As anyone who follows me on pinterest will know I have being swooning over blue and white striped skirts and dresses for months. Despite many an hour spent perusing online fabric stores I had no luck in finding the perfect fabric anywhere. I wanted a woven stripe (i.e not printed), approx 5cm wide stripes, in navy blue and white, 100% cotton, medium leaning towards firm hand; alas, it was just not meant.
I ended up in Spotlight one day (the store I love to loath!) and came across this cotton/spandex (5%) sateen printed stripe, feeling defeated with my online search I settled with it, despite it not ticking many of my boxes. As is a typical with most things from Spotlight, the fabric was slightly off grain, and the stripes did not run parallel to the selvedge, so it took a bit of fiddling with the pattern layout, nothing too major, but nonetheless annoying.
I had to make some adjustments to the pattern, a combination of not buying enough fabric (this is the first pleated skirt I have made in eons, I forgotten just how much fabric they use!) and personal taste.
- I shortened the length by a whooping 26cm, however I kept the original hem width by grading out the new shortened hemline by 2.5cm at the centre front, centre back and and side seams
- I did not have enough fabric to make the pleats as full as the pattern, so each pleat was reduced in size by by 4cm
- I had planned on omitting the centre front seam, but as it is shaped I could not simply place it on the fold
Because I have a policy that no skirt,dress or pant should be constructed without pockets , I added inseam pockets in as well, I like to be able to go out without a handbag, carrying just the essentials whenever I can. I did not have enough fabric to make the entire pocket from dress fabric so just used calico for the pocket, and put in a narrow 5cm facing so as to create the illusion.
After basting all the seams to ensure the stripes matched up perfectly, and unpicking on the couple of occasions the basting stitches moved slightly during machine sewing, I decided the more time I spent on this skirt the more time I wanted to invest in it, to make it a garment I would love more and more each time I wore it.
The glass button above is also from my stash, I have no recollection of buying it so suspect is it part of a deceased estate I was recently gifted by my Mums partner. Either way I desperately love it, and think it finishes off the skirt perfectly. I used Nancy Zeiman's tutorial (posted by Sarai) to make belt loops, (genius I tell you, genius!) which I put at each side seam, as well as the center back, you can just see it peaking through the button hole above.
Because I did not have enough fabric to do a self fabric waistband in a way that I found aesthetically pleasing I used petersham instead and ironed it into a curve to match the curve of the skirt.** I could have used self fabric, but because it is a curved waistband it would have meant that part of the waistband would have been ivory, and part of it navy due to the width of the stripe. Having put so much into the skirt I was not prepared to make this compromise, so allowed myself a get out of 'shop my stash' jail free card and bought petersham instead. The skirt fabric cost me $15.00, and the petersham cost me $8.00, is it just me, or is that crazy?
The lining fabric is a cream polyester from my stash which I had originally planned on making into a 3/4 sleeve top when I bought it over 12 months ago. It is heavy and does not have the soft hand of lining, but I quite like that as it helps give the skirt a bit more fullness.
The lace at the hem of the lining is also from my stash, I was saving it for a 'special project', but did not have a particular purpose in mind for it. This skirt seems a special enough project to me non?
Overall I am pretty happy with the skirt, I have reservations about how well the fabric will wear, it is a printed stripe not woven, and depending on the quality of the spandex it may relax sooner rather than later causing the fabric to wave. But one cannot spend ones life wondering about the what if's can one...
Total spend: $23.00
Total time: 12 hours
I definitely plan on making the skirt pattern again in a black and cream cross stitch fabric I bought from Designer Textiles when I was in Auckland in September 2011, but perhaps not for a few weeks yet, I need a couple more instant gratification projects first. As for making up the complete dress, I am still not sure, the top is not fitted, and the collar quite large, perhaps a decision best reserved for a later date when I have had a little distance from this project.
*Yes, I am a little behind in my projects posts for the year already. My camera lens packed a sad after my camera took a tumble in the most recent series of aftershocks, it is being very disagreeable to anything except the most perfect lighting conditions and then still has a fit when asked to focus.
Hopefully I can find the funds to replace it in the not too distant future, but in the mean time you're going to have to bear with me with less than stellar images I am sorry! I am sure that by the time Me Made May comes around it will be replaced though, and you can see all of my creations in their rightful glory...
**What I did not do, which I will bravely admit to, is pre-wash the petersham. Kids, learn from me, always pre-wash, everything! I had naturally pre-washed the fabric, but not the petersham, big mistake. We had more earthquakes in the midst of me finishing this skirt, which caused more liquefaction. During one of the aftershocks the mannequin where I had the skirt fell over. Cohen, in his panic over the aftershocks went running from outside, to inside, dragging in on his little furry feet liquefaction - as a result the skirt got a dousing too. When I washed the skirt to remove the mud/silt, the dye in the the petersham ran, and has marked not only the cream stripes on the fabric, but the lining as well. Had I have washed the petersham first I would have been aware of this, and could have set the dye with salt, or similar, to prevent this occurring .Stupidly, it just never occurred to me, I have never pre-washed trims before. It was a knife in my heart when I was so close to being finished, but a valuable lesson too.
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