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]

How to: Upholster Bar Stools in a Jiffy

Nowadays everybody has an work island in their kitchen, or if you’re a carefree bachelor - a bar. With these pieces comes a great responsibility: bar stools. If you’re anything like me, by the time you’ve got to picking out bar stools you’re at the stage where your budget has run out and you’re looking for the cheapest option available. For me that means IKEA. Unfortunately, the simple stools are boring, and not easy on my aching tail bone either. So if IKEA it is, IKEA hack is coming up (in fact, even the fabric I used was from IKEA)!

We’ve had these bar stools for a while, and I’ve already posted their upholstered pictures when I posted about my home makeover. However, they’re so easy, cheap and fast to make - I decided that I must share.

The upholstery can be done with or without a sewing machine. If you do choose to use a sewing machine, you will get a cleaner look, and can even add piping for a more professional finish. But, if you just want to get it over with - go ahead with the no sew version.

Materials:

• Staple gun and staples
• Fabric marker
• Scissors
• About 1/2 meter of fabric for each stool
• Foam (enough to cover the seat)
• Batting (optional, it will soften the edges of the seat)
• A baby sitter for the kids (if you have them. Working with a staple gun when there are children around is a bad idea)
• Sewing machine and notions if you plan to make the sewn version.

Instructions:

1. Spread the fabric on the floor and place the batting over it. Place the chair seat upside down on the fabric. Mark a circle around the seat. Do the same with the foam.
   
   
   
2. Cut the foam on the circle mark you made in step 1. If you don’t have a good craft knife, use scissors. They cut foam well, and any uneven edges will be hidden by the fabric.
3. Mark a second circle around the first circle on the fabric and the batting, still together: If you are planning to make the sewn version, make the second circle about 1.5 cm larger than the first. Otherwise, make it about 10 cm larger (it should be long enough to cover the foam, seat and overlap enough to staple onto the seat bottom). Cut around the larger of the two circles.
4. If you are sewing: Measure the diameter of the seat. Cut a strip of fabric and batting 4 times that length by 12 cm wide (make sure that it will be enough to cover the foam and seat etc.). With fabric and batting held together, fold over one short edge 2 cm and pin.
   If you want to add piping, sew in on to the strip now, stitching very close to the long edge of the strip.
   Pin the strip to the circle, right sides together (batting on wrong sides…), starting with the folded edge. When you complete the circle, pin your raw edge behind the folded edge and cut the excess fabric and batting.
   Sew all around the circle. When you are done, edge stitch the folded edge of the strip to finish it nicely (any raw edges will be on the inside). Cut excess fabric and turn right side out.
5. Place fabric with batting on the floor. Place foam in the center of the circle. Place chair upside down on the foam. Fold over one side of the fabric and staple in place. Do the same on the opposite edge. Do the same in the center of both other edges. Start stapling around the entire seat, the closer the staples are to each other - the better the upholstery will hold, and the less loose ends will show.
   
   
   
6. Trim excess fabric.
7. Turn over and enjoy!

You could use easy to clean vinyl fabric for the upholstery, but I figure these are so easy to make, if they get dirty - I’ll just replace it with a new fabric!

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.

A Doll House To Go

I made this doll house a while ago with a pattern from one yard wonders. Later, I found the same pattern in a free online tutorial, so - you can enjoy it without buying the book (though I am a fan). Personally, I would modify the pattern not to include so much hand sewing, but otherwise, it’s an excellent idea and the result is really sweet.

I had big plans for the interior - dolls and furniture and more, but I never got around to it, You know how it is… Finally, I decided that the doll house must be put into use one way or another, and started to think about what would be the easiest way for me to make dolls. I decided on finding a cute doll design and printing on fabric. The first part turned out to be much harder than I thought, whereas the second part much easier…

Finally I found this design on Sweet Clip Art, I modified it a little bit because I wanted a little boy and girl, but not holding hands (and I added the smiley face and flower’s to the boy’s shirt and girl’s dress). I chose the colors for the first set (on the left), and then my son decided he wanted a pair as well, so he got to choose the colors for the second pair (on the right). I was a little afraid of printing on fabric, but I found instructions for a simple technique which worked surprisingly well and it worked out fine: All you have to do is cut your fabric a size that your printer accepts, take some cardstock the same size and stick the edge slightly inset from the card’s edge with scotch tape. The edge will slide into the printer easily and the card will provide the necessary stiffness for printing. Easy as pie!

Because the fabric was quite see through, I ironed on some white interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric, and then cut out the doll shapes with a 1.5 cm seam allowance. Then I traced those shapes on a contrasting fabric (don’t forget to put the doll shapes face down…) and cut them out. I sewed them together right sides together, leaving a gap for turning right side out, stuffed them, sewed the gap closed and hey - 4 dolls!

Interestingly enough, my daughter showed no interest in the doll house before it had dolls, or the first doll before it was in the doll house, but together - she loves them!

Drawing Kits To-Go

I made these drawing kits to-go for the kids yesterday. I’m not sharing the pattern, well, because I’m planning to sell them. And the pattern. Coming soon!

Each kit is a padded suit case with hook-and-loop (Velcro) closure. There is a pocket on each side of the inside cover for paper, stickers etc. In the middle there is a zippered pocket for colors, scissors and any other equipment your child might need.

These are for younger children, sized to fit A5 size paper (or A4 folded in half). For older kids there will be larger size, to fit A4/letter paper.

Boy & girl versions:

שמאל, ימין ומה שביניהם, או: למה אני חופרת בעברית אבל תופרת באנגלית

הסיפור שלי מתחיל בכיתה ד’ בשיעור מלאכה, בזמן שבבית הספר ה"שוויוני" שלי הבנים למדו נגרות, הבנות למדו לסרוג ולתפור. סרגתי צעיף ותפרתי סינר, ושם זה נגמר. בהמשך, ניסיתי ללמוד לסרוג כיפה, אבל לא לימדו אותי בצורה מספיק מדויקת, וזה לא הלך בכלל. מאז פיתחתי סוג של פחד ממסרגה אחת.

[זו תופעה די רווחת - לסרוג כיפה זה דבר קל מאד, אבל משום מה תמיד ההוראות הן “להוסיף עיניים לפי הצורך” ואם הכיפה מתחילה להיות גלית “להוסיף פחות עיניים”, כשלמעשה יש חוקיות מאד ברורה לגבי כמה עיניים צריך להוסיף בכל סיבוב. ואז, מן הסתם, זה לא יוצא טוב, ואת חושבת שאת לא בסדר ו”את לא מסתדרת עם מסרגה אחת”.]

כעבור מספר שנים, פרצה לחיינו שפרה, בעונה הראשונה של האח הגדול בישראל, שבין שאר המשימות וההתרחשויות המרתקות, הפיגה את השיעמום ע”י סריגה על עצים. בעקבות כך, מגזיני הסטייל בישראל התמלאו בכתבות על סריגת רחוב, סריגת בובות וסריגה בכלל. גם אני נסחפתי בזרם, הוצאתי את המסרגות מהבוידעם המטאפורי ושיחזרתי את הכישורים הבסיסיים עי”י סריגת צעיף וכובע. אח”כ אזרתי עוז והחלטתי לסרוג בובה. בתמימותי, חיפשתי הוראות בעברית ולא הצלחתי להבין דבר: סריגה תמיד מתבצעת מימין לשמאל, אם כך מה היא עין ימין ומה היא עין שמאל? עשיתי ctrl+shift וחיפשתי באנגלית. ומצאתי.

שתי מסרגות

365 Project: Day 115 - כמעט אחרי החגים + פרוכת לגן

We’re back from spending Simchat Tora (שמחת תורה) at my parents-in-law. The suitcase is going back up where it belongs, with a small stop as a house to my sewing box, which I was using to finally finish up a project for Noam’s kindergarten. Yes, it’s finally done (I’ve been procrastinating for a while now)!

פרוכת וכיסוי לדוכן

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:

Stuffed Toy Snake Tutorial

When we were in London, many years ago, we bought a stuffed snake. Years later, both our children love it and fight often over who gets to play with it. When my daughter went to day care, and I made her a snake to take with her. So, of course, my son wanted one too.

When I made hers, I still had a small amount of Etsuko Furuya Glasses fabric in pink (from our local fabric shop budulina), so I decided to incorporate that in the design – her snake got glasses. When I made the manly version (also with fabrics from budulina) I didn’t have any left, so I drew on plain eyes.

All the sizes given in this tutorial are appropriate for fitting a pair of glasses on the snake’s
head, but of course – you can make it any size you want!

Planner/Journal Cover Tutorial

This year, I decided that I would be organized. I’ve found that when I use online calendars, they tend to get out of sync – some things I put in my work calendar, some on my phone and I never had a full picture of what was going on. So, I bought a weekly planner (I used a coupon, so it even cost me next to nothing).

The problem was that the planner didn’t have a pocket for documents or a place for a pen. Now, that’s just not good enough! But wait – why don’t I make a cover with both features? This simple project takes less than an hour to make, and a very small amount of fabric (depending on the size of your planner).

Tutorial: Semi quilted picnic set (part 2)

After we made such a nice blanket, we need a tote to carry it and other essentials (I never leave the house without baby wipes anymore).

I wanted to use the leftover fabric from the blanket to create a fun tote with a trim, but if you decide to make it without, simply ignore those instructions.

I remembered that I am also a web developer, so instead of providing absolute measurements and letting you calculate yourself if you decide to make it a different size, I’m proud to present a built in calculator. Simply enter the final measurements you want, click “Calculate” and all the measurements will be miraculously updated.

Final measurements:

height	cm
width	cm
depth	cm

Calculate

Materials:
Main pieces, cut 4: 32cm X 42cm
Side pieces, cut 2 & strap, cut 1: 106cm X 12cm
Trim, cut 2: 108cm X 4cm
Zipper pocket top, cut 1: 8cm X 42cm
Zipper pocket bottom, cut 1: 15cm X 42cm
Zipper at least 40cm long
If you’d like to use this tote on a stroller, you’ll need snaps or Velcro.

Tutorial: Semi quilted picnic set (part 1)

It’s summer, and we go out to the park almost every day. My oldest hooks up with other kids and runs around and up and down the slides, but my little one still needs me to sit with her on the grass. I used to have a water proof blanket we got as a gift from work at some point, but it disappeared a while ago and I haven’t replaced it. Until now. And what could be better than a matching tote for carrying all the outing must haves?



Before you get started, decide the size you want your blanket to be. If you want your stitched diagonal squares to be symmetrical in all directions, you should take this into account in your calculations. I didn’t and was sorry later… I used my ruler’s width as the size of the squares, it makes it much easier to mark and make sure they’re straight and all the same size.
If you care about it being symmetrical you can do the following calculation: So, let’s say my square size is X, I’m using 8th grade math to figure out the diagonal size: X^2+X^2=Y^2 ==> Y=1.41X. In other words, multiply X by 1.41 to get the length of the of the diagonal. The length and width of the blanket should be some product of this number (it doesn’t have to be the same for both).

My adventures with a stylist and the making of a skirt which followed

About 6 weeks ago, I won a facebook competition at one of the malls near where I work. The prize was 1000 NIS to spend in a store of my choice with a stylist, and a haircut. I had asked for a meeting with a stylist for my birthday, now – having won this excellent prize, I can ask for something else. I’m debating between a tablet of some sort or a makeup session (now that I know how to dress, I should learn how to wear makeup, right?). Money is, of course, not an issue in my fantasies of what I want for my birthday…

On Friday two weeks ago, I met with the stylist at the mall. First we sat down and discussed my body type and colors and she told me which colors and shapes I should wear. I have red hair, white skin with reddish highlights, blue eyes, and a non-slim hour glass shape (I’m really lucky – I gain weight evenly across all my body, so it doesn’t show as much as it could).
She recommended a V neckline but never spaghetti straps or elbow length shirts – they make your shoulders look much wider than they are. She recommended high waists and tucking my shirt in (sorry, I just can’t). She also said that because I’m tall, I could wear whatever length skirt or pants I want, but I still think that 3/4 length is not flattering to anyone really.

I didn't take these pictures, but you get the idea

Regarding colors, she recommended green, blue, brown and purple (which I already knew) and no red, orange or yellow (how boring, but I guess she’s right). She said nothing about black, because everyone wears black so stylists are on a mission to ignore that color, even though it’s one of the best colors for me. She also recommended off-white instead of white-white (which I wouldn’t have thought of myself), and camel (I disagree entirely).

Now starts the fun: we went to the store and tried out a million outfits. We picked a pair of black skinny dress pants which I would have never picked out myself, ever. They looked amazing! The cut was just right! I also got a drapy-tied black sleeveless top with an off-white lining and it was also perfect. The tied part hid any extra flab I have around my middle, without making me look like I was trying. Excellent. I also got a nicely tailored blue dress. We were running out of time and we needed to pick a 4th item, so I ended up with a light pink top which looked really nice on the hanger, but not on me. I have no idea what I was thinking when I took it, it’s a classic mistake of taking what there is. By the time I got home I already knew it was wrong for me, so I went back the next week and exchanged it for a black tailored dress. Much better.