I quite like how it has turned out but as with the material itself, the reaction to the skirt was eh… mixed!
My original plan was to make a short straight skirt from the material but I gave myself a lot of leeway with the length and eventually decided to keep it long. There’s a fair bit of stretch in the material so you can get away without a slit.
Making your own skirt pattern
I had no pattern for a straight skirt & it seemed fairly straightforward so I drafted the pattern using the very handy guidance at the site below.
http://mellysews.com/2013/05/draft-and-sew-a-skirt.html
I also came across these videos about making an A-line skirt without a pattern which I think are pretty good.
It was pretty simple but as always with these things, not having a pattern makes everything a lot more time-consuming. I managed to make it way too big around the waist on my first go. Top tip – don’t be lazy like me & do fittings while wearing tracksuit bottoms – not too smart. Also, I think the placement of my darts doesn’t look quite right – this is partially to do with making the waist too big of course.
I was lazy (and wanted to wear the skirt in a hurry) so I just machine stitched the hem – I think it looks fine and seeing as I was using black thread I think it was an ok option (instead of having the odd hand-stitch visible on the outside).
The material
Some things I learned from using this material:
- This is not a garment that’s going to last a million wears. At the seams that stretch in wear (e.g. zip, hips and knees), the colour has come off the material. It’s not very noticeable at this point I hope (see exhibits A & B below) but it will reduce its longevity.
- It is nigh on impossible to keep a napkin on your lap while wearing this (although I suspect it wipes clean!)
- Lining is important unless you want to show every contour of your body – very clingy!
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Bias binding
Definitely a nice neat way to do a waistband. When sewing down the lower edge however, do NOT sew the lining with it as I did – it makes life very difficult when putting in the zip (see below) – there was a lot of ripping & swearing on this bit.
Zip
I had to re-do the zip a few times (as I mentioned in the previous post my first attempt made me look like I had a tail!). Sinead got a great tip from a lady in Hickeys once which I never seem to remember on the first go! For any fabric with a bit of stretch in it it helps to iron on some interfacing to the wrong side of the material – this stops it from stretching as you sew and stops you from getting a bumpy zip.
The verdict
All in all, despite the various imperfections I’m pretty happy with it and its general jazziness. Not an everyday skirt but I’m confident it’ll get a few more outings!
The nitty gritty:
Pattern: home-made
Fabric: Metallic green stretch lurex (I think). From a shop on Goldhawk Rd in London and cost approx £3 per metre
Surprisingly nice outcome for green lurex material!!