Thursday, July 02, 2009

Sew What Skirts: Wraparound

Hey! I sewed something! And...I immediately wore it! Here's the wraparound skirt from the (really cool) book, Sew What Skirts. I used a fabulous Jennifer Paganelli fabric.


This is really a great little book. No pattern is included, instead you use your measurements to draft the perfect-fitting skirt pattern--a-line, straight, and gathered to start...then there are lots of adaptations, like this wraparound version. The instructions are very easy to understand and the drafting was easy too. Both skirts I've made using my draft of the a-line skirt pattern have fit perfectly!

For this cute little wraparound number, you do a buttonhole in one of the sideseams to thread your "tie" through. (A word about the ties in a sec.) Note that I cut through my buttonhole when I was cutting it. Drat it. (I wore it anyway. I'll have to go back and fray check it tonight!)


For this skirt, the sides of the warp and the hem is just a simple turn up & stitch.


And the waistband is part of the ties. The instructions tell you to cut (I ripped of course, because I like to!!) two 3" pieces, selvedge to selvedge. That sounds like plenty. But...for a hippy girl like me, that didn't leave me enough left over to tie! Whoops. I didn't even notice until I already had the waistband/tie section attached. Here's the waistband topstitched to the skirt front & back/side pieces (I topstitched rather than stitch in the ditch as the book instructs. I have better luck with this method.)


And here's how I fixed the too-short ties (they have to be long enough to do front, back, plus 12", plus enough to "tie" while wrapped around you. ) I ripped one more selvedge to selvedge pice and sewed it up in a tube. Cut in half. Then I turned under one end, and "tucked" the too-short tie into the end of one of the tubes. Then I just top stitched. Repeat for the other side. Here's a bit blurry picture of one:


Now, it's not pretty nor perfect...but as far as ties go, they're "tied" all the time. And wrapped around you, so who's going to notice? Plus, they saved my skirt! See...here's me wearing it today to go out to lunch and a movie with my "girls"!



ps...We saw the Proposal. Super cute, I highly recommend it!

25 comments:

  1. Cute, I have that book, too. I have tried the A-line, easy, but I made it too big in the hips. I overestimated ease! I was a novice clothes sewer at the time.

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  2. Great skirt! You always have the sweetest, kindest smile. I'll bet you are all the kids' favorite teacher.

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  3. Cute skirt, I have that book and it is great.

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  4. This looks great! I love it!

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  5. "I sewed something!" LOL, That's I felt today when I finished something for the first time in weeks! Super cute skirt, and thanks for the movie rec!

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  6. Cute skirt, it looks fantastic on you. We saw The Proposal last weekend, it is very good.

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  7. I am soooooo loving that skirt! Very, very cute!

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  8. Very pretty, kudos. :)

    I've been wanting to see that movie, it sounds really funny.

    Hugs,
    Lory

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  9. Very cute!!!! I saw that movie today! It's hilarious !LOL

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  10. Love your skirt. You find the nicest prints :)

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  11. Love the skirt! I really want to see that movie - glad you liked it. Happy 4th!

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  12. That fabric is fantastic. You always have the best fabric. I have a vintage skirt like that. Mine has choices of ties or a button belt or something. It's from the 60's. I should dig it out and make a skirt from it.

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  13. Cute skirt. Love the bright fabric.

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  14. You look super cute in your new skirt - love the fabric!

    P.S. Ryan Reynolds = yum!

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  15. Oh, I just LOVE that book, and your version of this skirt turned out adorable. I did that back-wrap skirt and I ended up using 3 widths of 45" fabric for my ties (my hip measurement is ~42"). I did notice that 2 would not be enough before I actually started sewing, lucky for me. I liked my skirt but ended up deciding that wraps are not the most practical when you are running after toddlers and babies so I haven't worn it that much. Bummer!

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  16. That is a gorgeous skirt. I just love the fabric!!!

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  17. I just got this book two days ago! The wrap skirt is one of the first ones i want to amke. Yours looks so cute! I love the fabric!

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  18. super cute skirt. I bought that book after the last skirt you made and haven't used it yet! Better get with it. g

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  19. Your skit looks very nice on you. Great print! I like the green top with it. Very nice.

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  20. That is one pretty skirt , I love it . That looks like another book I need to buy .

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  21. Jen M5:52 PM

    Very cute skirt! I love the fabric! I have that book, too, and I also love it, though not everything I have made fits me great - I think it is because I need darts and the book doesn't tell how to add them to your pattern. A problem if you have curves!

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  22. You look soooo good in that skirt. I'm so glad you posted it. I have that book too and have never made anything out of it. Now I want to.

    We have similar figures and that skirt is really cute on you. I hope it's that cute on me.

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  23. and what a little hottie you were in your cute new ensemble! Had a great time with you girls!

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  25. Super cute and a great save on the ties! I bought this book just for this skirt because I wanted something Q&E for summer (still haven't made it yet :( ...) But the wrap skirt in the book was almost an exact replica of my first sewing project which was a Simplicity Jiffy Wrap Skirt. Yeah, simply nostalgia.

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