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 It’s the final week of my skirts series, inspired by my "Sassy Skirts" Pinterest page, and I have to say I’m really happy with the additions to my wardrobe. It’s been good discipline for me to hold myself to a time frame and specific projects that keep me on task. As you all know, it’s pretty easy to get side tracked by some pretty fabric and toss your sewing plans to the side.  For this skirt, I used a newish Simplicity pattern 8175 I purchased a couple of months back. It has 2 styles of skirts and one pair of pants (all with pockets) and I’d really like to try all of the views. For this skirt I used view D and added 4” to the length. I made a size 12 and it sits at my natural waist.
I’m not really sure what to call this fabric but it’s a fairly heavy but soft cotton with lots of texture. I picked it up at The Fabric Store in LA because I simply couldn’t pass up the color. Normally, I would think a purple skirt wouldn’t be very practical but I put the skirt up against the shirts in my closet and found it goes with quite a bit. A basic that’s not too basic. I like it!  Because the fabric is so heavy, I used a quilting weight cotton scrap for the pocket lining and the waistband facing. I wanted to reduce as much bulk as possible. When pressed , the fabric left a “shadow” so I was careful to use my tricky strips of manilla folder between the seams and skirt when I put the iron to it. Do you use these?  I used some bias strips of the cotton along the hem because the small hem looked skimpy when I turned it up and by adding the fabric I was able to make the hem wider while hiding the raw edge. Although it looks cute, I’m hoping it won’t show to the outside when I sit down..but we’ll see.  Christmas gift sewing is on my table now. I’m making 20 pincushions for all of my sewing friends so there’s lot of repetition. I sew in small spurts of time to break it up. I’m thinking about making some plaid flannel scarves too if I have time. My goal is to have all of my Christmas sewing finished by December 1.
Anyone else Christmas sewing? Diane  It’s week #2 of the “Bottoms-Up” skirt series. Last week I made a gray and black Ally Skirt but this week I have a wintery but colorful plaid skirt that’ll spice up my closet.  This beautiful wool boucle from Fabricland was one I couldn’t pass up. Clearly, it would make a stunning jacket but I would wear a skirt so much more. Chanel boucle jackets often have fringe trim so why not add some trim to my skirt as well?  I used McCall’s pattern 7096. It’s fairly new pattern and has front and back seams that would lend themselves to fringe. I made view A in a size 12 because I found it ran a little big and it still sits too low on the hip for me. I figure by the time Thanksgiving is over it’ll be just perfect.  I took my time cutting the plaid (for obvious reasons) and cut all pieces in a single layer to make sure I got the match right on. The best way I found to ensure everything lined up was by using my 24” quilting ruler across all of the pieces. And after all of that painstaking work lining it up, I used the Accufeed on my machine (essentially a built-in walking foot) to keep those plaids in place.  The fringe may look difficult and time consuming and it may make you think I’m clever, but it’s so simple you won’t think I’m such a genius. I sewed the front and back seams wrong sides together, pressed them open from the front, and did a long zig-zag stitch down the center seam to stabilize the seam for fringing. I simply pulled threads (while I was on the phone with my sweet mom) and it was done! It really is that easy.
This is an unlined skirt pattern and for sure a wool skirt needs to be lined. I wrote a “How to Line an Unlined Skirt” post to show how to make a pattern for a skirt lining. The lining was made without the front and back seams to eliminate bulk. I then attached it to the yoke. Check it out!  I have a purple skirt in the works for week #3. Doesn’t every girl need a purple skirt?
Happy Sewing! Diane |
About MeHi! I'm Diane, a wife, mom, sewing teacher and pattern designer from sunny Southern California. I share my sewing adventures here on the Blue Dot Blog formerly Gatorbunnysews. For more info click here. 
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