Everyday Skirt Part 2: Sewing the Skirt

A fun, full summer skirt.. for parties or parks... work or rec.. or just to keep you cool.

Everyday.

For this skirt you will need: 

A main print, mine is Alexander Henry's Metro Cite in Navy = to your desired skirt length below waistband plus 3" (1.5" for hem + waistband and 1.5" in case of shrinkage)  twice,

2" elastic = to your waist measurement plus 3-4 inches for shrinkage if you dye or prewash,

plus regular and elastic thread.

Note: It's a good idea to prewash fabric and elastic.

Prepare the elastic waistband. You can use white, black or try dyeing it, I dyed this one with Rit brand Pearl Grey (see Everyday Skirt Part 1: Dyeing Elastic). After dyeing, washing and drying cut your elastic 1" longer than your waist measurement. Finish each short end with a zig-zag or overlock stitch, backstitching at each end. Next fold waistband in half, matching the overlocked ends and sew together with a 1/2" seam allowance, backstitching at each end. Press this seam open.

Cut out two skirt panels. The length of the panel should be cut at the desired finished skirt length (have someone measure you, starting just below were you'd like you waistband to sit) plus 1.5". For a fuller skirt or for a larger waist measurement you can use the entire fabric width salvage to salvage twice. For my skirt I wanted it to be full but not overly full, so I cut off 5" from both panels, giving me two 40" wide panels. Each panel can be anywhere from 1 to 1.5 times your waist measurement. Customize it to your desired style and fit.

With right sides together, sew your two skirt panels down each side seam with 1/2" seam allowance. Finish the seam with either pinking, serging or zigzag stitch. Turn skirt right side out. 

Hand wind a bobbin with elastic thread, careful not to stretch the thread as you wind. Load bobbin into your machine.  Sew one row of straight stitches with a normal stitch length, 1/4" from the top of your skirt. With the elastic in your bobbin your skirt will start to gather (or shear). Continue all the way around and backstitch when you reach were you started. Sew another row at 1/2" seam allowance ending with a backstitch. Finally sew a zig zag or other overlock stitch at the very top edge of the skirt to keep it from fraying. 

The two rows of shearing should make your skirt top a lot closer to your waist size but maybe not quite, IF not switch back to regular thread in your bobbin and sew one row of basting stitches (4.0mm - 5.0mm long) in between your 2 rows of shearing, leaving the tails long for pulling.  I know this may seem like complete over kill with the shearing and the gathering but trust me it helps so much when it comes to trying to evenly space your gathers. The shearing spaces them perfectly for you then when you gather you have less to fuss with. When making my second skirt I tried skipping the 1/4" row of elastic shearing and in the end found it essential. 

IF you had to sew the gathering thread pull just your bobbin thread in a drawstring type motion until the top of your skirt fits into your waistband, spread the gathers evenly around your skrit. IF the shearing  stitches made your skirt gather enough or made the top of your skirt smaller then your waistband simply give it a little strech until it fits within the band. 

Find the sides of your waistband, fold it in half with the seam centered to the back of the skirt, mark the sides of the waistbands with pins or fabric marker.

Start pinning by aligning the side seams of your skirt with the marked sides of the band. The bottom of the elastic should just overlap the bottom row of shearing stitches, so you cannot see them. 

Pin well all the way around your waistband. 

Edge stitch (with regular thread in bobbin) along the bottom of the waistband with a stretch stitch or tiny zigzag. 

Finally try it on and determine your hem length.. I usually finish with a 1" hem, pressing the fabric up 1/2" twice and then edge stitching the top of the fold. For this skirt I want to squeeze out just a bit more length so I did a 1/2" hem, ironing up 1/4" twice.

Done!

Haha... It's even easier to make then it is to blog about.

Also it's true the skirt I originally showed you had pockets.. and so does this one though I left out photos of them.. and you may be wondering were the pocket part of this tutorial is... Well to be honest I was going to post it but this little ditty has already taken me long enough :( 

I'm sorry. 

(Everyday Skirt in Farmington Gate in Red)

Many of you could probably figure them out. But if you're local and you really want to learn the pockets, take my Everyday Skirt Class (with pockets!) at Sew To Speak and I'll teach you how!

Hope you enjoy and happy sewing!!

April

P.S. As for the time in between blog posts these days I feel I owe another apology.  It's funny how easy it is one week.. children calm, napping and sleeping on schedule.. predictable daily routines...sewing sewing sewing and than bam! No sewing or blogging for weeks.. I guess that's life with little ones... but alas I know they wont be little long... so I let the blog go and save the photos to be edited later... sucking up baby time until regular sleep schedules return and I can focus on my computer screen for a bit... 

Sometimes I just don't see how other working, crafting mama bloggers do it, if you have the secret key to this perplexing mystery, leave a comment!!!

My Everyday Skirt Part 1: Dyeing Elastic

I love a simple "quick sew" garment. Something I can whip up after the kids are asleep and easily wear the next day. I've seen several ready made versions of this skirt and thought how easy would that be... Just let the elastic show! Janelle and I talked about it and she did some searching around for colored elastic suppliers... (you could use stark white if your fabric worked well with it but we wanted something tailor-made). After turning up empty she mentioned to me that we could dye our elastic. How brilliant she is!! As with many of her ideas I jumped at the chance to try it (after asking her permission of course).

First let me say that I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I am certain there is a science to dyeing but I am not a scientist. Lol. I just had fun and tried a few different things. Ultimately what I learned is that dyeing elastic is very unpredictable, even more so then fabric. It is very hard to determine the exact color you will get and it is best to just have fun and embrace the element of surprise.
If you like to match your colors I would suggest dyeing your waistband before purchasing your skirt fabric. I personally like a bit of mismatchy color... close but not quite the same. Many times others don't notice.. for instance almost all shades of grey work together and pinks look cute when they are slightly off. Also you could pair a print with a completely different colored waistband for a bolder and playful statement.. for example: a grey and white geometric print with a bold yellow waistband.

Here is how I dyed my waistbands:
I start with a generous cut of 2" wide elastic (1" wide for a child's version), at least  3" longer then my waist measurement. I had one piece shrink more then 1 1/2" after dyeing and drying!
I used "Rit" dye all purpose concentrate, in the powder form. I followed the stovetop method for smaller dye batches. I DIDN'T add salt to the powdered dye as it already contains some.
It is a good idea to wear an apron (not your favorite!) have a rag close and stir carefully. Use stainless steel pans and utensils such as a large spoon or tongs. You may also like to wear gloves, I don't but I also don't touch my items until I've rinsed them.

For 3qts. of water (.75 gallon) I used about half the dye packet, this is more than the directions call for because the elastic does not absorb the dye as well as cotton does.
I heat my dye batch to a low simmer. Before submerging my elastic I prep it by soaking it in hot water and stretching it quite a bit, I figure this may help separate the fibers and allow the dye to fully penetrate the elastic.  The first waistband I dyed had a few spots where the dye missed completely, this may or may not have been because I didn't stretch it but I since have and have not had as many flaws I've also agitated the dye bath more to help with even dyeing. After prepping I check that the powder is fully dissolved and then I gently place my elastic into the pan. For whatever reason... maybe because it's fun or because I don't want to waist my dye...I often search the house for other things to toss in.. a stained tank or onesies, plain white lace.. etc.. I watch and stir constantly, pulling up my items to check the color. I pull them out as soon as I have a tint I like. This is sometimes right away, and other times I allow my elastic to soak awhile, the longer it soaks the darker and more saturated the color will be. It also depends on the material the elastic is made form, elastics containing cotton take to dye more easily.

After pulling them form the dye, I place my items in a bowl and take them to the sink to rinse in warm water. RINSE COMPLETELY. Rinse until water runs clear. You don't want any leftover dye to run into your skirt fabric when washed. Finally after rinsing, I toss my dyed items in the dryer on low heat (if you have more patience than me you can hang them to dry).

Here are the colors I've tried thus far:

All three of these were in the same dye batch. The bottom lace was only in for 30 seconds or less. The top 2 were in for the exact same amount of time.. that's the difference the fiber contents makes. The bottom lace is 100% cotton.

In this photo the elastic and box color seam to match but in real life the elastic is a bit peachier.. it worked well with the fabric, not a perfect match but I prefer that.

These pinks were all in the same dye for different lengths of time.

Finally I tried one bottle of liquid dye and added salt to the bath. I wasn't happy with the result and will probably try again with the powder version. This was the one instance when the color of the elastic didn't work at all with the fabric I had planned on using. I do however like the color of the cotton tank I threw in ;)