Vintage Gathered Skirt Tutorial

I don’t think this post needs much of an introduction. I wanted a new skirt, I had this great fabric (from budulina), I was inspired one evening - I sat down and made it.

I made an attempt to make a skirt a few months back, and it was great until I had to install the zipper. I made a crucial mistake somewhere along the road and the zipper wouldn’t close! It wasn’t my first zipper, so I’m not sure exactly what went wrong, but I was not about to make the same mistake on this skirt, and I must say I’m very proud of the result. I don't have a serger, so I decided to go with french seams for a perfect finish.

This skirt is relatively easy to make, and apart from the zipper (which can be intimidating) and the button hole (which can be annoying) it’s all sewing in straight lines - no fuss no bother. The design is classic and sweet and can be used for little girls as well as grown ups. Choose fun and unique fabrics to get that wow effect!

If you follow my tutorials you may have seen this before - where possible I make my instructions to your size. Simply enter your waist measurement and the desired length (top of the waist band to the edge of the skirt) and I will calculate the fabric pieces you need. Go ahead, try it yourself!

Waist measurement:
cm

Final length:
cm

GO

Materials

• 2 fabric rectangles 88cm X 48cm for main skirt pieces. Make sure the pattern matches on both pieces, it will be quite obvious if they don't.
• 1 long fabric strip 95cm X 10cm for waist band
• 1 long interfacing strip 93cm X 4cm for waist band
• 1 18 cm zipper
• 1 button
• Basic sewing notions

Instructions

1. Iron your interfacing on to the waist band fabric, 1 cm from each edge for seam allowance (it will be 5 cm from the opposite long edge). Fold over short edges 1cm and press. Fold over the long edge without interfacing 1 cm and press.
   
   
   
2. Place your main fabric pieces together wrong sides facing (yes, wrong sides - remember, we’re doing french seams here). Align the top of the zipper (including the allowance past the zipper pull) with the top of the skirt. Mark the edge of the zipper, and pin from that point to the bottom. Pin along the other short edge (all the way from top to bottom). Sew pinned edges 1/2 cm from the edge. Remove the pins, turn inside out. Fold over the edges where the zipper will go to match the seam you sewed and press all seams flat.
   
3. Repin the seams, same as in step 2 (this time the right sides will be facing). Sew 1 cm from the edge (to ensure that the raw edges are incased in the second seam). Same as before, fold over the edges where the zipper will go to match the seam you sewed and press all seams flat.
   
   
   
   This is where the zipper will go:
   
   
   
4. Turn the skirt right side out. Pin the zipper into place behind one of the folded edges. Using the zipper foot, carefully edge stitch the fabric to the zipper, moving the pull out of the way as you sew. Do the same for the second edge. Sew across the bottom edge of the gap to secure the zipper bottom to the skirt. Turn skirt inside out. See how the raw edge of the fabric is under the zipper?
   
   
   
   Zig zag stitch the zipper and the folded fabric together for a clean finish.
   [By the time I got to this step it was very late and I stopped taking pictures… sorry]
   
5. Hem the bottom edge of the skirt (fold over 1 cm, press, fold over 1 cm again, press, sew around). Turn skirt right side out.
   
6. Prepare gathers: Set your sewing machine on the longest straight stitch it has and sew around the top of the skirt. Do not backstitch at the start and end! Pull the bottom thread gently to create gathers. Distribute them evenly around the skirt, using the waist band as a guide for the final width. Note that the waist band includes 7cm extra for the button tab and seam allowance.
   
7. Align the folded short edge of the waist band with the zipper edge and the long interfaced edge with the gathered skirt top, right sides facing. Pin into place and sew around the skirt 1cm from the edge (stopping at the other side of the zipper). Fold waist band upwards along sewn seam, fold over the button tab to match and press.
   
8. Fold the waist band down over to the wrong side of the skirt top, so that the raw edges are sandwiched between the folded long edges. Pin into place, making sure that the folded edge on the wrong side is slightly lower than the sewn edge on the right side. This way, you are sure to catch the inside edge when you sew from the outside. Make sure the button tab and short edges are nicely aligned and that the zipper raw edges are hidden inside. With the skirt right side out, top stitch as close to the edge as possible, starting from the bottom of the waist band, continuing on the button tab and ending back where you started.
   
9. Make the button hole on the waist band (about 1-2cm from the edge). Attach the button to the button tab.
   
10. Enjoy!

[This pattern is for personal use only. Items made with this pattern may not be sold without my explicit permission]

Purpose the Purple Purse: Design Decisions

I’ve been absolutely-head-over-heels in love with this purse from GUNAS for a while ago. I set out to make a purse inspired by this design over a year ago, but - as always, just never got around to it. There are always more pressing issues. Anyway, the link is broken, so I guess they’re not selling it anymore, which makes me feel even better about making my own. Not that I was actually considering buying this purse for $275… Way out of my budget.

When I design a bag of any type, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I actually need. What kind of handles, which internal end external pockets I need and any extra touches of convenience that will make the bag just right.

I’ve been using a hand bag for a while now, and while I like the style, it often happens that I really need a shoulder strap. For instance, if I have a child with me or I’ve done some serious shopping and my hands are all tied up. Also, and while this may seem silly, it is very true, I’ve switched jobs and my new job doesn’t have an employee card. Which means that when I go to lunch and I don’t have pockets (usually…) I don’t have a place to put my lunch money card. To solve that, I’m planning to make a small matching insert with room for my cell phone and a few flat essentials.

Another serious issue is that I must have a place for documents and other pieces of paper hanging around my purse and a water bottle holder. Since documents and water bottles tend to clash (and I don’t want the water bottle on the outside, because that would give the bag a sporty look, and I’m not going there), I decided the document holder must be waterproof. I have my requirements, and now all I have to do is design it…

I am actually so bad at sketching, that creating the design on the computer is actually easier. Nowadays there’s probably some fancy name or acronym for not being able to draw, but I survived up until now, I’m sure I can manage a few more years.

Anyway, the purple is the fabric I’m planning to use (the pattern is actually much smaller, but for the picture it was easier to use the zoomed in version). The bright green part is my planned piping, only - I can’t decide on the fabric I want to use… I’m planning on using the same fabric for the piping and the lining. It just so happens that I have 4(!) different fabrics (interestingly enough, and absolutely not on purpose - all from Michael Miller…) which match nicely.

Help me pick one!

Home Makeover: in the Kitchen

On these last couple of days I turned my attention to our kitchen. We have a convenient work island in the middle of the kitchen, which naturally turned into a junk pile. We decided, as a family, that junk was not the best use for that surface, and that it could be much nicer and cleaner. We also had these IKEA bar stools, and since I usually sit on them and they hurt my back, I decided that some padding would be nice.

To save time and money, I stopped over at IKEA and picked up some fabric and other home accessories and set out to get all the work done in a couple of hours. Well, not surprisingly, it took a little longer than that (but not much). While I was there, I decided to tackle the junk pile on our bedroom dresser as well, and got some candles and a lucky bamboo, which I hope will help keep the junk away in our entire home (and I like the way it looks and that it doesn’t need to be watered very often). It’s not particularly inspiring, just clean and neat, so I’ll spare you the pictures.

This is our kitchen before:

And here is what it looks like now:

I upholstered the IKEA stools (with IKEA fabric), and used a matching contrast fabric for the table top. Two wine glasses, a wine bottle and a black and white fruit bowl (which will be filled once I get back from the market) completes the soft yet elegant look. I’m very happy with the result. In fact, I’ve been stopping to look and feel proud of my work every time I go in the kitchen…

To complete the decluttering, I moved all of the unused fridge magnets to the side of the fridge, where they don’t show. Then, I wrapped a tin box with the upholstery fabric and glued a magnet on the back, to use for pens. I got the idea here, and I’ve been meaning to do it for a while now. Finally, no more hunting for pens when delivery guys show up!

You can just see our water cooler in the back of the kitchen, so you can see that we really like orange. I can’t get enough of the color (though I try to not go overboard with it).

Last but not least, I made a cover for our Kitchen-Aid out of the same contrast fabric. When I was almost done I decided it was too dark for the corner it was going to be in, and decided to add a bias tape finish made from the orange fabric instead of just hemming it. I’m happy with the result, and I will be sharing a tutorial soon (I’m planning to make one for my in-laws, so I’ll draft a pattern while I’m at it).

Perfect.

365 Project: Day 155 (Busy-Busy)

First of all, let me say thank you to Mrs. Blue Mazda who always parks on the lines. This time, she started to park (badly, as usual) while I was about to take my daughter out of the car. She stared at me for a while, and I couldn’t quite understand if she was waiting for me to finish or if she was waiting to see if she could park on top of me. After a few seconds of this I decided to go ahead and get her out of the car. Mrs. Blue Mazda waited until I was done and then parked as close to me as possible (or so it seems). If I didn’t know she NEVER parks inside the lines, I would think she had something against me.

After this parking faux pas, I went to the post office to pick up my packages. One contained the fabrics I won from Good Sewing and Crafts for sharing the link to their store in the most number of places (see? I’m doing it again). Yey! I didn’t even have to stand in line for very long (only 3 people before me!).

Then, I headed in to town to buy some materials for a few projects I’m working on. I found parking in no time, and I finally used the cellular parking service - instead of paying for an hour “just in case” I paid exactly for the time I was there (1.68 NIS, thank you very much). Genius!

Here’s my loot for the day…

365 Project: Day 107 + fabric, shoes & a sukkah

I started my day early, around 6:45 or so, but it stayed pretty dark throughout the morning. It’s actually pretty dark right now (~13:30). Well, I guess the seasons are actually changing. I dislike this time of year, because you never know what you’re going to get tomorrow, and some days you don’t know what you’re going to get later in the day. You might leave the house in the morning wearing short sleeves, and come back in the evening to pouring rain. I wish the weather could decide: summer or winter.
  

First thing in the morning, I went to the post office to get my latest delivery of fabrics, for dirt-cheap prices (from Good Sewing and Crafts). Yey! I can’t wait to start on some projects I’m planning, but I’ve been crazy busy with work, and haven’t had any time to do anything…

365 Project: Day 99 in Jerusalem

I grew up in Jerusalem, and even though I don’t live there anymore, I still love it.

I met my mother for breakfast, who informed me that the Berninal sewing machine store, where I was planning to buy some supplies, had moved to a new location, which was kind of a disappointment – I expect things to stay the same when I leave for a couple of years... However, the old sewing machines add a nice touch of character to the shiny-new store.

More fun stuff: