At the end of last year, I made a sewing post where I reached deep into the dark corners of my fabric stash and finally use something thats been stored there for years. I loved the result (and also the fact I didn’t have to look at the fabric sitting there any longer) and decided to unearth the secret life of my fabric stash once again.
What feels a lifetime ago, I bought myself a few meters of some cotton fabric with a cute and simple sea shell pattern. The idea was to turn her into a simple skirt that I could wear with a white blouse or a bikini for an upcoming holiday. Well I never ended up making my holiday skirt despite the amount of travel I have done since this particular fabric purchase. In an attempt to only shop my stash and not buy any new fabric, I dove deep into the trenches (back of the fabric stash) and pulled out something thats been in there for way too long. It was this shell fabric and the time had finally come for her to become the skirt she was always destined to be.
For this project, I didn’t have a specific pattern I wanted to use and decided on a simple pleated skirt. I cut out a 27 inch rectangle pattern that was the length of my fabric piece (2.5 yards). I proceeded to mark out points along the top at 2″ intervals and then proceeded to box pleat by pulling the marks either on top or underneath each other until my pleats were complete. If you are pleating a skirt, I’d recommend using lots of flat pins and also ironing your pleats down as you go. This makes the skirt easier to handle and manage over the course of making your skirt. I also made sure to baste my pleats along the top and iron one more time before attaching it to my waistband.
For my waistband, I cut out a 5″ thick waistbnd that was about 30″ long (2.5″ longer than my waist to allow for button hole and seam allowance). I used the last of my interfacing to reinforce my waistband and I marked where I wanted my zip, button and button hole to go. Attaching the skirt to the waistband was really simple as the skirt laid really nice and flat. I ended up cutting off some excess skirt that was too long for my waistband which I expected and was happy to do so. The final steps for my skirt was attaching a zip and then the button/button hole. I opted for a wooden button as honestly, my button options are slim and the tones worked really well together.
If you’re interested in how I learnt to make skirts, this tutorial from Gertie is really great as a sew-along!
Overall, my skirt took me an afternoon and was a really easy and quick project. Although I forgot to add in a pocket, the skirt turned out amazing and I loved the simplicity of it. Although I like how the skirt came out, I think I might end up giving it to a friend who I know will wear it more than I ever will.
To share the skirt with you, I decided to shoot it on the beach at Coolangatta during sunset with the stunning Gold Coast in the background. I was going for “dead wife montage” vibes and also just trying to get my husband to take his shoes off and frolick in the water with me. Although that didn’t work, I actually had a lot of fun shooting. Having gone to Coolangatta several times for Cooly Rocks On, I had never had a chance to go to the beach and enjoy it. Even though it was too cold to swim, I paired my skirt with an old jumper I’ve had for a few years and went for a cozy at the beach vibe. This skirt was such a joy to make and I’m glad to get it out of my stash. I hope to continue this stash busting project and get some fabric moving on out!
See you in the next sew!
Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.