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! 

Happy Hummingbirds: Part 2 The Skirt Edition

It's nice to be back after an unintentional blogging break. First our modem blew up so we had no internet for 24 hrs. Then I caught a summer cold that went straight to my head. Plus I'm dealing with wrist/hand pain which I'm assuming is carpal tunnel related which meant as little typing as possible. To top it off my grandparents showed up and at that point I gave up trying to blog last week. 

But today is the beginning of a fresh work week and I'm happy to be back at it with part two of my Hummingbird pattern review. (psst, Part 1 here)

I made two skirts during the sewalong. One of each view. I cut a 35 waist size and a 40 hip size. 

The first was some home decor weight fabric I'd had in the stash for several years. I bought it on sale because I like the color and pattern. It turned out to be a louder skirt than I expected but I'm glad to have it out of my stash and a wearable garment.  It already passed the "give five kids a bath" test.

Why do I love fabrics that hate being photographed? The colors are truest in the last shot

It sits on my hips and I did a lapped zipper insertion since I didn't have a matching invisible zipper. Do yourself a favor and go watch Steph's video on inserting zippers. It will change your zipper insertion for the better!

 I'm about 5' 10" and I cut this on the longest length. With a one inch hem it sits right at the end of my knee. I love my thighs but don't believe the whole world needs to see them. Plus I have enough trouble trying to sit like a lady in this length of skirt!

Skirt with Flounce

Purty polka dot piping.

I couldn't help myself. I was loving all the piped versions popping up during the sewalong and after Susan posted a tutorial I had to give it a try and show off that beautiful seaming myself! I used a whole package of navy and white polka dot double fold binding that I cut in half. Since the back was feeling left out I exposed the navy zipper teeth.

I quit fighting my body, which looks best with things sitting around my natural waistline, and took in each side seam about two and a half inches. I did part of this during the mid fitting check but sewing the waistband made it loose again so after it was finished I zipped down the side seams again to get the final shape. This brought the flounce up higher which prompted the men in my family to gasp in shock when they saw the back of this skirt. They think I look like I'm pooping fabric and have threatened to not let me leave the house in it.

I did peg this skirt and love how easy it is to walk in with the flounce. 

Flounce in action. Funny looking isn't it...

Now if only I can get the guys to agree... :D

Final thoughts

This is a great straight skirt pattern that is easy to adjust mid sew to get the shape and level of tightness you want.

 I hand basted the curve of the flounce at the tip before
pressing up to hem. This helped TONS

Don't let the flounce scare you, the directions are very thorough and I was able to insert mine with NO PROBLEMS.

POCKETS!! The pockets are wonderful and the way you construct them is brilliant. They also take such a minimal amount of fabric that you can use all those little bits of fun prints that you've been hoarding. With the understitching they don't flip out to the outside so you can be as crazy and mismatched as you want to be with them. 

My only disappointment is that I used all fabrics I had on hand and coordination was not a consideration so my peplum tops don't really work with my skirts... I'm working on this gross error and hope to have some more mix and match pieces soon.

So, do you like and wear straight skirts? Any tips for sitting like a lady?? Hope you all have a great week. Stashbusters, I'll be talking to you later this week!