The Best Sewing Gift Ever!

It was a Christmas that I thought would be especially bleak. My father had recently left, and my mother was especially sad. It was our first Christmas alone, and we were over a thousand miles away from any family. But, under the tree was a gift for me. I opened it, and inside was a sewing pattern and fabric. As wonderful as that was, what made it all the more special was that the fabric that was in the box was the exact same fabric that was on the pattern envelope! Everything was in the box to recreate the garment that I saw. I just couldn't believe it, 2 black and white coordinates, and packages of white cording. 

Over the Christmas break, I made up the outfit, and of course wore it proudly on my first day back at school. I felt as though I was wearing a designer garment. 

I still have the pattern. The envelope is a little worse for wear, but everything is still intact, no missing pattern pieces.

I've decided to somewhat recreate the outfit. Rather than in the matching fabric, I am using a plaid wool flannel for the skirt, and a coordinating black cotton chambray for the shirt. 

Although 1 is cotton, and the other wool, I really like how the 2 coordinate. 

I'll do the version on the right just as I did when I had the coordinating fabric, but this time around, I won't add the big patch pockets. Rather than a contrasting piping, I'll just self pipe both the shirt and the skirt. 

The pattern is really just a basic shirt and a wrap skirt, but it's special. It takes me back to a time when my world had fallen apart, and yet, there under that tree was a gift that represented potential. As it was, it was just a box with a pattern and some fabric. But, with just a little effort, I had something that made me feel so very special.  

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

Happy Friday Everyone! As promised, here are the instructions for drafting the 

Sweeping Rectangles Skirt

As a review, you can take a look at the instructions I posted for the t-shirt version here.

The principle is exactly the same.

To make the skirt version, you will need,
1. Your hip measurement
2. Your desired length

I did not add ease to my skirt as I wanted a closer fit, but you can add ease to your hip measurement, a maximum of 2" should be fine.
Divide your hip measurement in half and draw a rectangle that is half your hip measurement in width and the length will be the desired length of your skirt. Remember to add a little extra to the length for your elastic waist.

Decide how long you would like the upper back rectangle of the skirt to be. Mine finishes just below my my bottom,

the measurement should be approximately 12". If you are shorter the measurement will be a little less and taller, a little more. But remember, the upper back rectangle can be any length you like. I am just giving you a guide. Draw out your upper back rectangle, the width is half of your hip measurement and the length you have just determined.
Now that you have the upper back rectangle determined, we need to draw in the angled lines on the front of the skirt. The angled line on the front will begin where the upper back rectangle ends.

 The final pattern for the front will look like this.

The 2 rectangles that form the bottom of the skirt are next. The width of the first rectangle is really your choice. Mine is 8" wide. The length will be the measurement from the hem of the angled front up to where the front meets the back, across the back and then down the other side.
For the width of the last rectangle, measure from the bottom of the first rectangle that was attached to the upper back rectangle and then measure down to the hem of the front of the skirt.
The length of this rectangle will be the measurement from one end of the first rectangle to the other end.
And that's all it takes!!
Since this skirt is made out of knit fabric, you can eliminated most of the fullness around the waist. Once the skirt is together, try it on and pinch out the fullness at the waist prior to sewing in the elastic.  This will give you a nice flat finish over your stomach and hips. Check out this post for a tutorial on pinching out the waist and adding the elastic.
I want to do this once more as a dress, so there will be one more addition to the Sweeping Rectangles chapter.
Good luck. Be sure to ask if you have any questions. The skirt is so easy to make. It literally took me an hour from start to finish. Not couture by any means, but lots of fun!
Enjoy!

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

It has been quite some time since I've done a geometric project for Friday. About time right?!!
This could not be easier, just 2 rectangles with ties. I used coordinating fabrics, not a border print to create the skirt.

Look closely at the above picture and you will see buttons on either side of my waist. In the picture below, I have turned the button to the center of my waistline.

Simply pinch the skirt it on either side of your waist. Sew in a buttonhole on one side and a button on the other. On either side of the rectangle at the waistline, I stitched on a tie.  

 The skirt can be worn tied in the center, the back or to the side as I have it below. I like it tied to the side the best.

You will need your hip measurement and your desired length to create the rectangle. For the width of the rectangle, divide your hip measurement in half, add 5" on either side of the rectangle. So if your hip measurement is 40", divide that measurement in half which will be 20". Add a total of 10" to 20 and the result will be 30". Cut 2 rectangles,one for the front and one for the back.
As I said earlier in the post, the border is actually a coordinating fabric. The picture below is the back side of my skirt. The seam is where I sewed the border to the coordinating fabric. I cut a 2" wide strip of the contrasting fabric, pressed it under on both sides and then stitched it over the seam where the 2 fabrics were sewn together.

For the hem and the waistline, I also cut a strip of fabric 2" wide. One side was sewn to the edge of the skirt and then pressed over and stitched in place. I did press over the edge on one side before I sewed the strip to the skirt.

Once the skirt is sewn together, you can then determine the length that the ties will need to be. For the ties, I made tubes, turned them to the right side and then topstitched them to the side of the skirt at the waistline as I showed you above.

This skirt is perfect for summer wear. It's easy to sew, you really can't make a mistake. It's easy to wear and it will pack well too.
Good luck if you decide to give it a try!
Rhonda

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

Today, I'm sharing a rather different skirt pattern with you.  

The Structured Drape Skirt

It's very asymmetrical and looks quite complicated, but you will be surprised by how easy it is to draft. After all, Fabulous Free Pattern Fridays are all about easy shapes. This skirt is made out of a knit fabric.

To draft this skirt, you will need;
1. Your hip measurement
2. Your desired length
Begin by drawing a rectangle that is half of your hip measurement with at least a 1/2" added for ease, by the length that you would like for your skirt to be.

Determine the width of the elastic that you will use  for the waist. The indention at the waist will be twice the width of your elastic. Draw a line straight our from the bottom of the elastic indention that is 14" long. Connect this line to the bottom line of the rectangle.

Since this skirt is made out of a knit fabric, we can get rid of some of the fullness at the waist. Sew the side seam of the skirt as well as the angled seam. Try to skirt on and pinch it in on the side without the angle. The side seam will look similar to the line drawn in below. Cut away the excess fabric.

You can find a short tutorial I did on creating an elastic waistband here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/03/fabulous-free-pattern-friday_30.html Once the elastic has been sewn into the waistline, push the angled seam into the skirt and arrange the drapes. I did a small thread tack at the base of each drape to hold them in place. If I had made the skirt out of a fabric with more drape, this would not be necessary. Keep in mind that the more drape the fabric has, the more the seam will drape and not stand out as much as mine does.   

A skirt with very architectural details that is so very easy to make. Who would have guessed!! I will try to post a picture of me in the skirt later today, but if I can't, I will next week.