Limbs and head flopped out to sleep. Looking d-e-d.Filed under: Fixed it, Gifted it, How to do it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: gather, gathered, how to, skirt, tier, tiered, tutorial, twirl
The bodice is done, the button and loop attached, now the top of the Rooster’s skirt needs to be 25″, which is the circumference of the bodice’s edge. I’m going for as many tiers as I can stand to gather. So at least four and maybe even five. Yep, in the end it was five.
Using the old 3 Peas tutorial (c/o Kuky), my top loop of fabric needs to be 39″ total, gathered to fit the 25″ bodice. Since my fabric’s 60 wide, I’m using one 39″ wide strip. Each subsequent tier is made from strips that are 1.5 times the width of the tier above it. Kuky tells you how to do the math and cut out all the pieces.
But then it occurred to me, two tiers in, that instead of cutting all these chunks, since I’m using the same fabric all the way down, I could make a long strip 5.25 inches deep of my 59″ wide fabric. I could join the 59″ lengths then measure and cut 1.5 times each round.
Now so can you.
1. Start at the bodice, or your child’s waist (plus 2-3) and multiply out 1.5 for each tier.
2. Divide a measurement between the waist and knee by as many layers as you’d like, and then add 3″ to the top one for a waistband.)
So I need 39 x 1.5 or 58.5″ for the second tier.
88″ for the third.
132″ for the fourth.
198″ whopping inches for the fifth. That’s a lot of gathering.
3. Sew the strips together and then into loops. Finish the seam allowances as you will. I did Hong King finishes on the seams binding the strips together, now that I’m a giant fan.
4. Start assembling from the top down. If you’re attaching the skirt to a bodice, do it now. If it’s a freestanding skirt, fold over 1.5 inches for the top, and stitch, leaving a small hole about 2 inches wide to fish through elastic or a ribbon drawstring.
5. Take the next biggest loop and prepare it for gathering. I like to drop in a couple of straight stitches at the end of the loop, raise the presser foot, and pull the threads long back to the start. Now set the machine to a wide, long zig zag, and stitch the zigzags over the pulled threads.
6. Divide each loop into quarters, marking each fourth with a pin. Match up the pins and gather the bigger loop to fit. Pin in place, then stitch. Work your way to the bottom.
7. BUT before you attach the bottom loop, hem it. I used a length of satin ribbon as a hem binding on the bottom tier BEFORE gathering it. Dang, that took forever, both the hem and the last gather.
It is in fact the twirliest skirt.
But I don’t know how to finish the gathered seams inside the unlined skirt.
Help!
Filed under: Fixed it, Hoarding it, How to do it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: how to, refashion, skirt, top
I had one of these:
Remember? I didn’t want a shiny tush.
So now I have one of these:
Here’s how to make a top from a straight skirt.
Unpick the elastic waist. Remove the side hanger loops. Open out the waistband casing.
Unpick the skirt’s side seams far enough to comfortably fit your arms, the same distance on both sides.
Turn the skirt inside out. Press down the seam allowances to sew — don’t open them out. I used a long stitch set to wide zig zag.
With the skirt still inside out, pin a few inches at the top of what used to be the waist. These are about to become your shoulder seams. Keep fitting and pinning until you like the way it looks and fits.
Stitch both sides.
Press down the seam allowance at the neck, what used to be the waist, between the shoulder seams. Stitch both sides or finish as you like.
I used a knit skirt with a little stretch so the top fits over my head. You could also put in a keyhole closure in the back if you need to get the thing over your noggin. I might try that on the next one.
In the end, since the skirt had some curves in the sides to accommodate hips, I ended up straightening the side seams a bit so the thing wouldn’t poof out.
Filed under: How to do it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: alter, how to, refashion, sweater
I’m not scared to alter sweaters anymore, having practiced a bunch now, and I’m not even using a serger.
Here’s how to do a sleeveless shell I just refashioned from a giant silk sweater set:
Try the thing on. Measure how much needs to come in on both sides. Pin it up.
Line up the underarms and the bottom edge when pinning, ok? Stitch, using a good zig zag.
Trim close to the seam. I like to stitch the same way again finish the edges.
For the outer cardigan, or any sweater with sleeves, you do the sides first, then the sleeves. The amount you trim off the sleeves will likely taper as you get closer to the wrist.
Filed under: How to do it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: red, refashion, Salvy, silk, sweater
I bought this silk sweater set at the Salvy even though at a 1X, it was too big.
The silk was lovely, the muted red color is fantastic and sweater sets are in fact perfect for my work. Also, the bigger size meant the whole thing was longer than normal. And I’ve bought August Silk sweaters before – they last forever if you don’t dry the hell out of them.
Seemed like a worthwhile refashion.
Of course it took a while to get to fixing it. Pathetic: what an easy fix! Used the same technique as this purple sweater
Pulled in the sides. That’s it. Go see the how-to if you like.
The wide neck turned into de facto cap sleeves so I don’t need the top layer in the office.
Thinking now about adding ruffles using the scraps I cut off the sides and this trusty how-to.
Filed under: Fixed it, How to do it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: hem, how to, pants
You can shorten a pant hem by unpicking the existing hem, measuring, cutting, folding pinning… or you can sometimes cheat like this. This little technique works on fabrics that aren’t too heavy – then you end up with too much bulk. I used it the other night on the thrifted gray flannel babies you see below.
Here, you pin, stitch, press and tack.
1. First make sure this’ll work. So fold the existing hem up and check the length. If it does, you can rock the shortcut. If not – if you need to shorten less – you’ll have to go the long way.
2. Fold the hem under. Then fold the whole thing up to the outside. Flatten the original hem so it’s a hem-length away from the folded edge. Pin.
3. Stitch along the finished edge of the original hem, which should be about halfway between the original hem and the fold.
4. Fold over. Press.
5. Pin the new hem down flat.
6. Tack it with the machine or by hand.
Voila!
