12 Dresses Stashbust

A couple summers ago I was given one of the best skirts ever! It fit me perfectly, matched all my “nice” tee shirts and was comfy to boot. My mother said I should make another like it. 

But wait, Emily, it’s Dress Stashbusting month and last time I check skirts were not classified as dresses. Don’t worry! I made 12 dresses when I made this skirt! Hows that for a mind bender! I saw all these adorable dresses on Pinterest and really wanted to do something with them. 

Since making clothing is my first instinct I immediately started brainstorming what to do with them. And since I couldn’t choose I needed something I could do with ALL of them. 

Why yes, I am wearing 12 dresses at once.

I saw my skirt hanging in the closet and some red ribbons I’d been “saving” in a bag and knew what I was going to do. 

Part of my stashbusting goal was to make a conscious effort to use more of my ribbons and trims in projects and I’m happy to say I used up all but two tiny ends of these silky red ribbons. 

At the beginning of this year I was given a large bag of fabric and lace yardage by a lady who was cleaning out her sister’s house. I think that is where this purple piece came from but I’m not totally sure. I used every bit of it up in this project so I’m counting it as a stashbust. The white fabric, waistband lining and zipper were all out of the stash too.

I cut the waistband from my altered jeans waistband, straightened the fabric edge, then folded the semi-sheer fabric in half lengthwise for the width of the skirt. Fully lined and fabric used up! I pleated the skirt to fit on the waistband and inserted the zipper in the serged side seam.

Can you see my invisible zipper? No, my work is complete.

Before I did all that I cut a piece of white fabric the length of the skirt and evenly divided it. I ended up with 12 sections. I printed out the dresses roughly the same size and since there was NO WAY I was going to embroider on a fun summer skirt I traced them on the fabric with a permanent red pen we had lying around the house. I ironed it to help set the ink. According to my test swatch this should keep the ink from running.

I measured and drew a line across the bottom of the skirt to line the fabric up on. Then I sewed the ribbon over the raw edges of the white fabric and my “border print” was done. 

And that’s that! Fun new summer skirt decorated with some of my favorite things! How's the summer sewing going for you? I took a break this week for a quick trip to see my brother working at a camp in Montana. He made me climb this thing!