I told you I was on a sewing roll, right? I was supposed to sew the lining to a skirt for me this week. I didn’t. I finished the whole thing last weekend! And it’s really pretty.
It’s this material, from the Valori Wells, Wrenly collection (Gypsy colorway):
100% cotton voile
I wanted to let the print be the star. It’s large and wouldn’t do well with little cuts. So a skirt. I had two yards and used only 1.5 of ’em. Souricette 1 wants me to make something for souricette 2 out of the rest. Which is so sweet. She thought of her sister first!
Back to the skirt. First, a pattern. I didn’t want to do a simple gathered skirt or A-line skirt. I wanted something swishy. And I happened onto this:
Bossa Nova Skirt
And it was a free download! It has 8 panels and an elastic waist. I forget what size I made but I almost forgot that I needed whatever size I picked to fit over my hips. Here I am, looking at the waist and hip measurements and thinking, “Oh, plenty of room for my waist, we’re good.” And then, that moment. The waist of the skirt needs to go OVER THE HIPS. (Yes, I’m yelling.) So I went up a size.
Since my main fabric was voile, I had to add a lining. I have some plain white really thin cotton voile in my stash that I bought precisely for linings a long time ago so I used that. The pattern said to press seams open but I did a french seam instead. It just feels like a better seam treatment for thin fabrics… And I used my hemmer foot to do 1/4″ hem on the bottom. I also didn’t follow the instructions for the waist. The pattern looked like to wanted me to have the top edge just folded over once to make the casing. I would have finished the edge with my serger but really… I’d rather fold it over And have a cleaner finish.
And here it is!
Please forgive the posing. I was alone so I had to set the camera up on the tripod, use the delay option and hurry into position. And then go check the picture to see that it wasn’t working. Rinse and repeat. I got sick of it so this is what we have. Just look at the skirt. You’ll have to trust me that it is indeed swishy. And that it is indeed not see-through at all. Innit pretty though?
PS: No, you aren’t crazy. Yes, I put the Queen of Hearts tutorial up on the blog again. I was sick of seeing it in the drop down menu up top and I couldn’t seem to work out how to fix it without publishing it to the blog.
Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?
Deux souriceaux 
It’s so pretty! I’m definitely bookmarking the pattern. I love that style of skirt.
I enjoy your blog so much! I don’t think I’ve told you that yet.
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Thank you! I really liked the pattern. I’m wondering whether it would be even better and swishier if I flared the bottom of the panels a little more…
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[…] been sewing for myself but I’ve been thinking about it. I’m so happy with my skirt that I really want to make myself some more clothes. I’m still afraid of things not […]
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[…] 1 saw the skirt I made myself and wanted one. I obliged. I had to draft a pattern but she helped me with length […]
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[…] this skirt? And that souricette 1 wanted one just like it? And that I made one and promised a tutorial? […]
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[…] denim. For both of our skirts, she picked fabric that I have actually used to make us skirts. This one for me and this one for her. For our tops and souricette 2′s dress she just picked whatever […]
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This is gorgeous! I am not showing this to Millie, she will demand I make one for her, lol!
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[…] collar is some leftover voile from this skirt. I used some random white cotton for the […]
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Love it! You’re inspiring me to Sew for myself! So did you fold over the waist twice? How do you do the liner on an elastic waist? I think I would serge the two together and then sewn the casing.
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Thank you! I don’t have that skirt anymore (I think my body changed and it didn’t fit right anymore) but this is how I think I did it. Baste the skirt and lining together at the waist. Fold over 1/4″ and then again and inch or so (depending on the width of the elastic). Edgestitch almost all the way around. Insert elastic, adjust to fit, sew ends, and finish edgestitching.
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