I love a good sewing challenge just as much as the next person, so was all over the Ginghamalong as soon as Karen announced it. In fact, I was ahead of the game having just finished a gingham dress, and already started this skirt. Maybe I'm psychic!!
I'm not going to talk about the dress too much, because it is more than worthy of a post of it's own (which is coming up), but if you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen a few construction photos. I
didn't want to enter my dress as it was already finished, and that's not
in the spirit of a sewing challenge, although the dress is the reason
why the skirt came about.
The dress has two different sizes of gingham checks, and I had about half a metre of the large check, and more of the smaller check left over. Also, I'm an idiot and kept ordering the wrong size of smaller check on ebay, so was left with all this gingham - Sigh. So I decided to see if I could cobble together a tiered maxi skirt from it, so I could swish around in a Stevie Nicks style.
A bit of googling found me this Burda tutorial, which I read, and then kind of winged it. I measured the length from my waist to my ankle, and divided by 3, then added seam/hem allowances. That gave me the length of each tier.
The width of the top tier was my hip measurement plus a few inches ease. The gingham in the top tier is 1.5 mm. Then it all got a bit random, and the widths were whatever worked with the fabric I had. The gingham in the middle tier is 3 mm; the bottom tier is a combination of the two fabrics used in my dress, and they are 4 mm and 9 mm.
I had bought a few black metal zips when I made this favourite skirt last summer, so put one of them in using this tutorial from Megan Nielsen.
I had bought a few black metal zips when I made this favourite skirt last summer, so put one of them in using this tutorial from Megan Nielsen.
The gathering was done using my overlocker; I found this great tutorial on youtube, and it's an absolute doddle. I will never sew gathering stitches on a skirt again!
The waistband is finished with some Petersham ribbon, and that's it!
Good luck with your make if your entering the Ginghamalong, and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of lovely gingham inspiration.
Have a great weekend,
Lynne
Fun skirt. Good use of little leftovers and lots of tips too - thanks Lynne.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's always pleasing to be able to use leftovers!
DeleteBeautiful skirt Lynne and I love the tip for the overlocker. X
ReplyDeleteThank you! I can't remember how I ever came across gathering on an overlocker, but it is soooo easy!
DeleteFab skirt, I love all of the different ginghams and the way they get bigger on the way down.
ReplyDeleteThank you! What's not to love about gingham?!
DeleteThis takes me back to the 1970's when I was wearing the twin sister of this skirt but in green!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!!! I will never not love the 70s!
ReplyDeleteSwish, swish, swish! Such a lovely skirt, I'm sure it's a lot of fun to wear! I've never tried gathering on the overlocker....I think I'll need to give it a go!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Honestly, gathering on the overlocker is so easy. You'll never look back!
DeleteI love all the different sizes of gingham together! I was very tempted to join in the ginghamalong, but I already had more than enough on my sewing list so I'm just watching from the sidelines!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm guessing that you would have made a fabulous gingham dress!
DeleteWhat a wonderful gingham skirt! I love all of the detailing.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a wonderful gingham skirt! I love all of the detailing.
ReplyDelete