Skirt Inspiration: Beach-Ready Maxi Skirt

Today is the last day of the Skirts Challenge! We hope you enjoyed all the skirt inspiration in May!

We have a guest blogger today! Justine from Sew Country Chick graciously accepted our invitation to guest blog for us during the Skirts Challenge. This is a new-to-me blog that I'm excited I found and look forward to follow her other handmade makes!

Hello! I’m Justine and I blog about sewing at Sew Country Chick!

I live near the beach in southern California and spend lots of time there in the summertime. I wanted a wrap skirt I could put on over my bathing suit that’s also a little dressy, as I’m taking it on a honeymoon trip to Mexico with my husband for our twenty-fourth anniversary this month. Woah! Where did the time go?

I saw a tulip shaped maxi skirt online that would make a cute beach skirt. But I couldn't find a pattern.

Urban Outfitters Skirt

I already had a pattern in my stash that would be perfect to hack, New Look 6456, a basic wrap skirt. I also had several pieces of silk charmeuse bought over the years. I’ve been sewing more solids lately, so my bold prints have been languishing in my sewing room. After sewing lots of dark colored solid pieces this past winter and spring, now was a perfect time to go a little crazy with prints! I chose to use a poly charmeuse I bought on one of my downtown LA fabric district shopping trips.

I have several pieces of bold printed fabrics. They seemed like a great idea at the time when I bought them, but I never could figure out what to do with them. This maxi skirt is a bit of a fabric hog, and I had five yards of this print, so why not cut into it? I ended up using about three and a half yards of this 54 inch wide fabric for this skirt.

My pattern had a straight edge and I would have to curve the hem and center front to create the tulip shape. I traced the skirt front onto two pieces of tracing paper taped together and re-drew the center front.

The pattern has a center front line which I traced, then measured up ten inches on that line, then measured up twenty inches on the side wrap extension edge. I drew the front edge curve by hand. I followed the pattern instructions for making the dress, which are very good. I sewed a narrow hem. First I serged the edge, then I flipped it over 1/4 inch and topstitched. I flipped it over one more time to enclose the serged edge and topstitched again.

The fit is good, and true to the measurements stated. I could have made a size up, as I could use a bit more room on the extensions. I cut a size 12.

I cut the back on the fold instead of cutting two pieces. My fabric was wide, the skirt fit on the fold. I wanted to avoid a seamline in the center back with this print because, well, who likes pattern matching at seams?

I really like the waistband and tie on this pattern. It was quick to make too.

Well, that’s all I have for today! But I do have a few more projects planned for this pattern. I like the knee length version with pockets, and I may add a ruffle to another version. I hope you may feel inspired to get out some of those crazy prints you may have bought on a whim. They may be perfect for a summer maxi skirt!

Thank you Fabric Mart, for inviting me to guest post!

~Justine from Sew Country Chick

Share your me-made skirts thru May 31st and be entered to win a $50 gift certificate to Fabric Mart! Share on Facebook or Instagram using #sewcoolskirts.

Made By A Fabricista: Summer Brunch looks just in time for Mother’s Day

Happy First Friday of May! I am truly excited that I have 22 more work days left before the summer break. This school year has been a roller coaster ride and I have enjoyed some high moments and dealt with some low ones in between. I wanted to start my summer looks early and decided to focus on looks I can wear when I visit Jamaica or other tropical places. These looks made are both great for Sunday brunch as well. This set is my first faux romper for this year and I love the fact that I can rock it as separates. When I came across this yellow graphite gray polyester fabric , I knew it was perfect for summer. To top it off, I found the perfect matching earring from Purple Paradise Studio in lime (Rise stud in lime) and knew I wanted a chic summer faux romper set. I decided to hack McCalls 7943 dress pattern and create another top. I have made it several times as I truly love it and plan to use this pattern as one of the beginner patterns for my summer sewing class. I have made it

Made By A Fabricista: The Summer Blues

People often speak of the “Winter Blues”, but today I bring you the “ Summer Blues ”, and it is all good news. Most people don’t think of blue as a summer color but personally for me any color is Summer ready depending on the style and fabric. The moment I seen this Polyester Lycra Diagonal Plaid Stripe Print DTY Knit (SYB8432) I knew I wanted to make something fun for the hot weather to come. I love the Navy/Black/Powder White mix of colors and prints all in one designed fabric. This DTY Knit is made up of 96% Polyester and 4% Lycra with a 4 Way Stretch. It has just the right amount of stretch but yet not too much to make it difficult to work with. If you used a pattern not calling for stretch fabric you definitely want to make adjustments when choosing your size. With the different patterns in this fabric and made cutting it a breeze because I actually misjudged the amount of fabric, I needed but was able to cut the bodice in one direction and the skirt in another. That’s what I

Made By A Fabricista: Playing with Stripes

Have you ever made a garment that you concluded was a skill builder? The pattern, the fabric, the technique all taught you something? Well this post is all about the skills I learned or improved on with this dress. First let’s start with the fabric. We got stripes. Stripes can be used in fun ways to create a lot of visual effects. When I got this rayon challis from Fabric Mart I didn’t really know what exactly I was going to do with it. I ran through a list of patterns I already had and none of them quite fit. I knew going in I was going to have to match up the stripes at least on the sides of whatever I made but I did quite know what was in store for me with the pattern I ended up picking out. Now let's get to the pattern. Deer and Doe is one of my favorite pattern companies. They have nice classic silhouettes that I feel work well with my body and frame. I wanted a new pattern though so I went on the hunt for what I thought would be a simple design. Boy was I surpri

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog