Master Sewing and Design Certification Program

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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Rectangles, Circles and Squares. Post 4

This has been quite a week. While we were in Colorado, my little dog ended up with an infection caused by an abscess on one of her back teeth. I had noticed a bump on her cheek, but thought it was caused by the two dogs wrestling. I went to Denver to do a little shopping and looking around. Within an hour it had blown up to the point that it was pushing her eye closed. All I could think about was getting somewhere where I knew someone and finding someone to help for her. A friend texted the number to a vet in a nearby town. This man is such a wonderful vet, he has his cell phone number on his answering machine when he is not in the office. He gave me some antibiotics and felt that they should take care of the problem. Well, it came back this week. Tuesday night, I couldn't sleep. I was able to get her to the vet on Wednesday morning. As it turns out, her back tooth is broken which has allowed it to become infected. She is once again on antibiotics and is scheduled for surgery. On Wednesday night, I pulled her into bed with me, held her tight and cried my self to sleep. Now some may think it's crazy to be so attached to a dog, maybe, but remember, I fly all over the place for dogs that don't even belong to me. So as crazy as I may be, mine are especially special to me. My husband loves to give me a hard time about how spoiled they are. My reply is always the same, "their little lives are so short, they should just be happy." I think he agrees, he just likes to give me a hard time.

My Little Bit, snuggled tight in my robe. Now who can say this is a spoiled dog? Well, maybe a little.

Another Rectangle

So, finally, my fourth post. Two more and I'll be caught up. Again...finally.
This rectangle is so incredibly easy.

The rectangle is the skirt. To begin with, you will need to have a knit fabric. It does not need to be a two-way stretch, but it does need to have a crosswise or lengthwise stretch. I like knits that have a two-way stretch as they just seem to work better. The stretch will need to go the length of your rectangle.
The measurements are as follows;
For a size small, cut the rectangle 54" x 25".
For a size medium, cut the rectangle 56" x 25".
For a size large, cut the rectangle 58"x 25".
The 25" measurement is the width of the skirt. You can cut it a little wider, especially if you are rather tall, but take a look at the picture above and you can see that the point hangs rather low. So you don't want to cut the length too much more than 25". If you are rather short, cut it less than 25" wide so that the point will not be not be touching the ground.
First, serge all edges of your rectangle with a rolled edge. If you don't have a serger, just finish all four sides of your rectangle.

Once all of your edges have been serged or finished by machine, take one end of your rectangle and bring it over to the top side of your rectangle. Sew or serge a seam.

Once the seam has been sewn, your piece will look something like this. Thankfully, we wear fabric and not paper so yours will have a nice drape.

Once it is on the body, it will look like this. You can see from the picture that the piece will form a V at the waist. I always wear a top over my skirt, so this is not an issue for me.


I made two skirts that coordinate and I wear one over the other.


Or you can wear one as a skirt and the other as a poncho.



Remember the jacket that I said looked like something Morticia would wear? Well, I also made a skirt out of that fabric.

This fabric is not a two-way stretch. In fact, I didn't even finish the edges. The knit does not run, so I only sewed the one seam. It doesn't get any easier than that. The piece is great for throwing over my shoulders at night. I also put it over pants and you can see from the above picture, I can also use it as another layer over the other skirt, and I've worn it with other skirts.
Give it a try. It's a nice little versatile piece to have in your wardrobe.

10 comments:

  1. Rhonda, you are so clever! I hope your 'Little Bit' feels better soon.

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  2. Can't believe all that Little Bit is going through and hope she's feeling better. Does this affect your trip?
    This skirt is so cute and clever. I want to run right out and buy knit but it's too early on Sunday morning. You know what I'll be doing today.

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  3. This is such a creative way to be fashionable with a small amount of effort. I love it and wil try it soon.
    Thanks,
    Cennetta

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  4. Found this on pinterest. Love this simple concept! The skirt could be worn with the long drape at almost any part of the body. And I love the transparent layer. Great posts Rhonda. :)

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  5. Also just found on pinterest, following Studiofaro above! I love the concept and the drape, my curves don't like bulk at the waist. I will be trying it in non-stretch and will add a filler piece at the waist, probably with a zip. Just going to read your more recent posts now, thanks!

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  6. Striking! Great color combo, as well.

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  7. Hi Rhonda. If you don't mind I would like to share this post with my readers on the blog this week. Your rectangle work fits neatly with this weeks #PatternPuzzle. Hope that's ok. I have used one photo only and a link back. :)

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    1. You are always welcome to link back. Such a nice surprise and thank you :)

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  8. great idea for a skirt I would love it to be shorter... how would I do that

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    1. Thanks :) To shorten the skirt, simply decrease the width of 25" to whatever you desire.

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