Inspiration:

This spring (2005) I was hit with one of my rare sewing moods: wanting to make some clothes that weren't costumes. I had only made one outfit for myself before (My Apple Jumper), and was dying to do it again. My current interest has been the retro look of the 1940-50s and so, with that in mind, I set out on my quest for everyday attire.

Materials:

A wrap-around skirt that served as a basic pattern, light pink fabric, bleached muslin, bright pink/red thread.

I was given a cute wrap-around skirt a few years ago, which I kept, despite the fact that it was too short for me to wear. When planning outfits to make, I immediately thought of using the wrap-around skirt as a pattern for making one for myself.

I've had some very light pink fabric hanging around in my sewing room for who knows how long (I have no clue where it came from) and decided to make the skirt using that. Because the fabric was so sheer, I lined the entire skirt with bleached muslin. I decided to use bright pink/red thread for the contrasting edge design.

Construction:

Using the wrap-around skirt, I created a basic pattern, lowering the hem about four inches. The skirt has seven panels and three ties that are sewn together.

Despite the fact that the whole project was an experiment, everything went smoothly. It didn't take that long to cut out the fourteen skirt pieces and six ties (half of all that was lining) which pleased me greatly. The panels and ties went together well (although the skirt came out a little wider than the original).

I used a zigzagging stitch to decorate and hem the edges of the skirt and ties. This took a long time to get right, because it would get all distorted if it went over a bunch of fabric that was too thick.

One of the ties came out much to long (I did this on purpose but realized afterwards that it should be trimmed), but I cut it to the right length afterwards, and no harm was done.

The Finished Skirt:

I love this skirt. It's so chic!