Thrifty Thursday

And yes, it's Friday!! One of these days I am going to get caught up. I'm determined!!!

Rather than wait and post this next week, I wanted to go ahead and get it posted as I would like to use this pattern for some upcoming drafting posts and I wanted you to have access to the pattern prior to the posts. 

This is the Libby A-line skirt from Tessuti Fabrics, a free pattern. It's a simple pattern, but a very nice one. I love the fit. The pattern is marked for 3 lengths, the longer length that you see below, 

 an above knee length which I made. And it can also be made into a mini, so a length for everyone.

The light in the house was horrible, so I ran out to take this picture. Wow, is it cold outside, 16 degrees!!! And the wind is blowing so it feels even colder. The picture isn't the best, but at least you get an idea of the length. Below is a better picture of the skirt.

The pattern is of course a downloadable pattern. You may also purchase the pattern for $12.00, but I don't see why you would. It's not a large pattern and it goes together quickly and easily. As you can see, there are only 4 pattern pieces. In the above picture, you can see the extension for the longer version that I cut off. This would be a great pattern for someone who is just learning to sew. There are 2 darts in the back skirt, but none in the front. The front and the back are cut on the fold and there is a side seam zipper. 

I lined my skirt. Something that I like to do when lining a skirt is cheat a little on the facing. I picked this up from a Threads article years ago.  

Cut the lining the same as the skirt. Sew the lining together and also sew the facing together at the side seam. Press under the lower edge of the facing 1/4". Place the facing on the lining, matching it along the waistline and the side seam.  Baste the facing to the skirt lining at the waist. Edge stitch the lower edge of the facing to the skirt. The lining will actually act as an interfacing behind the facing. This saves lots of steps and for the most part works very well.  

 The facing and the lining look clean and neat on the inside of the garment.

You can find the pattern HERE. I think you'll be just as happy with it as I am.
The skirt is a real winning combination, easy to make, goes together quickly, and fits well. What more can you ask from a pattern?!!

Me Made Monday....A Day Late

As promised, here's my skirt that I made last week for the Thrifty Thursday post. You would think that I have very few clothes to wear as I have worn this skirt 3 times in the last 5 days. I wore it last Thursday after I finished it. I wore it to church on Sunday and I wore it again today. And with all of that wearing, I have not pressed it since I made it!! I think that's rather amazing. 

Because of the swirled shape of the pattern piece, the skirt really holds the flare. Since I don't seam to want to wear any of the other bazillion pieces of clothing I have in my closet ;), I think I need to make another skirt! I probably will as I really do like this skirt. It's so easy to throw on and easy to wear. You can find all of the info I posted on the skirt and the free pattern, here.  

Now it's your turn. What did you wear last week? Hopefully you weren't like me wearing the same article of clothing over and over!!!! Just click on the link button and link away. You may link up until midnight Saturday night, and you may add as many links as you like as I have not set a limit. Remember, we're telling the world that we sew!!!

   

An InLinkz Link-up

Thrifty Thursday

When I was in high school this skirt was very popular. I really wanted one, but for whatever reason, it just didn't happen. The skirt is very hippy-boho. I loved it then and I love it now.

I found the skirt pictured above on this website, along with a free pattern. Score!! The only problem was that I wasn't exactly sure how to print off the pattern. Now those of you who are more computer literate than I am(and that doesn't take much!), I'm sure know exactly how to do it. I struggled around for a bit and this is how I did it. I clicked on the images of the pattern and saved them. The measurements were given for the width of the top of the skirt, so I printed out that page first to see if I had the right dimensions. I did, so I continued to print out the rest of the pages. The nice thing about this pattern is that it is basically 1 size fits all and there are only 6 pages to print out.
Here's my version of the skirt.

As you can see, I did not make the skirt as a wrap. I decided that I would enjoy it more as a normal skirt. I am VERY pleased with how the skirt turned out.
If you decide to print out the pattern, this is what mine looked like once I printed it and taped it together.

 I also decided to not make my skirt a patchwork skirt, so once the pattern pieces were together, I simply pinned them together to make 1 pattern piece.
A few notes about the pattern.
1. There is no grainline included. Once I pinned my pattern pieces together, I folded the pattern in half at the waistline and created a grainline.
2. There are no notches. The notch that is the most important is where the tip of the "j" matches up to the previous piece. Once I cut out all of my pieces, I simply laid 2 pieces together as if I was going to sew them together and I marked where the "j" would join the previous piece and then I transferred that mark to the rest of my pieces.
3. If you look at the diagram above, you will see that if you make this a wrap skirt, you will need to cut off the lower end of the "j" of the last attached piece or it will hang below the hem of the skirt.
All of the above items are easy to fix issues.
If you decide to make this into a regular skirt as I did, you will need to add a zipper. The waistline will also need to be adjusted. Once I had my pieces together, I simply tried the skirt on and pinched it in around the waist until I had a good fit.
I did not line my skirt, just serged the seams and used a piece of bias tape to finish the hem.

The waistline was finished with a piece of petersham ribbon. Please do not confuse petersham with regular grossgrain ribbon.

 Prior to sewing the pertersham into my garment, I shape it with the iron.

 As you can see, it now has the shape of the waistline of the skirt.

To attach the ribbon to the waistline, I begin by sewing a stitch along the seamline of the waist of the skirt. I then lay the edge of the petersham right along the edge of that seam and edge stitch the petersham to the skirt.  

Once the petersham has been attached. I sew small tacks at each seam to hold the petersham in place.

The edges are stitched down along the zipper and I attach my hook and a thread loop.

 My skirt is finished and ready to wear!

If you decide to give the pattern a try, you can lengthen it at the waistline to your desired length. As for the the amount of panels you will need, simply measure your hips and cut the appropriate amount of panels.

I am going to post a picture of me in the skirt for Me Made Monday. Like I said, I REALLY like the skirt and I will be making another.