Scallop hem skirt from recycled materials

Hey all,
So over on Make Thrift Buy Community Challenges our challenge this time was a skirt with scalloped hem.

Here is the original inspiration photo:

From Urban Outfitters

I'd seen this no-sew suede style skirt on Pinterest, and wanted to make something similar.

From Martha Stewart.

I'd bought this green fabric that was non-fraying and kind of resembled fake suede. It cost me 2 euros at the Salvation Army secondhand store.

There was a pattern at the Martha Stewart website, but I didn't want the top part to be scalloped and wanted to make a waistband instead. So I drew my own pattern. It looked something like this:

I first cut the fabric bigger than I intended the final skirt to be and then used a plastic cup to draw in the scallops. I cut the scallops and attached a long rectangle for a waistband. I tried the skirt on like 580 times throughout the process so it would fit. I marked with pins where the fastening should be. The fastening I used was from an old thrifted skirt I'd previously cut apart for another project. I also added one snap button to make sure I wouldn't flash people by accident. I draped and ironed the front so the fabric would fall nicely and fold over itself.

So here is the skirt ready:

And here's how it looks worn:

***

If you want to make something similar for yourself, I suggest fabric that is rather heavy-weight and drapes nicely. Suede or fake suede or something that hangs the same will work. If the fabric is too light it won't drape nicely and keep its shape. The fabric should also be non-fraying as the scallop edge is not hemmed.

All in all I'm really happy with how this turned out. :)

What do you think of this scalloped skirt?

love,
Sew Scoundrel / Satu

My skirt has holes in it! (using lace eyelet fabric)

Hey everyone,
This is just a super quick post about a skirt I was inspired to make yesterday.

I went fabric-shopping with a friend that I'm making a dress for. They had these scrap piles of fabrics in the store, and rummaging through them I found this:

Whoa, this is so not the actual color. o_O

It's a light gray wool fabric with lace eyelet cutouts. I looked at the almost-yard-piece and thought, "Well, that eyelet design would look pretty cool at the hem of a skirt."

I bought the scrap piece (cost me 2.40€) and brought it home.

I cut the fabric into two rectangles from the ends toward the center. This gave me the skirt pieces, and the remaining piece in the middle became the waistband. I sewed the two skirt pieces together at one side (the other side is the zipper side, so I left that open for now).

I realized that the wool fabric was of the clingy type, meaning the skirt would crawl up my thighs when used. So it needed a slippery lining.

I found a piece of secondhand lining fabric in my stash and cut two rectangles that were as wide as the skirt pieces and so long that the lining wouldn't show behind the eyelet holes at the hem. Now usually underskirts or linings are not as wide as the main fabric pieces, but I decided to do it this way to allow more movement (I hate it when underskirts are too tight). I also sewed the lining pieces together at one side.

I placed the lining on the inside of the skirt fabric...

...basted it onto the skirt pieces and then pleated the whole thing to match my waist.

I sewed the pleats in place and made the waistband, which I then sewed onto the skirt.

I sewed closed the gap in the side (separately for the lining and the main fabric).

Then I attached the zipper, hemmed the main fabric and the lining, and the skirt was done!

I think this is the most accurate representation of the actual color of the skirt - I couldn't for the life of me get it to show correctly in photos.

(Seriously, it was so difficult to get the right color to show in photographs! In the first ones the fabric looks waaaaay too dark gray, then in these following pictures it's almost white... ugh. :P)

So, here's how it looks worn:

(Sorry about my tired-looking face - I've been sick with a cold all week, and it kind of shows... :D)

So, that kind of simple project this time. I'm very pleased with how the skirt turned out. What do you think? :)

love,
Satu / Sew Scoundrel