Well, after making my 5th iteration of my SWAP, due to moving my Motorcycle Jacket over to be my bridging piece, I was going to make this skirt in matching denim to the Denim Motorcycle outfit, but much to my dismay, Fabric.Com ran out and has been out since last year. I'm not hopeful of their re-stocking, so I made iteration #6, and made Black Denim skirt, which matches the jacket, and then went back to the older iteration of the Butterfly Goth top to have a black velvet bodice, so now it ties to the black skirt, So a little shifting and we're okay again.
This is the XOX Skirt from a tute I found from Weekend Designer. XOX Skirt Tutorial The tute is not a tutorial for the skirt pictured on the website. You do not get that skirt from following that tute. I was however able to figure out about how to make the ruffles the way they show on the pictured skirt - on the outside, not on the inside.
So basically here is the layout as the tute directions call for:
You are basically making a block diagram, Top 1 Block, Middle: 2 blocks, Bottom, 3 blocks. All times 2. (Post Production Note: I think next time I will make the top block shorter than the others, I would say on this skirt, 5 inches. in stead of 8. then make the others 11 inches.) All my blocks were 8 inches tall. The top comes out too boxy that way, not very flattering. I think it's too boxy because in actuality my waist is only about 5 inches from my hips, not 8 plus the belt... The skirt is in the dryer at the moment fluffing out the fray from the cut edges of the denim.
So I start out by drawing out the diagram onto the back of the fabric, after making my calculations according to the directions. Hips + 2 1/2 divided by 2, rounding up if you like. Then length of skirt + 2 divided by 3.
Project start time
Laid out/Drawn out My fabric was only 54" wide, so instead of the 60" that I would have made it, I went with the 54" x2 and then 37 x2, keeping the 20 x2 for the top piece. (cause of my hips)...
Start to cut...
All cut ready to go sew...
Sew seams so you will have tier circles. (And press the seams)
Pink the seam allowance,
Now this is one of my new toys... I forget what the foot is called already but it makes rolled hems... I have a 4mm and a 6mm. I used the 4mm to make a RAVENS bandanna for Hubby - really came out great! So after sewing the tiers into circles, I had to roll the bottom hem. These feet were the best! I'm still getting the hang of using them, so my hems aren't perfect yet - workin' on it....
Now who couldn't use a spool of nylon thread the size of a soda bottle??? Ha! This was the perfect thread to zig zag through the denim in order to gather each tier.
Perfect...
The gathering and pinning took a while for both tiers, had to do one side an then the other, I matched the side seams first and then spread the in-between...
Tier one complete and sewn... Did the same with tier two, and pinned and sewed. Then installed the elastic belt that I had in my notions bin... (below) I used over lock stitch for that, while stretching the belt, after pinning the 4 spots (front, back and each side)...
Neatened up all seams, allowances, pressed stitches, and was ready to wash to get that frayed look that demin gets from cut edges.
Done.... what was that 3 1/2 hours?
The try on was OK, it fit, but was not the flattering fit that I wanted... For the most part this skirt will be worn with blouses/tops over it, as opposed to tucked in or anything, so I will be alright... So, while I can't say this piece is a high quality piece, it is satisfactory. Time will tell if it gets replaced or left in my SWAP. For now it's in.
Finished:
Modeled with my Denim Jacket from my Denim Motorcycle outfit, and also my Bridging jacket for SWAP...
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