Heyhey,

today is a wonderful warm and sunny day. Its supposed to stay that way… well lets see if they are right.

This is how I made my new plaid skirt, lots of unpicking. I just like plaid fabrics, but sewing them isn’t the most fun…  no pain no gain I guess 😉

for this I used pattern #5 by stitched by you magazine 1/2012, its one part for front and back, so I needed to cut it twice in fold, I tried my best to match up the plaid, but I failed at the side-seams

and of course the waistband, I gave up matching plaid when cutting that one (I know, I probably shouldnt admit that)

the pattern is a little tricky and the only solution I saw was cutting in until the first folding point for the pleats

matching up the plaid in the pleats took me about 6 tries

also pinned the big pleat in the centre front and back

and when I sewed, the plaid was mismatched, so I undid the seam

my second try: plaid is right, but its the wrong placing

and finally I got it, iron the pleat the way its supposed to fall, and stitch it in place at the top in the seam allowance, so it stays there

also sew the other pleats in place

then pin the big dart

ok, doesnt look to mismatched 😉

so I sewed it and because my fabric was fraying quite a bit, I also used overedging

then I pinned the seam allowance up and pinned the last pleat also in place

and with that seam I also stitched the big pleat in the centre in place

next: right side seam, right side to right side and then sew the left sides together, I tried very hard to match it up, but I had to give up, since it was more important that the dart seam was matched up

then I sewed the right side seam, because the zipper should normally be on the left side, because you reach it better with your right hand, so if your left handed, you should put the zipper on the right side. I also used overedging and also serged the open other sides

because then I sewed in an invisible zipper, you can see here and here, how I do that, and its way easier if the seam is still open

then I pinned and sewed the side seam starting from the seams for the zipper

sewed the end of the zipper over a bit, because as you see, my zipper was way to long

this way the zipper is secure and I could cut the end

next I pinned and sewed the waistband all around to the top, remember you need seam allowance at the front end, and some additional cm at the back end, to place the button later

next the endings, I folded the seam allowance of the already finished seam into the waistband, and the still open end I serged and let it go open down, this way the waistband isnt to big at the beginning but has and even look

then I sewed close to the seam to keep all in place

the hem I folded over twice, pinned and sewed and since its a wide skirt it took like forever

now I placed the button on the waistband

pin a pin at the holes of the button, put the button right next to that pin, and another pin at the button end

then I sewed the buttonhole with my sewing machine, my machine doesnt do them automatically, I have to sew where it ends myself, so if yours is a more modern one you can probably skip the last step, then all thats left is cut the buttonhole open and sew the button in place 😉

I like it but I dont love it, maybe I will change my mind though. 😉 Its a great summer fabric so I will test it this year.

As always I would love to hear any questions, ideas, suggestions and thoughts!

and dont forget to vote for your favorite april drawing here!

keep sewing and smiling

your TailorFairy