Sorbet Stripe T-shirt Skirt

Why do I not have a whole wardrobe of skirts made with t-shirt material? It is sooo comfortable! Oh yes, because it is a bit sheer, and a bit lumpy. Oh well, I don't care! So comfortable! And swishy!

I had an idea that I might like to make a skirt out of some blush pink bamboo that I have been hoarding, so I thought I would try out the idea with the remains of my Sorbet Stripe Maxi Dress. I had about 85cm left over, in the full 150cm width.

To make a pattern, I measured my high hip, the area between my actual hip and my waist, and divided that number by 6. I also measured the remaining fabric width and divided that number by 6. Then I cut out 6 pattern pieces from newspaper with those measurements at the top and bottom of each wedge. Because I could turn the pieces upside down against one another, I could increase the bottom edge of each piece by another 4cm.

I squared off the top edge of each wedge to allow for a waistband and then I started cutting out. I added 1 1/2 eighths to each edge for a seam allowance. I sewed the pieces together as I went along, and after 5 pieces I found that I could join them into the skirt. I was a bit confused, surely my maths could not have been as bad as all that? I think the weight of the pieces was making them stretch out to take up the space that the final panel would have taken. (I still need to measure this to check). I didn't want a gathered waist so I went ahead and joined the 5 panels.

I used the elastic from an old pair of boxer shorts and overlocked this to the edge of the fabric, then I zig zagged it down to form a waistband. I didn't have quite enough clearance on my waistband allowance so there are a few puckers in the stitching.

Hemming also done by hand. I have no luck with fine knits on my machine so I always hand finish the hems.

Will I make this pattern for my blush bamboo? I'm not sure. It's a fun skirt to wear, moves nicely and is very comfortable. Blush pink doesn't suit me, so wearing it away from my face is a good idea, but the lumps and bumps show, especially in a plain colour. I might continue to hoard it for a little while longer. At least until it goes out of fashion.

Costs:
 Fabric: leftover from Maxi Dress, £0
 Pattern: self drafted, £0 
 Notions: 
   Overlocker thread: started new spool: £1.89
Total: £1.89

Floral Scuba Skirt

This skirt is the antidote to a sewers block that I've had recently. Sewing something easy and low risk is the way to get around it, I find.

I have been wanting to make something out of scuba since I heard about it a few years ago. I was very drawn to the vibrant images that it is possible to print on the fabric. When I saw that Fabworks had scuba for just £7 per metre, I had to get some.

I love this silver colour and the pinks, blues and greens in the print, but the actual fabric is not wonderful. It is heavy with a lot of body and no drape. If it is stretched out, the print separates and shows the white through the pattern. So you wouldn't want to make a body-con outfit that is meant to hold you in. Not from a print, anyway.

I'm also going to avoid sewing with scuba in the future for a few more reasons: it's basically plastic and this means it is cold in the cool weather and hot in the warm weather; and the spongy nature of the fabric means it is quite tricky to get nice edges and seams when sewn.

The dress I started to make was coming along well, but it was looking too dressy, and I struggled to motivate myself to finish it when I knew I wasn't going to wear it. I will finish it, but I will need an occasion to do so. I believe this is the first time I have ever left a sewing project and started a new one.

To give myself a break, and unlock my sewjo, I let myself make a skirt from the leftover fabric from the dress. It's kind of the same project, using up the scraps.

I'd had to buy 2 meters, so I had a lot of fabric left over from the dress. I didn't use a pattern for the skirt. I took my hip measurement and added 2cm for seam allowance. Then I measured from my waist to the length I wanted and added 10cm for good measure. I cut a rectangle of these measurements.

The stretch is firm, kind of like a ponte. I wanted zero ease, so I draped the cylinder on myself and pinched out a dart at each side. I had folded a large facing over. To put it another way: turn cylinder wrong side out, try on, fold over 15cm, pinch out at each side, mark the pinched areas with chalk and unfold the waistband. Sew darts at the pinched areas and turn waistband in.

I left the waistband unfinished, but I did stitch down the top of the darts at the waistband so that the whole thing wouldn't slide around. I also pinched out a tiny amount at the top of the back seam.

I didn't peg the skirt because I didn't add a kick pleat. I hand sewed a stretch hem.

It pressed a little bit with a wet pressing cloth and a medium setting. I was pleasantly surprised that the hem stopped being so puffy and the darts looked better.

Final verdict: a decent enough addition to a spring wardrobe, especially with Me Made May starting on Tuesday; but I'm not going to sew with scuba again.

On that note, here is my Me Made May '18 Pledge:
I, Cathy, of Cathy's Makes, pledge to wear a different item of me made clothing each day of May 2018.

Last year was the first year I pledged to wear something every day, and this year is the first time I've felt able to wear something different every day. It scares me a bit, but that is the point of a challenge, and the other point of this challenge is to get those makes out and about in the real world.

Costs:
 Fabric: £8 
 Pattern: £0 
 Notions/tools: Thread £1.35
Total: £9.35

B&W Stripe Knit Skirt

Ahh Molly, what a cruel mistress you are! You look so lovely on Lisa Comfort, but so terrible on me.

After my dreadful experience of the Striped Molly Dress, I am so relieved that I have been able to salvage something that I like from this fabric.

I had a large-ish square of fabric left, maybe 75 x 75 cm. I sewed the edges together into a tube shape (got those stripes matched!) and hemmed the bottom. Then I tried it on, to the length I wanted, and cut off the excess at the top at my natural waist. I then pinched out two darts at either side of the waist, and a small amount at the back seam. I managed to sew these on my overlocker and they came out pretty well. 

After that, I added a length of black elastic as the waistband, and wore it out for the afternoon.

I'm so relieved that I could bounce back quickly from the fail!

Needlecord Erin Skirt

This skirt is the third pattern I've made from the Sew Over It, My Capsule Wardrobe, City Break. I got this pattern bundle in a Black Friday promotion last year, and almost immediately also bought this teal coloured needlecord for the Erin Skirt.

As we head into / are deep into another Autumn, I got thinking about this garment and wanted to get on with it.


I cut out a size 12, even though I measured at a 10, and didn't make any fitting adjustments. I think I might go back to a 10 if I made it again. It is meant to be fitted through the hips, and the pockets sit flat if the fit is snug. That said, a snug fit means the buttons can look strained, which is not a good look either. 

I sewed the skirt together before inserting the darts, but actually found them to be perfect just as they are. I thought about flat felled side seams, but instead overlocked the raw edges.

I cut the pocket bags from the last scraps of my lovely Suzy Taylor fabric. Because of the aforementioned pocket edges sticking out, this does mean that those to the side have a glimpse of white pocket lining, but it is a casual skirt, so I don't mind too much. Facing with a quilting cotton is such a sewing-cat-lady thing to do, but I don't mind at all! I did fold the edges quite far to the inside, so the teal forms the pocket edge. This is why you can see the lower edge of the pocket bag lining from the inside. I quite like the extra pattern here too. I chose to pink the pocket edges, because this finish creates the least bulk possible.

When it came to the waistband, I have an incredibly short waist - 2 inches short by my reckoning - so skirt waistbands usually look very high waisted on me. For this reason, I often leave them off. (See examples in these skirts: Delphine, Burda) I did the same here.

I drafted a facing from the pattern pieces (pinching out the darts) and cut it out of the Daydream fabric. Then overlocked bottom edge and attached to top edge of skirt. Then I added a strip of webbing tape to the seam allowances of the facing and top of skirt. This added some stability to the waistline, but little bulk. After that, I ran two rows of topstitching along the waistline. The slightly larger skirt means the top sits below my natural waist, which just makes it look normal by normal-waistline standards.

I agonised over the hem length. The amount of times I pinned myself into this skirt, I cannot say. I tried it on with tights, and without. I did a long walking test with tights, because I hate when the front of my skirt rides up while I am striding around the London pavements. I had added 7cm to the pattern length (accounting for the aforementioned short waist), but in the end, trimmed 5cm off the fabric, and turned up by 5cm. The pattern calls for a 1.5cm hem, so mine is 1.5cm shorter than the pattern. 

I had no idea I was buying a stretch fabric.  I bemoan how dressmaking fabrics have no stretch, compared to most RTW clothing these days. Then I buy some without knowing, and use it for a skirt pattern that advises non-stretch fabric! But the stretch worked out fine, and makes the skirt very comfortable.

This stretch was one of the main reasons I decided not to line the skirt in the end. I was planning on using some silk that I bought in Hong Kong about 5 years ago. But the length and the ease mean that the skirt is not riding up when worn with tights. I think it is just long enough to get away with wearing without tights in warmer weather too.

I created some 1 inch tape as hemming tape. Not on the bias, because I had very little fabric, the trees would have been crooked, and the stitching was going to inhibit the stretch anyway. It worked very well and balances the insides nicely.

I got the metal buttons from Amazon and decided that 6 are better than 5. They have little flowers embossed on them and I like how they are sort of like jeans buttons, but prettier. 

One of my future projects is to go back and put patch pockets on the back of the skirt. They are great for breaking up an expanse of bum and making ones derriere look smaller. I have to do it before the skirt has too many washes as I suspect the fabric is a bit prone to fading. It pressed nicely though. I didn't use a pressing cloth, or another bit of velvet to stop the pile from crushing. I also didn't press it very hard. The machine foot created visible lines through the velvet, but they smoothed out fast. It's a lovely fabric. I only used about half of my 1.5 meters. It was 150cm wide and I have a large piece left. This pattern could be made out of just 55cm of fabric, if you were willing to skip the pockets. 

Costs:
 Fabric: Croft Mill, 1.5m, £13.25
 Facing Fabric: Suzy Taylor Daydream Trees, £0.00 (used previously)
 Pattern: Sew Over It, £4.67 (third of bundle)
 Notions
  Thread: The Village Haberdashery, £1.70
  Webbing Tape: eBay, £0.00 (bought for another project)
  Buttons: Amazon, 30 for £3.98
Total: £23.60

Floral Circle Skirts

I bought this fabric in the Isle of Wight 3 years ago. Finally, it has become the two circle skirts that I was always planning. I love the bright flowers on the navy background.

I squeezed out two circle skirts from 2.5m of fabric. I had to cut the larger one as one half plus two quarters to make it fit. The smaller one, I managed to make from a full circle. The fabric was in a terrible state though, full of pulls and flaws. Serves me right for buying polycotton. Something I am determined to never do again. It is neither drapey nor thick, just kind of thin and stiff, not nice to sew or wear, plus it fades fast in the wash. So why did I bother to sew with it at all? Well, as I said, I love the colours and patterns on this print. And, I have really enjoyed getting back to sewing with woven cottons. Simple projects that I can knock out quickly.

I was on a roll that week, making 6 garments in 8 days. Powering through my queue so fast that I'm worried about what I might do if I get to the end of it! Buy some more fabric? Maybe I'll finally buy that Vogue skirt pattern and make myself that navy skirt. Of course, my queue is never going to run out.

These are my third circle skirts for the girls. My best ones are still the turquoise ones. 

Using the same tutorial as my yellow Eurovision skirt, the measurements are:

Large: A: 64cm, B: 10.19cm, C: 54cm, D: 64cm

Small: A: 58cm, B: 9.25cm, C: 48cm, D: 57.25

The larger one came out too small in the waistband. I lowered it, but I have made the elastic too loose, so I'll have to pull it in and tighten it. 

The skirts each have different bindings on the hem, which I think is a cute touch. Light pink for the little one (1 inch folded bias binding), bright pink for the big one (1/2 inch bias facing, made by me). The colour on the big one is a little too red. Schiaparelli pink, rather than bright, light pink of the flowers. But I let them each choose, and I like that they chose different versions. 

Supplies: 

 Fabric: 2.5m @ £2.55/m = £6.38
 Elastic: salvaged from fitted sheets, £0
 Binding:
   light (stash) £0
   dark, 75cm £3.40
Total: £9.78 for two

Yellow Circle Skirt - aka Ukraine Flag - aka Eurovision Costume!

 

And, just like that, my sewing queue gets turned upside down as I embrace a new project.

My problem all started when I decided to repeat my hosting of a Eurovision party. Eurovision is only the most dreadful event on television all year, and the funnest thing I can think of is to have some fun making fun of it. Fun!

Dressing up is not compulsory, but as the host, I like to make an effort. The host country this year is Ukraine, so I am planning on wearing the colours of the national flag. Easy peasy: the Ukrainian flag is just two colours, blue and yellow, and looks very cheerful. Unfortunately, they have gone and put the yellow on the bottom and the blue on the top. Not so easy for us lovers of dressing up. Reverse them and I could have managed it with jeans and a t-shirt. But with this colour arrangement, a yellow lower half was required.

Now, my brother in law does actually own some yellow jeans, but nobody else in real life does. Then, I remembered that solid colour fabrics are super cheap on eBay, polycotton even more so, and I'd been wanting to make a circle skirt for myself for ages. This was my chance! A circle skirt also has other Eurovision associations because the most famous UK entry, Bucks Fizz, had full skirts as their costumes, and yellow was a featured colour. Win!

Faster than you can say tear-off-skirt, I was off to find a circle skirt calculator (used this one:  http://www.nadira037.com/2014/04/diy-circle-skirt-pattern-measurements.html) and calculated that I only needed 3m to scratch this itch. £8.02 later, and my (wafer thin) bright yellow poly poplin was on its way!

For reference, my dimensions were:
B - 12cm
C - 61cm
D - 73cm

I folded the fabric in half, widthways, and then in half (same) again. The two selvedges are running along the top and bottom and the folds are both from selvedge to selvedge.

I drew two curved lines from the folded corner, one at 12cm, the other at 75.5cm. Once cut out, you have two half circles to sew together.

I sewed the two side seams together and stay stitched the waist. I made a 3 inch wide waistband and attached it 2cm further down the waist opening. This is because I didn't add a closure to get it on and off. I didn't have a small zip and didn't want to add bulk at the waist with a gathered waistband. I have to pull the skirt over my head to get it on. It's very undignified. The final skirt hangs from my hips, rather than sitting at my waist. It has space to insert an elastic, but I interfaced it so it is quite bulky. I will add the elastic to bring the size down for a child.

The hem is a small rolled hem. I was going to make bias binding for the hem but it was much faster not to mess about with that. It is very see through, I wearing a full slip underneath. I wish I had a tulle petticoat.

A circle skirt has been on my to-sew list for quite some time. I really enjoyed sewing something without a pattern. I love making marks straight on the fabric, and find pattern cutting out very stressful. This shape however is not very flattering on me. It is not at all my usual silhouette. I think my hips look a bit bulky and I don't have a nipped in waist, but it is fun for a change. I was delighted to know that I can get it all out of 3m of fabric. I would like a black on white design with a black hem band. I think that would look smart-but-fun. I love Gerties fabric at Jo-Anns this season. I think I might be able to get the whole skirt out of 110cm, if that was the width of the fabric. 43cm length would be short, but this skirt style would look better, on me, in a mini length. Of course, you wouldn't get the fun swishy-ness, but a thick, quilted fabric would have a lovely look for winter.

I doubt anyone at my party will know I'm supposed to be the flag of Ukraine, but I'm going to be eating European food and marking off my bingo card, revelling in the cringe-worthy glory of Eurovision!

A Cashmere Delphine Skirt

I'm powering through my to-sew queue with the help of Tilly and the Buttons patterns! After my Coco Sweatshirt, I traced off the Delphine Skirt from Tilly's book, Love at First Stitch and made it that weekend.

This is the third pattern I have made from the book, and the last in my queue. Based on my Mimi Blouse, Megan Dress, Coco, my measurements, and the finished garment size, I cut out a size 4. Should have made a 3, it has come out too large. 

The pattern was very straightforward, it is an amazing beginner skirt because all the shaping is at the side seams. No darts or pleats to slow you down. I left out the waistband because I have a short waist, and I wanted the top of the skirt to be at my natural waist. I added a lining so I just attached the main fabric to the lining. I did understitch, and top stitch them together, so there is a lot of reinforcement in this area. It was also a bit of a pain to unpick when I needed to pinch in at the side seam, but I did it (on one side, anyway).

The fabric is a cashmere/wool/mink blend that I got at the Knitting & Stitching Show last year. I got a meter of it, intending to make a skirt. It is lovely and soft and has some drape, but has enough body to show off the A line too. I am not sure if it is terribly durable, but it is lovely to wear.

I got the lining at the same time. While I love the colours and pattern, it is the most enormous pain to cut out. Thankfully, the pattern is geometric and actually follows straight lines. That gives me an outside chance of cutting on grain. I literally have to line up every circle with the selvedge and a quilting ruler, along both the warp and the weft, and tease every single circle into place. Thank goodness the pattern pieces fitted on to my cutting mat without me having to slide the mat around under the fabric.

I had a brown zip in my stash, so I used that instead of an invisible zip. I am pretty pleased with how it went in. Not too much wobbling about. I hemmed the skirt with some brown hemming lace that I bought in Canada a few years ago. I shortened the length because this colour is a bit tricky and I will always wear this with tights.

Costs:
Pattern: £4.50
Fabric, 1m: £12
Lining, 1m: £4
Zip, stash: £0
Hem lace: £0.79
Thread, stash: £0
Total: £21.39

Summer Doll Outfit

Now that Winter has taken a firm hold of the skies above this rainy, dark island, it is the perfect time to make a summer outfit for those dolls.

This pale blue crochet cotton has been giving me the eye ever since my mother salvaged it from the kerbside rubbish pickup in Australia. It is a lovely weight and colour and I am so delighted that I could take something that was being thrown away and enjoy the process of turning it into something new that will be enjoyed in turn.

First attempt = #fail

Since I didn't know how much was on the ball, I started with a doll hat. Pattern linked from my Ravelry notes. I do like these Elaine Phillips doll patterns, generously given away. The gauge was way off. I made the whole hat with the 2.5mm hook and it came out ridiculously small.
I didn't swatch, I just pulled it out and remade with my favourite size hook, the 4mm. It came out great.

The pattern has the crown continuing to increase as it moves down towards the hat band. This changes the shape into more of a bonnet, the brim re-enforces that effect. I liked the hat much better once I had added the ribbon, which pulled the whole thing in a little more. I left off the last row of the brim because I wanted to conserve yarn. This size frames the face nicely and a larger brim will get floppy quickly.

The Summer Top is made from the same yarn, in the same style, by the same pattern designer. It actually uses less yarn than the hat. Those dolls have big heads. Luckily they don't mind wearing a top that is a bit sheer, but this wouldn't transfer into a human garment without a lining, or a vest underneath.

I upsized my hook again and mistakenly increased too much over the first few rows. I used them up in the sleeve caps, which have 4 fan stitches each, instead of 3. Lucky I did, because the sleeves are a perfect fit, if not a little on the small side.

I added a few more repeats of the shell stitch down through the body, about two extra, to take the top to just below the doll's waist.

I liked the outfit so much, I bought some more crochet cotton (3 ply) to make more! I love this yarn! Every time I discover a new yarn, it becomes my new favourite. Then I buy loads of it so I can have matching colourways to make new things. I restrained myself with just a turquoise and a white this time. Reasoning that the second ball is required to reduce the cost of shipping for both. (£8 for one, £12 for two - should have got three!) When it arrived, I thought it was way to thin and almost sent it back. But when I compared it to the original baby blue, it was exactly the same.

The skirts are made up from some scraps of broderie anglaise that my mother in law had stashed. It was a long, skinny scrap, looking a lot like a table runner. I used 3 widths of it for the skirt and made French seams. I wanted a ribbon tie waistband, but that would be too fiddly for children, so elastic it was. I kept the length below the knee. I'm going to help Big Sis make one of these for her BFF.

Festival of Faux Fur – Doll outfit

Well, the dolls are certainly ready for some cold weather. The elves have been crafting a flurry of faux fur accessories for them, and they will be ready and waiting under the tree on Christmas morning.

First up, two winter hats. Released by Pleasant Company, the creator of American Girl, and still available deep within the bowels of Google, Samantha’s Pretty Clothes pattern collection includes a winter hat in the style of a tam / beret. I’ve had this white fur for years, buying it in a rash promise to make Santa hats for the children. It came out to trim the doll’sbaking aprons last year, but otherwise has sat around unused. I learned my lessons though and didn’t cut this with a rotary cutter – which slices through the fur pile in a horrible way. Instead, I drew the pattern on to the back with chalk and then snipped out - only the backing - with embroidery scissors. This keeps the fur intact and actually makes very little mess. I even had a remnant of white satin which my mother had bought the children as fun scraps. This went into the lining of the hats. I didn’t follow the pattern instructions exactly, I couldn’t figure out how to make a channel for the elastic without sewing through the fur pile so I sewed the elastic loop to the seam allowance and then turned and closed by hand.

The Samantha hat was a bit larger and shallower than I was imagining. I wanted more of a Russian style fur hat, so I improvised another one with a smaller diameter and a deeper crown (9cm). It came out a little large, but since the dolls aren’t doing any strenuous activity, I think I got away with it.

The cape is my favourite part of this whole outfit. It was ridiculously quick and easy. No seam finishing, no lining, no hem. Just cut it out, two side seams, front hem closed by hand, attach the ribbon to the neckline and cut the bottom hem evenly. I used the cape I made for Halloween as a template, but shortened the length to 20 cm. It would also be cute even shorter. I think I’d better make another one about 15cm long. I left it unlined because I didn’t want it slipping around on the dolls shoulders. They don’t need the warmth, or the comfort, of a lining. The ribbon makes the whole thing ultra-luxe. I was hunting in my ribbon stash for a black one, but then came across this white grosgrain with gold edging. It arrived last year as part of the gorgeous wrapping that Kirsten at Wrapsody did for us last Christmas.  Amazing!

Finally, the skirt: This pink babycord was a pair of toddler knickers matching a dress. My kids never wore knickers over their nappies. I trained them to be ladylike as young as possible, and not show their knickers. (Kidding! I just couldn’t be bothered peeling off even more layers with every nappy change.) But, for some reason, I kept the pants. After my successful refashion of a summer pair, I had these in mind for a winter pair, with white accent. This pair took some time because the elastic was sewn to the casing, not in a channel, so it meant lots, and lots, of unpicking. But it was worth it: the waistband went back into the skirt, one leg into the hat, and the other leg into a ballet bun. Once something is on my sewing table, I feel a compulsion to keep going until I have used up every last scrap. I added the white ribbon to hide the top of the fur trim, which doesn’t work well when turned over and is really ugly if left raw.

I tried to use another pattern from the clothing set, gaiters, but they just looked like yeti feet so I abandoned them. I might try cutting the pile shorter, because... furry boots!

I think the elves might be in trouble if they only supply one snowy outfit so I have one more week to make a vest, some boots and maybe a navy skirt. Probably another cape too. That is in addition to the summer outfits coming up and the school uniform that I think would be so much fun. Those elves better stop loafing on the sofa with their crochet every evening.

 

Tulle Dress-to-Skirt Refashion

A quick dress-to-skirt refashion of this tulle creation. I probably shouldn't even post this, but I am.

The dress was the perfect thing to refashion. It had been cute on a 4 year old but the bodice was showing the wear with stains to boot. The tulle skirt, on the other hand, was still in very good condition.

Because the dress had an empire line waist, I figured I could get it to fit an 8 year old waist as a skirt. Whole thing lower = same circumference. I didn’t even have to change the opening. It was a button back so I left the single button in the new waistband. 

I cut off the top of the bodice, about 2 inches above the waistband. The dress is a thin, silky polyester with a cotton voile lining, and I needed to give them some structure. I added a strip of heavyweight interfacing in the waistband opening, then folded the raw edges in on each other and topstitched down.

That's it. Done!

Turquoise Hearts

Two years and two months! That is how long it took me to get around to making this dress and skirt out of knit jersey from Girl Charlee.

The width was really generous, about 150cm, so I easily got both out of just a 1 yard length. The dress, for the 6 year old, actually fits the 8 year old better, but it was a gift, so it's owner must wear it first.

For the dress, I tried Simplicity 1584 again, attempting to make a drop waist dress that pulls over the head. I cut a size 5 and lengthened the shoulder seams to make a sleeve cap. I didn't realise how much I would have to lower the underarm so she could get her arm in. I had to unpick loads of the side seam to make it happen. I added a ribbon to stabilise the shoulder seam and made a neck band on the straight grain. I was planning on making a sleeve band, but I just hemmed it with a twin needle in the end.

The fabric was better at not skipping stitches this time. The spots and hearts are painted on, so that adds significant stability and thickness to the knit. I used my walking foot and I had no problems with skipped stitches. I didn't use a stretch stitch at the neckline, so I had to add a single button and loop closure at the top of the centre back seam. The skirt is cut from a continuous length of fabric and hemmed with two rows of stitching. My twin needle was not co-operating.

The skirt was made from the remnants of the dress. I had a decent size piece left over, at the side of my yard. Once I cut it into two 1/2 yard pieces, they were slightly different widths, so the two side seams are not actually on each side, more like 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock. The 1/2 yard length was getting a little short, so I used some 20mm wide turquoise elastic as the waistband. I actually think the skirt has come out nicer than the dress, but that probably has a lot to do with the fit.

Costs (both)
Fabric: £5.13
Button: stash
Thread: £2.12
Elastic: £2.00
Pattern: used previously
Total: £4.63 each

Turquoise Circle Skirts

My new favourite colour: turquoise! I had to make two new circle skirts for the little girls, I just love how it combines with white to look crisp and bright.

I got 2 yards of this quilting cotton at Walmart last summer. I managed to get both skirts out of the 2 yards by piecing the smaller one out of two half circles.

I've improved my techniques since I first tried a circle skirt a year ago. These have a separate waistband, made from a circle of fabric, as you would make a band for a knit. This was joined to the front of the skirt and top stitched down to the inside of the waistband, with an elastic encased inside. The hems were a lot quicker too, I used white polycotton and used the method for exposed bias facing.

I have noted that plain cotton fabrics show the creases much more than patterned fabrics. If I'm going to avoid ironing as much as possible, patterns are the way to go.

Cost: 
 Turquoise cotton fabric: Walmart, £3.78
 White polycotton fabric: fat quarter, £0.86
 Elastic: Walmart, £0.84
 Thread: stash
Total: £5.48 for two
= £2.74 each