Name That Skirt!

The Basklecloth Skirt?

The TableStArc Skirt?

The BobbieShams Skirt?

Here's the back story:  I was cleaning up the sewing room, after the multi-project flurry of late, and came across my first (failed) attempt at shams' Tablecloth Skirt.  I had cut the waist hole too large.  WAY too large.  It was sort of throw-away fabric; I'm not sure where it came from, but I think it might have been part of a free FabricMart bundle.  It's a very light weight crinkle plaid - almost a voile.

I looked at the black in the plaid, and looked at the black modal knit I've been working with, and one of those oddly shaped light bulbs in the brain started flickering...and I found myself thinking "Frankenpattern!"

Here's my review of the Style Arc Bobbie Bask Skirt.
And my review of the Tablecloth Skirt
And a link to shams' Tablecloth Skirt Tutorial

I took the pattern pieces for the bask from Style Arc's Bobbie Bask and sewed it up using the black modal, and then married it to my failed tablecloth plaid.  Since I was combining a stretch with a woven, I wasn't sure how well it would work, so I wanted to get those two pieces together before deciding if a) it was worth continuing, and b) if rectangles of the modal would work on the bottom edge or if I should find another option.

The Bask, sewn, and the cut "tablecloth" square.
For reference, I'm about 5'4"; hips at the widest point are about 38",
and the Bobbie Bask pattern is a 10.
This slides easily on and off.

Here's the skirt before adding the bottom rectangles:

Looking good so far!

Since the circle of the center hold in the plaid is mostly on the bias, it was easy to give it a bit of a taut hold while sewing it to the stretch modal, so the seam blends together quite nicely.  As an afterthought,  I wanted to add a hidden pocket.  If I had planned this ahead of time, I would have given the modal more stretch in the pocket seam area, with less plaid fabric, because I had a bit of a baggy result at the top of the pocket.  I solved this by adding a snap:

The pocket is nicely hidden under the folds of the bask 

Just big enough for a cell phone or some necessary odds 'n ends :)

Everything was working well, so I went ahead and added a strip of modal at the bottom.  The rectangles are 40" long, matching the width of the plaid square, and the finished depth is 5.5".  This makes the "points" at the corners of the skirt less pronounced....I do like them a bit more dramatic, but this skirt was an experiment, and I didn't want it to be any longer than it is.

Sewing the modal to the cotton at the bottom edge was a bit tricker than the circle above.   By using "taut sewing", giving the cotton a bit of a tug while feeding it through, and placing the modal on the bottom, above the feed dogs, they went together quite well.  I'm loving working with, and wearing, modal!  It has a good amount of stretch, but I would consider it a fairly stable knit, and it has great recovery.  So far it's behaved itself very nicely when marrying it to other fabrics, both knits and wovens.   A good press took care of any waviness.

All in all, a successful experiment!

I even have a lovely periwinkle blue raw silk that's a perfect match for the blue in the skirt, so it's destined to be a matching top :)

So....what DO I call this concoction?  Have you Frankenpatterned lately, and was it good for you too?

I'm Wearing Skirts! And Liking it! Style Arc Bobbie Bask

Sometimes even a die-hard pants person has to admit that skirts can be...well....kind of fabulous.   Especially on a hot summer day.   And cooler weather too, worn with boots.   And as I sew more, and age more, and become a bit more body and fashion conscious, I'm finding that skirts are starting to have more of an appeal.

One of my all-time favorite articles of clothing just happens to be a skirt, in fact.  This one:

This is a cotton batik that is SO soft, and SO comfy to wear.
It's missing a button, and has a few small stains, but it's true love,
and imperfections can be glossed over, right?

I don't really wear it all that often any more, but it once was my go-to travel skirt, beach skirt, knock-around-the-yard skirt, so it has stayed in my closet for a very long time.   Last year I bought Style Arc's Bobbie Bask skirt pattern:

because it reminded me of this beloved skirt, and finally...finally!...I made it up.

Seeing it on the hanger gives an idea of the drape and construction,
which definitely looks different on the body.

And now I want more!

It's a bit shorter than I usually like (short leg syndrome = needs longer skirts, + aging legs syndrome = vanity, + knees that have never ever been an attractive feature on me = more vanity), but I thought it might make a good biking skirt:

And it does!  Here I am with Matilda Joplin, a bit windblown after a jaunt to the pet food store :)
The knit actually clings to the knees in the wind, and it's a good length,
not long enough to get caught up in anything.  
Success!

Not only that, if I ever DO want to dress it up with heels (not likely, but still....), I can:

I know, the shoes are not the best choice,
but it's what I have.
Truth be told, this is playing dress-up games for me.
It was fun for the 10 minutes it took to put this look together & snap a few pics ;-D

Close up of the bask.
The pattern suggests that you can take a few hand stitches
to hold the folds where you want.

Side view showing the gathered seam

I would have made the skirt longer, but I used every cm of length I could squeeze out of what fabric I had left.  And now I'm fine with the length, since I discovered it's so good for biking!  I left it unhemmed, again, to keep every mm of length, but I may hem it now.  Because I have this "thing" about unfinished edges, and it'll drive me batty sooner or later.

Pattern and Construction Notes:

• This is not quite a circle skirt, and made up in a drapey knit it has wonderful movement and a lovely soft fall.   The gathered midriff hugs the body, but in a much more flattering way than a single layer of knit.   Well, flattering to those of us who no longer have youthful, fit and firm tummies.....
• As is the case with most Style Arc patterns, instructions are minimal.   Even the pattern pieces gave me a pause - instead of saying "cut 2", they say "1 Pair", and my feeble brain needed to take a good look at all of the pieces to make sure "cut 2" was what was meant.  The basic information is all there in the instructions, (thank the sewing goddesses for drawings - I would truly be lost without them!) and it's a fairly simple pattern, so you can figure out the details even if the instructions don't quite make sense.
• There is an inside and outside "bask" (the gathered midriff section).   The outer one is gathered at the side seams, then you match the seams to the seams on the inner bask.   I gathered the seams by sewing a long stitch, pulled and gathered the stitches to length, and tied the ends to hold the gathers in place.  Next time I'll do the classic 2 rows of stitching, and backstitch at one end so that I don't have any slippage while I'm gathering, then pull the threads to create the gathering.   Then stitch down the center to secure it, using a smaller stitch.
• There is elastic at the waist - you sew this on to the inner bask, at the waistline seam.  I meant to take a picture of this, but I conveniently forgot; it's not my proudest moment in the neat sewing category....  In my defense, I made a teeny tiny seam here (trying to eek every mm of length from the fabric), & trying to keep that seam folded under the elastic was not an easy task!  
• The only tricky part of the skirt (for me, anyway) (well, other than the aforementioned elastic...), is matching the seams of the outside and inside bask pieces and sewing them together along the gathered seam.  I think that if I do my gathers as mentioned above, and WAIT to pull out the 2 rows of gathering stitches until after I've sewed up this seam, it will be easier, and have a neater finish.

Slow Sewing Required Here

This pattern really has a lot going for it - there is virtually no fitting required; just start with the right size & it pretty much stretches to fit.  It's fairly quick & easy to sew up, & even forgives some sloppy mistakes because of all the gathering.  There is a lot of hemming - I guess I have to admit to myself that I am now a confirmed Lover of Knit Sewing, so one of these days I'll justify a coverstitch machine....maybe.   And a felting machine.  And a straight stitch industrial.......

Maybe.

Did you ever convert from skirts to pants or vice versa?  Are you an equally bi-pantskirt wearer?  What do you love or hate about either one?

For me, it's really all about comfort.  I cannot imagine that I would ever be comfy in a tight pencil skirt, nor would I want to go anywhere in a big poofy conflagration that would brush both sides of any doorway I passed through.   Just let me breathe deeply, and walk freely.  What's different for me now that I've started sewing again is that I want to feel that I look my best while doing it :)

Plaids and Tablecloths and Skirts..oh YES!

My first adventure back into sewingland after my recent hiatus = my version of sham's popular (with GOOD reason) Tablecloth Skirt.   How appropriate, since I've actually had the pleasure of getting together with her THREE times in the past week - too much fun! (but watch it...she's an Enabler Extraordinaire...you have been warned......)  Since she has detailed the drafting so well here, and has a fabulous gallery of numerous versions of the skirt made by sewists everywhere, I won't go into those details, other than to say this is SO simple to make, and SO much fun to wear....just make one of your own already, ok?

In honor of shams, I'll start with a twirling shot ;-)

I'm not normally that much of a plaid person, but I knew this yummy silk/cotton blend would be perfection for this skirt, so I went for it!   Here's my entire pattern (biggify for the details):

I ended up (after some "how did I manage to do that???" mistakes, which I blame on my brain not being completely back in my body yet) with a 39" square, and 14"x39" rectangles (this doesn't include S.A's).  I meant to start with a larger square, but with my 5'4" height and way short legs, that would not have worked at all!   The smaller the inner square, the more dramatic the points are - next time (oh yes, there will be a next time!) I'll make the square smaller.

I did make a couple of additions.  The length of my skirt is great for heels, but I thought it would be nice to be able to shorten it.  A quick addition of 4 buttons - one at each "point" at the hemline (note:  these are not really "points" - when you've sewn up the seams joining the short ends of each rectangle, you have a straight hem - they just fall into rounded points when you're wearing it - it's magic!).  Then I sewed buttonhole loops with round elastic at the real points - where the rectangle seams and the corners of the square meet.
(if you haven't made the skirt yet, this will make sense when you sew it together, trust me!)

Button at the hemline; elastic loop at the point.

Buttoned up!

When the skirt is buttoned up, the hemline is not only shorter, but falls more evenly - I think it gives a more casual look.

The other addition I made was a little patch pocket (I get nervous when I leave the house with no pockets in my garment - I've accepted this as a fact of my life; apparently I'm not only a bit of a button addict, but I'm a bit of a pocket addict as well.   I'm covered with this skirt.  ;-D   I first made a pocket so that the plaids were angled crosswise to the body of the skirt so that they stood out; I thought I would like the look, but I didn't.   So I matched the plaids so that pocket blends in.  I cut an oval-ish shape, folded it right sides together and stitched the edges, then turned it right side out.  In order to make the pocket lay a bit flatter & make it more secure, I also added a casing & a strip of elastic at the top:

Here's the completed pocket:

A couple of looks:

Full length, just a little bit dressy, just a little bit vintage-y
The blouse, btw, is Decades of Style Collar Confection.  
I made this blouse pre-blogging life, but it's reviewed here on Pattern Review

Striking a pose...

I think I could go square dancing with this look! 
Or maybe to a country BBQ? ;D
Hem is buttoned up here

Amazingly enough, I think I can pull off a variety of looks with this skirt using tops I already have - who knew that plaid could be so versatile!  (I still need more shoes though......)

Things I learned, and what I would do differently next time:

• Make a wider waistband.  1" doesn't quite do it for a skirt with this much fabric.   Even though this is a lightweight fabric, it tends to pull the waistband off kilter.  I probably used elastic that was too wimpy, and cut it too long, but I'll live with it.   (I sewed the elastic onto the fabric, so changing it out would be a BEAR!)
• Cut the square a bit smaller, for more dramatic points.
• For a more flattering look, I would consider cutting the waist hole smaller & adding a zipper.   Or maybe darts.
• This particular fabric is a bit crinkley in one direction.  In one of those 20/20 hindsight moments, I discovered that ripping a crinkley fabric does not equate evenness with the stripes on a plaid.  I had to choose between keeping the grain straight, or the stripes straight.  I chose to cut with the stripes, since the hemline is naturally uneven anyway.  Crinkle plaid fabric could be an issue in a different pattern (note to self:  remember this when working with crinkles!!!)

A Great BIG Thank You to shams for her excellent work and generous sharing with this pattern - I'm loving it!

I hope I've helped encourage a few of my readers to try this pattern out, if you haven't already - how about you?