The $1 skirt

So, I found this mens XL long-sleeve tee/sweatshirt at Walmart yesterday for $1! I had to get it - especially after being so inspired by all the t-shirt-to-skirt tutorials I've seen around lately! Well, this one didn't turn out how I expected, and it's not 100% me, but it's so comfy I'm sure I'll wear it often! Here's how I did it (more or less - knit has the wonderful quality of "fudginess" - fudge it, and it'll probably work without too much trouble.)

Step 1:

Cut the neck and sleeves off just below behind the seams.

Step 2:

Take the sleeve seam out and lay them out flat.

Step 3:

I was envisioning a wide waistband. Since I'm really small (as in 25" waist), I could do this; I didn't have a whole lot extra. If you're thinking wider waistband as well, try that first; it's not that hard to go back and cut them in half for a narrower, but longer, waistband.

Step 4:

Sew the front and back waistband pieces together.

Steps 5 &6:

With right sides together, sew the waistband into the neck opening, easing as necessary. Then sew up the side seams. Depending on the shirt you're working with, you may or may not want to do as I did - sew to/from the bottom all the way. When I thought about just going to the existing side seams, it seemed like it was going to hand awkwardly.

Step 7:

The potential last step! Fold the waistband down with the skirt and side seams inside. Make sure the waistband is down over the skirt seam, and then stitch-in-the-ditch: top stitch as close to the skirt seam as possible. Check to make sure you caught it all the way around, and go back over what somehow escaped. There you have it! I really like this version, like, really. It was almost exactly what I had envisioned! The only issue? It was quite tight around the rear end... Yeah, not exactly something I wanted. So, back to the drawing board - sorta.

Finished!

I didn't get pictures of this process since I wasn't really sure what I was doing. There was not enough fabric left for a long godet, so I had to piece my own (thanks, Olivia, for the idea!). I added a pocket (a very narrow pocket...) with an extra piece of fabric on top of the second section from the top, and I pleated the bottom section. Oh, I bound the pocket opening with a random piece of satin ribbon we had laying around; probably not the best material, but hey, I just wanted to get it done! Trust me, there was NOTHING hard about this (except when I tried to to chevron strips for the bottom section; THAT failed...). I just cut the skirt roughly 6" from the left side seam right through the waist band and hem. In hindsight (which is never around when you need it...), I would do it rather closer. Then I flare the opening and started laying random pieces across it, cutting them to size. And that's what I ended up with, folks! I may do a little last-minute/after project top-stitching, but then again, I may not.

I very much hope to be doing more sewing in the near future; I need to! So hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back here agin. 'til then! :)

Dress to Skirt

So, I bought a dress the other day. $15 for a plus size, brown knit, tube dress (I guess - no sleeves anyway). When I got home I was pretty sure I was crazy, but I had a vision for it. The trick there is to get it done before the vision escapes you, or else you are crazy. So it got washed and dried, and I set to work on it at the earliest possible moment. But I am getting ahead of myself. Here is the original item:

I'm only guessing it was supposed to be a dress. It's really long on me as a skirt, and I don't have short legs.

My first order of business was to see how long I actually wanted it. I was hoping I could just cut off that top part, fold over the top of the skirt, and insert some elastic, but it was going to be a little shorter than my vision then. So, I took out the tack-down stitches from the top part (it was about 6-8 inches wide once not folded over), cut off about 2 inches of that, and folded the rest down, roughly in half:

In this picture you can sort of see the piece of thin elastic that's been stitched over in two rows. Well, I stitched my folded over piece along the top row of that stitching - if that makes sense. I made a casing, leaving about 3 inches open.

Through those 3 inches, I threaded some wide elastic (the length of my waist) all the way through the casing. Then I stitched the ends of the elastic together, being careful to make sure the elastic wasn't twisted inside the casing. At this point, it's a good idea to make sure you measured the elastic correctly; try on the skirt. If you like the way it fits, sew up the 3 inch opening. If you don't like how it fits, adjust as necessary. I ended up adjusting mine after I sewed up the opening (it was late. I was exhausted. I didn't want to try it on when I should have. It did fit... etc. etc. etc. It fits much better now.). I also added a line of stitching from the center back seam straight up to the top of the waist band as well. My casing was really a little too big for my elastic, so it was laying weird. Thankfully the line of stitching seems to have helped that.

The finished product! It's floor length on me, but that was my vision. Anybody who's been following me on Pinterest lately knows that I've been slightly obsessed with knit maxi skirts. I'm definitely happy to add one to my wardrobe for $15 and maybe an hour of work (probably not even that).

Butterick 4154

Well, I can't find a correct link to this pattern anywhere! :( It's a historical patter that I've used the skirt pattern from several times. I really like it - not the least because it's super fast and easy! ;)

I got this lovely plaid from Sir's when we went a few weeks ago. I think it's a wool blend. Whatever it is, it's really pretty lightweight, and hangs excellently! LOVE it! The pattern is a half circle skirt. 

To do a half-circle skirt, you fold the fabric in half with the cut ends together, if that makes sense. It's not like most other patterns where you fold it selvages together. Anyway, then you cut your waist size out of corner on the fold. Then measure however long you want it (I usually go as long as I can, so I make my first length measurement along the selvages.), mark that down from the waist cut all along the hemline. Cut that out, then cut out your waistband. I usually make my waistband piece about 3" wide, and I usually cut it along the selvages (I know you're not supposed to, but I prefer working with it that way...). Sew up the back seam of the skirt, but leave 5-7" up at the waist for the zipper. Sew in the zipper. With right sides together, sew on the waistband piece (after interfacing it, if necessary), finish the waistband by flipping it up, rolling it inside (double it... kind of), and stitch in the ditch (top stitch on top of the seam you just did). Add a hook and eye, and hem it up! Ta-da! Not sure if all that made sense, but there you go anyway. If you had trouble following all that, I'm sure there are many great tutorials out there - some of them probably even have helpful diagrams.

You can pretty well see the stitch I used for the hem in this picture. From very start (cutting out) to the very end (hemming and adding the hook and eye), this skirt took me about 4 hours, maybe less, and I wasn't even particularly hurrying! I tell you, I love this skirt pattern! :)

Kwik Sew 3098

Long time no see! I was a bad girl Tuesday... I went on a lovely trip with Mama, Claire, and a couple of other friends from church. To Sir's. And I got more fabric. I know. I know. If I sew something every week for the rest of my life I might just use up my stash of fabric.

Anyway, I got a piece of reddish corduroy this time, and I had a pattern in mind. Sorta. I went with it, and this is the result:

Yeah, this is the back view. Don't yet have a good picture of the front. This isn't really a great picture of the back, but it let's you see the lay of the fabric. It is a heavy corduroy.

I used Kwik Sew 3098. I absolutely love this pattern. This is the third time I've made something using it, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Thankfully it's on that heavy paper instead of the usual tissue paper stuff.

Hem detail.

Pocket detail. I "stole" this pocket pattern from a jeans pattern that I have. The skirt pattern doesn't have back pockets. The stitching pattern I just grabbed off the internet. It might actually have been a tattoo pattern. I just searched Celtic knot clip art until I found one I was happy with. :)

Inside of the pocket, back of the Celtic knot stitching.

How I did it. I placed the picture (though it ended up a little off... No matter how long I sew, I never do remember that the pins pull the top piece over the the under piece, thus displacing it.), and just sewed over the lines. Where the lines I was sewing went under the other lines - if that makes any sense - I knotted the thread (can kind of see each point in the previous picture), lifted the needle - WITHOUT breaking the thread, and replaced the needle where I needed it next. It worked well, and was a pretty efficient use of thread, I think. :)

Anyway, that was yesterday and today's project. I got a piece of plaid wool blend that I'm thinking about using next. Then there's the 3+ yards of cream-colored satin that I need to make a blouse out of. Then the bunch of fabric that I already had on hand... Yeah, well. Who knows when I'll be back next, but I hope to do that plaid next week. Maybe. We'll see.

'Til next time!

Tally Update

Until today, I hadn't sewn at all since Wednesday. Sorta lose motivation, you know? Well, that and the fact that Thanksgiving lasted through the weekend, the Lord's Day was full, and yesterday and Monday were busy with other things, including getting over a cold. I'm going to try really hard now to stick to my 2-a-day goal. I went a long way in accomplishing that today since I successfully, if not overly creatively, conquered 2 sweaters! Which brings us to the tally:

4 Shirts

4 Skirts

Alteration/Repair Count

I worked a good bit of the day Wednesday on that stack of stuff next to the sewing machine. I knocked out 1 shirt and 4 skirts, and I'm sorta-kinda in the middle of another shirt (although I'm pretty close to just calling that one a failure...).

Just thought I'd pop by while I had a minute and create a tally! I think the total (of successful alterations or repairs is something like this:

2 Shirts
4 Skirts

My goal is kind of a 2-a-day thing on normal days, which, obviously, wasn't yesterday, and isn't today, seeing as how we're about to leave for another day with family! Gotta go!

McCall's 5481 - In CAMO!

I've made this one before, not that long ago actually. See HERE. I really do love this pattern. With all the gores, it's kind of takes a while to make, but I love how it flares out at the bottom! :)

Front.

I was going to put pockets in... Well, actually, I did. However... they didn't work, so out came my handy-dandy seam ripper. I should have known better than to put them in in the first place. :P

Side.

Simplicity 4087

Sorry, these pictures are horrible, but I don't want to go try to take some good ones. Blame it on the terrible camera - you'd at least be partially right, though I dare say the person behind the camera had a good bit to do with it as well. :P

Here's my version of Simplicity 4087, which the Simplicity pattern site apparently considers nonexistent. I can't find it anywhere on there, but I found it HERE instead.

Front. Yes, it's got a yoke; I didn't just randomly add trim in that shape. The yoke is not mirrored in the back. Just FYI.

Side. The zipper's on the other side.

Details, details! You know I love 'em - especially when they're productive as well as pretty. :D

Stories. Pretty much every garment I sew has one. This one is a happy story. :) After lunch yesterday, I decided I wanted to sew. As I had nothing cut out, or even remotely planned, I thought I'd better jump on that inclination. If I hadn't, there's no telling when I would have sewn. Anyway, we've had this pattern for a long time. I actually have made it before... or rather, I started it before. Mama practically did it for me - because I begged, I think. The fabric I used back then was a stretchy, gray plaid, wool-blend. It's extremely comfortable, and I love it. I've often pulled the pattern out since then and almost started it, but the thought of that last time has always haunted me. So, I continued to put it off until I finally decided to conquer my unreasonable reluctance yesterday.

This time the fabric was probably easier to work with. It's thick and not stretchy at all. Probably upholstery fabric (my usual picks from Sir's...). It's sorta like a black brocade, but not really. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it worked well, and, for me, that's all that matters. :) I'd determined to use this fabric for another church skirt. My church clothes are rather pitiful, especially my warm-weather clothes. Yeah, I know. BLACK upholstery fabric for a warm-weather skirt?!?! Well... that's me... :) Anyway, I was pretty sure I didn't have quite enough to do the whole skirt in that fabric and make it long enough, so I just planned on that from the start and found some black toile to add to the bottom for length.

I did everything according to the pattern except that I added the toile flounce, trim, and did the zipper like I do pretty much all zippers. For the flounce, I just measured the width of the bottom of the skirt's gores, the width of the toile fabric, and determined that 2 widths of toile fabric would be more than enough. Then I guesstimated how much length I would want to add, and measured 7" width across the toile fabric (folded in half, selvages together). I cut 2 of those, and gathered one on the front of the skirt, and one on the back before I'd sewn the side seams. Don't know about y'all, but I sure do prefer gathering straight strips of fabric as opposed to gathering rings of fabric.

After I got the flounce attached to the front and back panels, I sewed up the skirt just like the pattern said. I did my little trick/experiment, and sewed up the hem with a decorative stitch. At that point I was tempted to call it done. I decided that the gathered seam could use sewing down... er, up, as it were. In comes the purposeful pretty details! I dug through some of our trims and found a really long piece of trim that we've had for years. (We'd gotten it to add to a formal dress about 6 years ago, and never added it. Go. Figure.) It looked really good with the toile, so on it went. I sewed over that (just a straight stitch), which sewed down the gathered seam at the same time. Then I tried the skirt on. The trim looked a little ... odd... on there all by itself. So, on went the trim just above the yoke seam; I was then pleased enough with the product, though I wish it had pockets of some sort.

Things to note if you're thinking about making this pattern! I think it runs kind of small. I usually, almost on principle, make the smallest size a pattern comes in, waist-wise. True, this one comes with sizes smaller than most (4-12 or so, as opposed to 6- or 8-12). However, I make the size 6, and it fits me wonderfully! So, be sure to measure the yoke pattern pieces, subtracting the seam allowances, before you begin your project. Actually, that's probably a good idea to do with any project. But... I'm lazy, and only do it on the ones that strike me as seeming unusually small. :P

And there you have it. A far too lengthy post with rotten pictures as a reintroduction to sewing after far too long away from it.

McCall's 4258

Surprise, surprise! I found a bit of time (and necessity) to sew! During our last trip to Sir's I got a piece of brown suede. I can't tell y'all how long I've been looking for brown fabric! Seemed like it all disappeared at the exact moment I wanted to get some, so I was delighted to find this piece. Suede isn't (for me anyway) the easiest stuff to work with; it tends to make the needles and pins feel very dull... or perhaps I'm really am working with extremely dull pointy things. :P

Anyway, I did McCall's 4258, view D. I cut it out way too long. I thought I'd cut it out a couple inches too long, but it turns out it was more like 4 inches too long. However, that ended up being helpful. I wanted to dress it up a little; after all, I'm considering wearing it to a wedding (yeah, I know, brown? I don't really have a lot of options though.). So, I used the extra length to attempt to dress it up by adding a couple of wide tucks near the bottom of the skirt. All in all, I'm pleased with the result. Oh, and of course, I sewed the hem with a decorative stitch.

Please pardon the poor photography and filthy mirror. :)

I got to SEW again!

We got the sewing room usable yesterday! I was so excited; I couldn't wait to try it out! (Not to mention, I had/have TONS of projects in mind.) Mama, Claire, and I went on our annual Sir's pilgrimage a week or two ago, and, though we mainly went for (and got) fabric for new curtains throughout the house, I found some magnificent pieces for myself that I really just couldn't pass up. One of those pieces was a khaki corduroy, perfectly drab - just the way I like it. :P When I got it I had the basic idea of what I wanted to turn it into. I'd just read a post by a good friend, and fellow seamstress, who mentioned one of her staple skirt patterns, Butterick 3134. Now, I love, love, love a-line skirts, but I wanted a bit more flare. The question was... how to you add flare to an a-line corduroy skirt, and a drab one at that?!? I decided to add a flounce. I figured I'd want it longer anyway, so that was a perfect way to add length and flare at the same time! Somehow I forgot my solemn vow never to do flounces again, because of the hemming issues... Oops. Anyway, here's how my new skirt came out:

I like it a lot. :)

Before I show you a close up of the details, I have a little tip about adding to/altering pre-existing patterns: DON'T FORGET TO ADD/INCLUDE SEAM ALLOWANCES!!! I noticed that the pattern had a convenient little bit of information on the envelope which stated that the bottom width of Skirt C was 88". Wonderful! I didn't have to measure anything to get that info! Love that (don't love that the pattern didn't include a waist measurement...). Because of my fabric, and the angle I wanted, I ended up having to cut my flounce as four pieces. That's gonna be 22" wide at the top of each, right? WRONG! Or at least it should have been. It should have been 22" + 2(5/8") = 23 1/4" each. Thankfully, I realized what I'd done wrong before I'd sewn anything up, and was able to make it fit by taking the bottom of the skirt in a bit, and sewing the flounce seams a little smaller than normal. Still, seems like sloppy workmanship to me, and, when possible, I try to avoid it.

Lately I've had a thing against completely blank slates. Much to my own surprise, I've been paying much more attention to the little things, the details that give the garment a finished touch. I focused all my detailing for this skirt around the flounce. I really love the extra stitches one of our machines has. The one I used to hem the skirt kind of looks like rick-rack! I also added two rows of regular stitching above the seam line where I added the flounce. I wanted to sew down the seam allowance, and I just decided to include it in the detail work. I'm pleased with the result. :)

Secret Service Skirt

This skirt has kind of a funny story connected with it. My sister is a rising star in bluegrass. She's a member of the new band Missionary Ridge. So anyway, I decided to make a "secret service" outfit in order to ward off any undesirables and paparazzi. This is the skirt to that outfit. Hopefully I have enough of the same fabric left over for a jacket. We'll see.

I don't know if I'll get around to making that part of the outfit soon since WE'RE MOVING!!!! To explain that bit of over-enthusiasm, we've been trying to sell our very unique house and property for 3 or 4 years now (it's been so long, I can't remember exactly!), and now that it's finally happened... I just don't know what to think!

Anyway, about the skirt. I used McCall's 5481. It was a very easy pattern to follow. Or, I think it was. Once I cut the pieces out, I just kind of went at it, glancing at that instructions every now and then. I love how all the gores flare out extra at the bottom. It just makes me want to spin. :D

Winnie the Pooh Tiered Skirt

I just love how fast these skirts are! I was able to use some of the scrap fabric from THIS outfit to create this adorable little tiered skirt.

I didn't have a pattern, and, to tell the truth, I didn't even measure anything. I just cut according to what seemed to make sense. Of course, I didn't do the elastic casing to what would make sense, but I was having a brainless moment when I did that. It works though, so all's good.

Denim and Toile Skirt

I decided to have a bit of fun, and use up some of the inordinate amount of toile I got on one of my last visits to Sir's, and make Simplicity 4188, view E. I also decided to add some decorative stitching to finish my seams and sew the hem. I love how it turned out!

Luke called it "flashy." :)

Aside from the obvious differences to the pattern I didn't really change it too much. I did do the yoke facings out of a piece of lightweight cotton instead of the heavy denim, but that's about it. It's a fun skirt, I think!

Sewn Recently

In between studying for two tests (worth 6 and 3 hours respectively), taking two tests, and just general life, I've found a bit of time to sew for our upcoming 3 week vacation (starting NEXT WEEK! AHHH!)! I've sewn 3 skirts: McCall's 5431 and Kwik Sew 3637. I made two of the last one. I love them! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them yet, but if I can get some soon, I'll try to remember to post them.

The patterns themselves were fairly simple to work with and easy to put together. I ran into an issue or two with the yoke on the Kwik Sew pattern, but I think that was mainly my brain deciding not to work. All in all they were great patterns, and the finished products are wonderful!