k's 3 Panel Vintage Skirt

After reading all the responses on Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing (Thanks Carolyn!) to the question of whether or not one's wardrobe was more than 30% dresses, I got to thinking....and thinking hard about how attached I really am to my Mom Uniform of Jeans and a T shirt day in day out.  Many of the women responding indicated that they never wore pants, largely because skirts were the winning combination of comfortable and more stylish (with the added benefits that they are MUCH easier to fit and similarly MUCH easier to make.)

So why do I, owner of 30 skirts not wear them?  I think the only answer that is strictly true is habit.  So maybe I ought to change that.  Last summer I started trying to wear more skirts and I was fairly successful after the addition of my pale blue tiered skirt (First item I actually put my tag in that I made for ME!) and a few other A-line types.


While Winter is getting out her last gasps, I am ready to have some Spring, so the sewing for said season has begun.  (As an aside, I really haven't sewn a whole lot for myself since the beginning of the whole boxpleat adventure...when you work at what you love, what you love becomes...at least on some level, work.  It is a pitfall that is difficult to avoid.)  On Saturday, the girl and I went to the glorious Dongdaemun which is perhaps my favorite experience of Korea.  I instructed her that we were buying fabric for Skirts and that is exactly what we did.  Her skirt is likely to appear here later, but not yet.  This is what I began when we got home.

I loved the idea of this fabric in a BIG skirt.  I should have gotten more, but that made me creative and it was totally worth it....I'll explain later.

I have often observed that what I like best about vintage clothing is the attention to detail...the little things that take longer but add a lot of punch to a design.  I decided this fabric needed piping, so there it is.  I did this piping with half a strip from a jelly roll, but I will tell you now, that wasn't quite enough for comfort.  The edge left over wasn't as wide as the seam allowance I wanted to use.  So I would have been happier with more, but I didn't have it so, oh well.  If you are going to try it though, you will need a decent sized piece of contrast!  (Especially since the ideal piping is cut on the bias....yeah I really am that chintzy.)  This design has piping on both top and bottom of the waistband and at the pocket openings.  If you don't do piping, this skirt could be made in about an hour I suspect.  (Well maybe not if you want to hand stitch the hem, but you can do THAT in front of the TV so maybe you don't need to count that anyway!)

The basic design is this:
Cutting
1. Cut 3 pieces of fabric, selvedge to selvedge the length you want the skirt plus the hem depth you want plus seam allowance. L+H+5/8. I made this version out of 2 yards of the main fabric, but as you can see, my hem had to be faced with the contrast fabric so it wouldn't be too short.  I recommend giving yourself a bit more "slack;"  Do as I say, not as I do. ;)  Also remember a good hem depth will give a BIG skirt some weight at the bottom so it hangs better.
2. Cut a length for the waistband (same direction as the skirt pieces.)  This should be the desired width of the waistband times 2 plus seam allowances (2 or 4 if you are doing piping.)  2W+2(5/8) or 2W+4(5/8) for piping, split it again.  (No piping stays in one piece.)
3. Trim the waistband piece to your waist measurement including seam allowances (on both ends!)ease and desired overlap.  There are calculations for necessary ease etc which I don't know heheh, but consider your comfort, remembering that you were probably sucking in a bit when you measured, that you might be eating a big dinner when you wear it, AND that you don't want it to fall off or gap.  The desired overlap will depend on what kind of closure you want to do at the waist....big fancy buttons require more space than trim little skirt hooks. W+2(5/8)+E?+O

Sewing
1. Serge or otherwise finish one edge (cut off the selvedge) on 2 panels.  Make sure that you examine your fabric design.  If it is directional, you need to make sure that the edges you choose will meet up....so when you sew these two pieces together, some of the cute little owls you picked aren't roosting upside down!  If you want you can finish ALL the edges.  You will be tempted to just use the selvedge.  I won't judge you if you do (I have done it) but you should be aware that it may shrink differently than the rest of your fabric so might look puckered later.

2. Sew these two panels together, using your longest stitch (5) for the length of the zipper you are using.  Back stitch at the bottom of the zipper length, change to a regular stitch length (2.5-3) and sew to the end.  Press the seam open.
3. Put in your zipper.  (If you don't know how to do this, there are lots of great tutorials on the ubiquitous YouTube.  A few thoughts though: Line up the zipper coil right along the center of the pressed open seam.  I always pin on both sides towards the coil.  If you have been frustrated with zippers in the past, consider basting.  YouTube taught me, after years of zippers, that if you get a zipper longer than you need you can leave the excess above the top of your project so you don't have to deal with the tab under your zipper foot.  Trust me, THAT was a revelation.  It cut down distinctly on the swearing and improved the look dramatically.)  Since this is located in hte back, a centered application is probably called for, but you can do either style.
4. Sew the 3rd panel to the free edges. Finish the edges here if you didn't do this already.
(4.5)Pockets: If you put pockets here they are going to fall to the sides of the front. A basic pocket bag is just a folded rectangle of fabric attached to the seams for part of its length, and to itself for the rest.  You need to keep it out of the way as you finish the rest of the skirt seam.
5. Gathering.Use your largest stitch and sew along the top seam allowance in a continuous line.  Add another line 1/4 inch  above that.  You pull the bobbin/back thread for gathering.  Go slowly and a little carefully so you don't break the threads. ;)  (I usually mark centers, quarters etc on both skirt and waistband so my gathers are easier to distribute evenly.)  The gathered skirt panels should be pinned to one layer of the waistband.  Remember that your overlap (and seam allowances) shouldn't have any skirt attached to them. ;)
(5.5)Piping waistband: Before you pin the gathered panels on, sandwich the piping between your two waistband pieces, raw edges all lining up.  If your waistband  is wide, you may want to include some good interfacing, if it is very narrow you may not need it.  Decide which is the "outside" of your waistband and baste a second row of piping to the bottom, keeping the raw edges together.  When you pin your gathered panels to the waistband it should line up with the raw edges of the piping.  You can use the basting line to guide your seam.

6. Waistband. Press the seam allowance in on the loose (long) edge of the waistband.  Fold the waistband, right sides together with the folded edge of the seam allowance lining up with where the gathered edge is attached.  Sew the short ends on your seam allowance, back stitching at the ends.  Turn the waistband right side out, making sure to get your corners poked out.  You can attach the back of the waistband by hand, catch stitching the folded edge to the seam line, or you can pin or baste carefully and top stitch from the front.  Put the closure of your choice.  (I have to admit that not a single skirt I made as a teenager ever sported any closure but a safety pin. hehe.
7. Hem.  As I mentioned earlier, a good hem can help a skirt hang better.  I like to hand hem, but you could also do this on the machine.  You should be sure the raw edge of the hem is finished or rolled under before you hem.

Whew, it is MUCH harder for me to explain how to do this than it is to just do it.  Sigh!  I can see why the YouTube video tutorial is becoming such a popular format!  I welcome questions and suggestions for clarity. ;)  And, yes, I will try to put some pics in some time, but if you read often you know pictures are always my down fall. hehehehe k.

My "New" Toy or Anthropologie Catalog here I come!

Recently, I asked for a new toy.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Like all interesting ideas it was quite expensive and hard to come by.  A good deal of arranging had to take place but my dear husband always seems to come through.  Now all this talk of gifts, you may think this was a birthday gift...but alas, this treasure has been sitting on my desk unused since Christmas.

Perhaps it doesn't look like much to you but this, Dear Reader, is a ruffler foot and not just any ruffler. This is a ruffler for my serger.

I have had my serger for a good many years.  (I bought it in DC....yeah, a good many!) I don't really end up using it all that much.  The edge is too wide, too bulky, too too too....for boxpleat doll work.  (In general...I have been trying to use it more lately to good effect as it really is quite a good machine and more versatile than I give it credit for. :)

So while this little "thing" isn't going to change the world, it certainly has facilitated some fun.

Here is what I spent the day Friday making:

The fabric is a very soft shirting weight..... chambray maybe?  It is 100% cotton, a pleasing color and I got an extra 1/2 a yard for free because there was a spot I thought would wash out.  (It did!)

With the ruffler foot on the serger this went from strips of fabric to skirt in a remarkably short time.  You see, this foot gathers what it finds on the bottom and leaves the top smooth....so really all I did was hold the fabric lightly and sew straight lines.

Well okay, it was a little trickier than that.  In fact, I think it will probably benefit from some practice.  It is a little tricky to hold the fabric in place without putting any real tension on it.  If you put any traction on the bottom layer it doesn't feed at a regular rate and you end up with straight patches instead of even ruffles.  In some sections the serged edge is not fully over the edge of both fabrics...but like I said, I think both of those problems are easily addressed now that I know what to watch for in my technique.

The one tricky thing I still am not quite sure how to solve is the problem of estimating the tiers.  When making a skirt like this the traditional way...with lots of pins and gathering stitches...you just take your two very differently shaped pieces and pin the centers, divide and pin again and again until you can pull the gathering threads and have nice even gathers that make it all the way around.  When I worked on this skirt I ended up having to add another piece to the bottom ruffle because, as much as I had, it was simply not enough to get to the end.  (That will be partially solved by decreasing the differential feed....ie the ratio of bottom gathering for every smooth stitch on top.)  I am sure there is a way to do this with math + patience but I haven't quite figured it out yet.

Once the ruffled tiers were put together... (Oh, I used the high tech measuring system of holding the first tier around my hips, adding a bit and there you go!) I plain serged the top and bottom edge.  The elastic is a half inch wide and reminds me of the kind of elastic stretchy belts were made of in the 80s!  It is fairly firm and will stand up to a lot of stretch while maintaining its  shape.  The top of the skirt is just rolled over the elastic (edge of elastic and serged edge line up.)  I put 4 rows of stitching over the top (sewing while it was stretched of course) and I will never have to worry about the irritating twist in the elastic that haunts all my casings. hehehehe  You will note that this skirt has a boxpleat tag in it.  This is the first full sized piece of clothing to bear my label.  Not that I haven't made anything for myself before....just that I always thought of boxpleat as my "Doll Business" but really it is just me and if I made it, it should have my tag. 

I chose a "fancy" stitch for the top stitching and hem.  I wanted to do it for the waist also, but I chickened out because the decorative stitches move so much back and forth I figured it would be too hard to maintain the tension in the elastic without pulling the stitch our of shape.  The fancy stitch took FOREVER!  I had forgotten that one of the reasons it is nice to do doll sewing is that you never have to do the same thing for too long.  I like the way it turned out...and that is what made me think of the catalogs of my college days.  The thread is a variegated rayon in blue gray and white, so the color progresses as you follow the stitching.

Once the skirt was finished I threw it in the washing machine.  I was perhaps a little zealous, not knowing what to expect from my little toy and the skirt was BIG....like Square Dance big.  After a wash, I twisted the skirt and then left it to dry.  The resulting shape appears neither too full, nor will ever have to be ironed...in fact, it really shouldn't be. hehehe (You know you like the sound of that.)

My only real disappointment with it is the hem.  After the wash, there is a bit of cupping....I think because the rayon thread may have shrunk.  Not sure how I would get around that in the future.  It isn't really a visual problem on this skirt with all the crinkles, but something to wonder about.  Anyone out there have any ideas?  I probably needed to have some stabilizer in the hem....sigh!

So go make something.  It will make you happy (even if you hide it in the back of your closet and no one else ever sees it. ;) k.