YEY! I've made another item of clothing! Ok so it's not the best, and as I didn't use a pattern it's not perfect, I'm still happy with it but thought I'd share my mistakes.
Ok so the fabric is a stretch denim which I found at The Handmade Fair. I instantly wanted to make a skirt out of it. So thought an elasticated back would work well. After measuring my waist and chosen length, I cut my skirt shape on the fold. The back of the skirt is a square piece, so the top can be gathered.
I made a waistband for neatness and for the elasticated back. This consisted of the outer and facing for the front, and the longer outer and facing for the back.
I then added pockets to the front skirt piece. I didn't bother pattern matching (first mistake!) and I didn't line up the pockets perfectly at the bottom so the bottoms aren't straight! (second mistake!). I joined the skirt sides together, remembering to ignore the different shapes and line up the outer edges right sides together.
I then joined the short ends of the waistband pieces (long and short) together, then joined them right sides together along the top. I placed the loop of waistband over the skirt with all the raw edges pointing up. I stitched the whole way round, leaving a gap at the back, of about an inch, to place the elastic in.
I placed one end of the elastic and lined it just past the side seam inside the waist band. I did a few stitches to hold it in place. I then fed the elastic to the other side seam (along the back), pinned then stitched this end in place too. I closed up the gap, then used a huge stitch to go through the centre of the elastic to keep it in place, stretching as I went.
I didn't add any darts in the back piece, and I recommend that you do before sewing the waistband, as I think there's too much fabric at the back! I would have like the waistband to be more fitted. (third mistake!).
The final step was to hem the bottom, I used yellow thread for all the outer stitching as I loved the colour against the blue. Et Voila! One french bulldog skirt with a few mistakes!
I am pleased with how it turned out though. And I love the way it looks, probably because I'm just obsessed with that fabric!
The company that I bought the fabric from can be found HERE.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and let me know if you drafted your own skirt- I'm sure it's better than mine! I think I'll stick to patterns.
Happy Handmade!
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