The I Was Made For Sunny Days Skirt

I have to say, I do love when the weather gets nice because I’m really a skirt person. Or a dress person. I’ll take either one. But I love Spring with all of my heart because I re-discover all of these garments which have been hibernating over the course of the winter and can finally expose my now pale and scary legs to the light of day, hopefully to get some color and stop causing birds to drop out of the sky etc. Of course, now that I sew, I can also MAKE new garments to celebrate the springtime, which…is exactly what I just did.

You see, my beloved but savings depleting Spool will on some occasions have sales on selections of fabric that for whatever reason aren’t selling well or things they want to rid themselves of. And sometimes there is a gem in that group, something I absolutely adore and absolutely adore paying half price for which. And one such a fabric emerged a few weeks ago, gorgeous, special, and perfect for spring. And so I purchased it, and a zipper, to match:

But what to do with this cute cloth? What to make? I decided it was too loud for a shirt, though so might disagree, but to that I say, go get your own, dude. So skirt it would have to be, but what kind? I thought about a circle skirt, but after twisting the fabric this way and that I couldn’t figure out how to cut a circle skirt while maintain the zigzags in a uniform position that I liked. I considered the Michelle Skirt by Burda Style, which I’ve made for my mother, so I already have the pattern, but I wanted something with more of a waist. So I said, screw it, and with reckless abandon drafted my own skirt pattern, and I came out with this:

Which once I applied the zipper (hand-picked, of course, no zipper foot means lots of hand sewing..) and hemmed and finished the hem with bias tape to give it some weight, became this:

Can you tell its windy today? No? Then check this out:

A major thanks to my amazing mother for shooting these photos by the way. I’m such an ungrateful little person and yell at her to “give me direction” and “fix my face” and “make me look thin” and god knows the woman does a lot for me already, she really shouldn’t have to put up with my model moments. So if you know anyone in the Philadelphia area who wants to take photos of me in various homemade outfits, you know, give me a ring…

How did I make this stripy slightly 1970’s wonder, you may ask? Well, it was easy. I just made a series of box pleats in the fabric until it had condensed to the measurement of my waist (I don’t know if that sentence makes sense but just go with it, you know what I’m saying) and then attached a waist band. Generally you need about three times the length of your waist to make box pleats all the way around, and this ended up a bit bigger then my waist which is fine, because I do so enjoy breathing.

I like box pleats. I think they drape really nicely and create a full effect without making your hips look huge, as gathered skirts can often do. An exception to this is Sewaholic’s new pattern, the Crescent Skirt, which looks amazing. You can buy it here.

See? My posterior does not appear to have been grossly expended by the drape of the skirt. Win. A favorite show of mine, Coupling, the UK version, obviously, has a great quote about junk in the trunk, and it is the following ” You’ve never understood about bottoms, Jane. Having a bottom is like living with the enemy. Not only do they spend their lives slowly inflating, they flirt with men while we’re looking the other way.”. Genius. And so sadly true. But not in this skirt!

 

I do so love these box pleats, but they are honestly a bit of a bitch to keep neatly ironed and in their correct positions. Oh, well. If you want to make your own box pleats you can follow this uber easy Burda Style tutorial, it’s what I did, and it turned out pretty well, don’t you think?

And the zipper, you say? Show us the beautifully hand-picked zipper? But of course!

I will forever be grateful to Tasia from Sewaholic for her tutorial on this. It’s just too helpful for words.

Glamor Shot!

And finally, for your escapist viewing pleasure, a blooming iris from my garden:

Oh, and the skirt title? Is the name of a song by the Weepies, whom I love. You can listen to the song here. Happy Springtime, everyone! Go forth and get skirty.