

There are four layers of skirt altogether, each with four panels for fullness. The inside three layers are black net, trimmed with red gathered lace. The top layer is skulls-and-roses print cotton, trimmed with the very last piece of black gathered broderie anglais in my stash. Fabric Land haven’t had any of this in stock for a long time, and I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without it. It really is absolutely my favourite kind of trim.

(Is it silly to have a favourite kind of trim? I do, anyway.)

The waistband is another favourite – red bomber-jacker elastic, also from Fabric Land. it’s made in the same way as all of my elasticated skirts – simply divided into quarters and zig-zagged into place.

I haven’t worn a skirt this short for years – in fact I’m not at all convinced that it’s actually long enough to cover my bottom, or that a person of my advancing years should be seen in it at all. I suspect I will be very grateful indeed for a pair of black leggings to wear underneath!

Skirt and petticoat.

Purple & Black

Today I have been mostly sewing an outfit that I planned almost a year ago, when I was offered my current job. I bought three men’s shirts from Marks and Spencer (lilac, pink and lemon), and bought some poly-cotton and broderie anglais trim from Fabric Land to make three matching petticoats.

Purple petticoat

Here’s the first petticoat – a variation on my usual elasticated skirt. I lengthened the pattern to just below the knee, and then added a 10″ ruffle with a matching broderie anglais trim.

Black skirt

The skirt is made in four panels, and had pockets in the side seams. The waistband is attached in exactly the same way as the petticoat, and the hem is trimmed with gathered broderie anglais. I’m not sure what the fabric is, except that it’s a nice heavy suiting weight. It’s most likely polyester, although the weave looks a little bit like dense linen. (This is what happens when you have a fabric stash that goes back more than a decade – sometimes you can’t remember what you’ve bought!)

I have a pretty lilac sash belt that I can wear if I decide I don’t want the elastic to show, but I actually like the fancy elastic so I don’t mind if it’s visible.

Now I want to knit myself a black v-neck tank top, although that might be pushing the slightly schoolmistressy look a bit too far. We’ll see.

Another Cherry Circle Skirt

Cherry circle skirt

The Art Market went really well on Sunday – I sold a few things, and came home with a lovely print of a girl with pink hair!

The skirt above is another cherry print circle skirt for Tiger Lilly in the Harris Arcade, to replace one that was sold a few weeks ago. I’m going to have to put these on hold for a little while, as I seem to have bought every single inch of black broderie anglais trim from my local fabric shop, so I’ll just have to wait until they’ve got some more.

It’s probably about time I wrote a tutorial for these circle skirts. They’re extremely easy to make, along the same principles as my a-line elasticated skirt.

I was also really pleased to discover that the tutorial for the gathered skirts was featured on an Australian site called Frugal and Thriving. They’ve collected a grand total of 48 skirt tutorials, which are well worth a look!

Valentines Skirt

Spotty circle skirt

I made a new skirt to wear for Valentine’s Day. 

It’s a full circle with an elasticated waistband.

I didn’t have enough fabric to make the skirt as long as I wanted, so I added a ruffle at the hem instead.

The ruffle isn’t as, well, ruffly as I would have liked, but considering it took just over an hour and a half to finish hand sewing the pink binding around the bottom, I don’t think I would have liked it to be very much rufflier.

My new bias tape maker arrived the other day, and it’s a big one – it makes 50mm tape! I think the next incarnation of this skirt will be minus the ruffle, but with a nice wide trim at the hem.

Catching up with myself…

Here’s what I’ve been up to this week – two skirts and two jackets.

Skirts and Jackets

The two skirts are both made from Alexander Henry fabrics.
The left hand one is “Carnaby Stripe”, and it’s a knee-length skirt with an elasticated waist and broderie anglais trimming around the hem. The right hand one is “The Rose Tattoo”, and it’s an extremely full ball-gown style skirt, also with an elasticated waist. Both are made from my own patterns.

The fleecy jacket is one of a pair – the second one will be appearing later this week. It’s a dolman-sleeved hooded jacket, fastened with one enormous button! The pattern (Kwik Sew 3459) suggested leaving the edges of the fleece raw, which looked as though I hadn’t bothered to finish sewing, so I’ve added bias binding to all the edges.

The pink tartan jacket is my first foray into the adventure of draping on the stand, which I am learning about from Winifred Aldrich. I’m sure this doesn’t look very exciting from where you are (unless you happen to be a big fan of pink tartan!), so I really need to show you some photos of this one being worn. The nicest thing about it is how the fabric drapes and flows over the body, which is difficult to demonstrate on a static dress form.

I plan to develop this pattern, and make several different versions in fleece and jersey – and maybe some evening wear versions, using up some of the satins from my stash. I have some lovely aubergine charmeuse, which would drape beautifully.

Scalloped skirt – finished!

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!)

Scalloped skirt - pink Scalloped skirt - purple

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.)

The Scalloped Skirt – an Idea.

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:

Butterick 6702 - inspiration.

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.

Clothkits Rob Ryan skirt - inspiration

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.

Mathematically challenged.

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…