Bonjour!
Last November I went to a thrift store and found this super cute striped knit fabric. It was a great buy and I had no idea what to do with, but I had a dream I would use it.
My parents recently were finishing the basement bedroom (where I sew) and so I had not been able to sew. but now that it was finished I can go back to sewing and planning.
Before sewing:
FYI, you can skip this part.
This skirt took about 1 hour and 1/2 to complete, but it took longer than that for me because I had a bit of a brain fart (it’s a… story):
I was ready to sew, I had my pieces cut and pinned, I had changed my needles, everything was ready but when I turned my machine on and pressed the foot it would not move/start.
That’s weird I thought, I took the bobbin piece off, I oiled it and… nothing.
I half took it apart nothing, I went only and I couldn’t get an answer. At that point, I was getting worried, what if my machine was dead? I told my father and he came and checked it, I showed him that I would press the foot and the needle would not move forward.
Then it dawned on me…. it was on bobbin winder mode!! Sure enough, I moved the bobbin winder to sewing position and it worked. *sigh* My dad then shook his head and laughed at me.
This was not my best moment, for it is one of the first things taught to newbie sewers. That short story took about 1 1/2 hours and was embarrassing.
Sewing the skirt:
I got the basic idea online but made it work to my shape since I am not a curvy girl. Perfecting the shape did take time, but when I figured it out it fit good. I did have trouble with the elastic since I was to stretch it but not too much (whoops!) and so it creases and gathers at the waist. But since I won’t be showing the waistband it is not a big of a deal. It was a new adventure (kind of).
This fabric was pretty easy to work with since I don’t really use knits. I’ve had some hard times sewing with knit fabrics since a different needle is needed and the zig-zag stitch is used. The fabric had about a 25% stretch factor so it is not too stretchy.
Below I posted a picture of the “pattern” I used for the skirt. Its a mixture of a couple of ideas that together worked for me, and hopefully you too.
*Remember to use a zig-zag stitch and a ballpoint needle.
At the top of the waist go in 1″ and make a line. Measure 5-6″ down make a mark. Connect both lines and cut the sides, those will be your darts. I did the same for the bottom but had some trouble.
You can also do the same, but beware that it might take some tries to get the “pencil part” in the bottom. You just sew the sides together with 5/8″ seam allowance. For the elastic sew it to the top, then fold, and sew it done again. Just hem and done! very simple, and not time-consuming (unless you’re me).
I will be making a real tutorial in the future so please bear with me. Hope you enjoyed this. Would you like more of this? What are your thoughts?
For more tutorials diy check out this page, if you want to make scrunchies.
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