Sew What? The Skirt Edition

While you are recovering, I’ll show you what I’ve been up to lately. This is going to take two or more posts, because I have gone slightly and obsessively mad sewing clothes… The house looked like a fabric bomb had exploded for a while and I churned out 7 items of clothing in a week. Yup, that’s seven. Yes, you can start making that intervention banner and composing your letters now.

Let’s start with the skirts.

I’ve had this book sitting on the shelf for a few years now and haven’t touched it. It explains how to sew skirts without a pattern. I have to say, I was dubious… which is one reason I haven’t touched it.

The book explains how to measure yourself, then provides a mathematical formula that only slightly did my non-mathematical brain in, and then shows you how to draft essentially two patterns: a straight skirt and an A-line skirt.

As I have ridiculous amounts of fabric sitting around doing nothing, I figured I had three options. In order of likeliness, the fabric could:

1. sit there a while longer (I have been going into the sewing room for the last few months, picking out fabric then throwing it on the floor in frustration as my sew-jo had deserted me – stage one of confidence crisis thinking)
2. be wrecked by my attempts at skir-making and then turn into patchwork projects (stage 2 in confidence crisis thinking
3. potentially become wearable artworks.

Any bets on what happened?

The A-Line skirt

I can’t remember what this line of fabric is… but I am so happy with the result. Basically because I can throw any colour t-shirt on with this and it looks fab. 
By the way, it was 39C (102F) that day hence the tongue hanging out. Too hot for little black dogs so after a 90 second photoshoot, Scarlett was excused.

The modified a-line

Taking the top part of the A-line skirt pattern only, and folding pleats into a WOF (this is a Michael Miller print), this skirt happened… The ribbon really made this skirt. Don’t underestimate the power of notions.

The Straight skirt

Straight skirts don’t look great on me. I’m kinda ‘bottom heavy’ so A-lines and flared skirts are much more flattering. But I had a width of fabric that I picked up in a market in Vietnam that was just possibly wide enough to make a straight skirt. Again, I figured if it looked awful, it could become what I originally destined this fabric for – a bag.

Doesn’t look too bad does it?!

And for not using patterns, for coming up with three skirts that I will totally wear, and for my amazing photographer Natascha who managed to get a heap of photos that I actually LIKE myself in (it’s very rare, I avoid being photographed like the plague), a celebration is in order.

Hurrah!!!!