I Made a Skirt : the Novel

Here is the story of my skirt. I made it myself, and it's a tale full of twists and turns, anguish and triumph.

Prologue --

Every now and then, I want to get back into sewing, but then usually nothing happens. Last year I got to the point of actually buying some fabric. (Actually, it was the year before last, now I come to look it up!) I even had plans in mind for each of the five pieces I bought, but I ended up putting them aside again.

This has been happening for enough years that I've started to recognise it as a pattern -- every Spring and Autumn (the transitional seasons: interesting?) I get really excited about fashion and sewing, and plan to make lots of garments and cute accessories. I sometimes, as in the above case, even buy supplies, because you can never have too many craft supplies, right? Then I talk myself out of it for one or all of the following reasons: it's too hard and complicated, I don't have the skills and I'd screw it up, it wouldn't look good on me, I have no occasion to wear it, or the worst, I'd never wear it because I don't want to draw attention to myself.

I'll write more about that another time, but for now, let's tell this skirt saga!

I haven't sewn in nearly 10 years, so I thought I'd ease myself into it by making something simple -- a skirt with an elastic gathered waist. I was pretty sure I could cope with a ruffle as well. My first mistake was not measuring properly. I cut out a rectangle that was supposed to be my hip measurement plus 10 cm for some ease, and sewed it into a tube. I tried it on and realised it was way too big straight away but thought, she'll be right mate, the waistline will be gathered anyway.

Then I lost motivation and put it away for a few months. (This will turn out to be a recurring theme and is why documentation is so important!) By then I had forgotten it was way too big. I measured out some elastic for the waistband, forgetting that you need to make it a bit smaller than your waist measurement, otherwise it's too loose. I tried it on and it nearly fell off. So I unpicked the elastic and cut it shorter. I put the project aside for a while more, and by then I had forgotten that I'd already adjusted the elastic, so unpicked and re-sewed it again. The elastic was now too small!! But I had other issues...

Because the skirt itself was too big, the fabric was very bulky and made my waistline look much much bigger, as well as ruining the line of any top worn over it. I needed to reduce bulk around the waist, especially the front, so I sewed some big darts into the sides (at least I could remember how to do that, hah!). There was no need to add elastic all the way around the waist because the skirt was now much more fitted, and only needed the teensiest bit of staying-on power. So I cut a short strip of elastic (about 25cm) and just sewed it on at the centre back. Now I had a smooth area across the front.

Even though it looked totally awful and amateurish, I was determined to finish it ... after taking a couple of months off. Next thing was to add the ruffle around the bottom. I had made sure to order enough fabric for a good ruffle, so I cut the strips needed for this and sewed them into a big circle, twice the width of the skirt itself so it'd be nice and floofy. I measured the bottom hem of the ruffle all the way around (all 400+cm of it!), and folded and pressed it in place with an iron, before sewing a nice-looking hem. At least I got that right! Then I sewed it to the bottom of the skirt, and did an extra line of zig zag stitching to keep it neat.

I tried on the skirt -- and it sucked! It was longer than I'd wanted, and while the ruffle was indeed very floofy, the fabric is too heavy for that kind of treatment. The weight of it pulled down on the whole skirt, and it not only felt heavy to wear, but didn't look right either. As well, it was doing that thing where it hangs down lower in the front (do all plus size people get that problem, or is it just me?). I had forgotten that I need to adjust for that when making skirts.

I was so unsure of my own judgement that I put a poll on instagram asking for opinions: was it: too floofy, too long, both of the above, or just fine. I got about an even number of responses for all 4 options, so I had to decide for myself in the end.

I knew I had to do something because I couldn't stand it the way it was. So I cut the ruffle off, and cut about 12 cm off the bottom of the skirt. I sliced into the ruffle fabric and removed about 1/4, then sewed it back into a ring, ready to re-attach to the skirt.

To fix the low-hanging front problem, in the past I always adjusted it at the waistline, but I'd already had too many waistline issues, so I decided to try cutting the bottom edge into a curved shape along the front. Then I sewed the ruffle on again (which if you're a sewist you'll know is not the quick and easy feat that it sounds like!). I tried it on and guess what?! I had sewed the ruffle on inside-out! I didn't notice the whole time I was pinning it on, or the whole time I was sewing it! I took photos of this mistake but I was so disgusted with myself that I deleted them. Thankfully I had decided to try the skirt on BEFORE securing it with zigzag stitch, otherwise it would have been even more of a nightmare! As it was, I spent a nice Friday evening with a glass of wine and my quick-unpicker, who I decided to name Buffy to preserve my sanity a little bit.

After many tea breaks and lie-downs, I sewed the ruffle on for the THIRD time. After carefully checking it again, I did a final zigzag stitch along the ruffle seam to secure it. I was so excited at the thought that this was the final seam of this project, I can't tell you! However, the universe didn't want to release me quite yet. I ran out of bobbin thread and had to refill the bobbin. Then I ran out of upper thread and had to find a new (almost matching) thread. Then not long after installing it, the new thread snapped! I had to thread it again! All for one seam, though thankfully it won't show on the outside so no-one will notice all the stops and starts and slight colour variations.

Better, no?

Another thing I'll note: In the beginning I had tried to save time for myself by aligning the edges of the pieces up against the bound edge (selvedge) of the fabric, therefore theoretically meaning that I don't have to secure the edges with zigzag stitching or pinking shears, but it turned out to be more effort than it was worth and didn't really help at all. I had to secure it with zigzag stitch anyway and the thick selvedge edge just added bulk in most places.

I still don't really consider this skirt as 100% finished. I'd like to fix the darts in place with fusible webbing (I have some, just need to find it), and maybe add some lace to the bottom edge if I'm ever feeling brave enough.

There's the full saga of my Faux Patchwork Skirt, the first garment I've sewn in 10 years. It was pretty excruciating, I have to admit, but I have a feeling it's somehow broken a barrier and enabled me to think about what else I can make in the future. I ordered some more fabric this morning from a new-to-me shop and I'll report when it arrives!

It was extremely windy when I took these photos, so the skirt looks uneven, but it's actually just being buffeted by gale force winds. =D

Mostly for my own reference, but in case anyone is interested, here are the specs:

Fabric: quilting weight cotton ; Michael Miller "Indian Summer"
Length: 2.5 metres
Bought from: Kawaii Modes 4 U (purchased in 2018 - no longer available)
Cost: $42.15 (I'm glad I didn't remember how much it cost, or else I would have been much more upset and precious about this project than I already was!)
Pattern: n/a