This is a very photo-intensive post, because if you’re anything like me you learn visually! :)

 SKIRT PREPARATION

1.  Using the pattern made from your favourite skirt, see last post, chop out pattern pieces (there’s just two, but you need to cut out two of each with the straight edge on the fold).  I was lucky enough to get this fabric given to me, I think I had around 3 metres of it!  You won’t need that much though.

2.  There was almost not enough fabric for the skirt, as you can see here.  I slightly adjusted the skirt shape when I was cutting it out so that it would fit!

3.  You will need 2 skirt pieces, front and back (which are exactly the same for this skirt).

4.  You will also need 2 facing pieces, front and back.  Facing helps the skirt to sit well when you are wearing it.

5.  Choose a matching zipper.  It can be hard to match a zipper to the fabric.  I used a white one as there is white in this nice cerise drill fabric.

6.  Preparation is really important!  Zig-zag or overlock the edges so that you won’t be disappointed by fraying later on!

SEWING IN THE ZIPPER

I am a bit of a cheater when it comes to sewing in zippers, and after struggling for years this is what I’ve come up with!

1.  Place your zipper along the side seam.  I put my zippers on the right hand side, because I am right handed.  Place a pin marking where the zipper will finish (I’m talking about that metal stopper thing on the zipper).

2.  Now, make your stitch length EXTRA LONG, I set mine at 4!  You want to be able to unpick the stitches you are making here.

3.  Sew with the extra long stitches until you reach the pin, and then change the stitch length to your normal setting and sew until the bottom of the skirt.

4.  You will have sewed the entire right side of the skirt.

5.  Pin the zipper in place.  I put the pins on the right side out, because it makes it easier to remove the pins as you go.

6.  Put your zipper foot on the sewing machine and sew about 1/2 a centimetre to the side of the seam.

7.  Sew until you reach the pin that marks the end of the zipper, then turn, sew 1 centimetre, turn and sew up the other side of the seam.

8.  Carefully unpick the stitches covering the zipper and Tahdah! your zipper is in place.  That wasn’t too hard now, was it!

NEXT

1.  Sew up the left hand seam.

2.  Try your skirt on at this point, to check for fit etc.  It’s quite easy at this stage to make smaller if need be.

3.  Now for the facing;  Sew one side together making a long strip.

4.  Pin the facing to the skirt.

5.  On each side of the zipper fold the extra fabric back.  This is visible in both 5 & 6.

6.  Sew the facing to the skirt.

IRONING

1.  I think I should be called “the lazy sewer” (should’ve picked that for the website name!)  because this is the first and only time I pick up the iron.  Check out how creased the skirt is at this point!

2.  This part is a wee bit tricky.  You need to fold in the top part of the zipper, and iron it, because you want your skirt to look neat and tidy.  Check out how I did it…

3.  Now, iron the facing and the skirt.  You want it fairly neat and inline because you are going to sew it down next.

FINISHING

Wow, are we really at finishing time now?!  That didn’t take too long, now did it?

1.  Sew the facing to the skirt.  I think the seam I used is about 1 cm from the edge.

2.  Now it’s time to tidy the facing up a wee bit.  You want this to lay flat when you wear it, so you need to sew it down against the zipper.

3.  Sewing down the facing.

4.  Sewing down the facing.

5.  Now comes the point in which you decide whether or not you want to hem your skirt.  I decided to make one similar to Wednesday’s skirt and so I sewed parallel lines, so that when it fray’s it’ll still look great!

6.  The finished skirt!

Thanks Cam (aka. Miss Curly Pops) for inspiring me to do this tutorial and make a few skirts in the process.  My wardrobe thanks you too, as I was quickly running out of things to wear in this cold snap that we’re having here in Auckland.

If you like the tutorial, let me know.  I’d love to see some of the skirts you make with it!

D x

All you need is your favourite skirt (I used my favourite A-line skirt) and some newspaper and scissors (make sure they’re just paper-scissors at this stage, don’t use your good sewing scissors!)

Fold your skirt in half and place on the newspaper and then cut around the skirt, making sure that you leave a seam allowance (I usually leave around 2cm), and don’t forget to allow for your hem (if you’re going to make one, that is – see the wool skirt I made without a hem!).

This is what you end up with, a pattern to make load’s more of your favourite style of skirt!

I made some facing as well, this is simple to do. Using the skirt pattern as your guide, measure down 5-10cm from the top and cut out on a new piece of paper.

Now grab a zipper and some fabric and thread and get sewing.  I’ll be putting up a tute soon for this, bear in mind I’m no professional pattern drafter or sewer, but this was so easy I just had to share!

D x

I am LOVING this one, after the debacle of HUGE proportions that was made with the first skirt (see previous post), this skirt fits me perfectly!  The fabric was given to me by an old lady friend who was getting rid of her fabric stash after moving to a small unit.  Thanks Margaret, you’re the best!

Check out the detail on the hem!   I actually decided having to sew the hem up sounded like too much hard work, and so instead sewed 3 straight lines to stop it from completely fraying when I wash it.  Great thinking, I think! :)

And in case you think it’s all seriousness at my house;

This was Briahna teaching me how to pose for photos!  LOL!

I am thinking a little applique or freezer paper stenciling would finish the skirt of nicely, but because I wanted to wear it TODAY, as in now, that will have to wait til another time!

D x

I think that when I am drafting a pattern based on something I own, I must think I am much much bigger than what I actually am.  This skirt required me cutting around 3 inches of fabric out of the back just to fit me!

Yes, it’s made from an old floral sheet I picked up from the Op shop!

You should have seen all the photo’s I had to take on timer just to get one that was averagely okay (lets just say it was more than 10 and less than 20!)

Check out the weird look on my face!  Scary woman I am!

I was so glad for the challenge in creating a skirt, I am the type that needs some encouragement to get things done/made at times, just call me Mrs P. (for Procrastinate)!

Apart from the size issues, this came together really well, much to my surprise.  I haven’t been doing much sewing lately, except for the “dream” cushion I made last week.  I even sewed in a hidden zip – hurrah!

If you want to join in on the Sew Along, there’s still time; check it out here!

38 crafty chick’s have already joined in the fun…

D x

I quite like Mother’s Day, and it’s not because I get lots of gifts from my children…  I think it’s because it is a day in which all the hard work I put in throughout the year is recognised!  Sometimes it feels like all I do is laundry and dishes, but it is in the mundane that real parenting is done.  We are examples for our children to live and learn by, and it is a true privilege that I get to do that with these 3 wonderful girls;

We spent, what felt like, most of the weekend driving to and from Waikato Hospital this weekend.  Jonathan’s (aka. Mr Sewf.) dad has been battling cancer and it will only be a matter of time now before he leave’s us, and so any time is precious that we get to spend with him!  It made for an extra busy weekend, and we still managed to get to church on Sunday – I wasn’t about to forgo that yummy cupcake there ;). haha!  And amongst the wee messages of motherly love I found the “one direction rocks” one.  Our 12 year old daughter has succumbed to the One Direction Infection, driving us all crazy in the process!  We will never be the same again!!

I got such a lot of presents from the girls this year, check them out;

And a few that I forgot to photograph; the scrabble tiles in the “one direction rocks” message, the Doctor Who dvd that my Whovian daughter thought I’d like (personally I feel that SHE wanted it more for herself!), and the Fiona Apple CD that I especially wanted but was accidentally left in the car so I’m stuck with listening to her on youtube today!

I especially LOVE this song;

“If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can’t help it, the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I’ll make the most of it, I’m an EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE!”

Hope all you Mum’s had as great a day as mine!

D x

What’s on your needles this week?

D x

PS.  I have been a bit remiss with my creative space posts, but figure this fits in the category…  :)  Wanna check out everyone elses?  Click on the below link;

Got so many ideas buzzing in my head for “word cushions”!

The cool cane chair has been in our family for years!  I have vivid, early memories of my Grandpa sitting in it to have his daily brandy at the table.  When my grandparents passed away, my mother inherited them and now it’s my turn to have them in my house. x

Today, I am full of thoughts about my in-laws.  Dad is incredibly unwell and may not have long left in this world, which in turn makes me think of my mother, who passed away almost 3 years ago!  Never a day goes by when I don’t think of her.  Life is about these family connections.  With life, death is inevitable, but a so unwelcome part of it.  We don’t want to think about the shortness of our lives here.  I have enjoyed watching how much my father-in-law loves life.  He loves his grandchildren and would do anything for them.  He loves to travel and has traveled extensively overseas.  He has given me a great example of how we can (should?) live our lives, planning and enjoying every moment.  And being strong through adversity and illness.  He has such a positive outlook on life, and I really want to live like that!

And I guess thinking upon how he has lived his life has made me realise how important it is to DREAM!  To plan big things…

Thanks Dad for the great influence you have been in my life – I love you and will miss you and am super glad that I am going to visit you tonight!

D x

The trick to getting them so delicious and fluffy good is in getting them into the oven as quick as you can!  Rubbing the margarine/butter in till it resembles bread crumbs helps as well!

I use the recipe out of the Edmonds Cookery Book – it’s never failed me;

SCONES

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Rub butter in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Add milk and mix quickly to a soft dough with a knife.  Lightly knead.  Lightly dust an oven tray with flour.  Press scone dough out onto this. Cut into 12 even-sized pieces.  Leave a 2cm space between scones.  Brush tops with milk.  Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 12.

D.

This was so much fun – you’d think my teenagers would hate doing this, but they had a ball – perhaps that’s because instead of icing we used melted chocolate!  Chocolate is the way to any teenage girl’s heart ;)

I used my favourite sugar cookie recipe!

So easy, and so very delicious…

Check out how small the little misses were back then – so tiny!

D.

Term one has been crazy!  You would think that life would get a little quieter and easier with two teens and a tween, but it only gets busier, crazier, louder…  Aaaargh!

My levels of creativity were almost totally wiped out, and I hardly crafted at all, but that is all about to change;

CHECK IT OUT!

My new craft room is taking shape.  Time to get out of the dining/sun room and into my very own craft space!  Yipee!

Mess, just isn’t the word…

This easter has been spent tidying and sorting and throwing away.  It has been super cathartic, scary and fun.  I literally can’t wait to get on my sewing machine and create something!

And it’s all due to the kindness/niceness of my super hubby, Mr SewFunky.  What was once a joint space (his wargaming stuff and my craft stuff) – a mutual junk room of sorts has been transformed into my very own space.  He has been downgraded to somewhere else yet to be defined.  At the moment it is the dining table, but not for long as we need somewhere to eat… ;)

Oh and I have plans to create and post a whole lot more from here on in, I kinda had to promise that to MrSewf. in order to gain control of the new craft room – which was entirely his idea (would I lie to you here?).

So expect to hear more from me soonish – in less than 3 months soonish – teehee!

D.