The Ikea Fabric Swedish Fairy Tale Skirt

So this skirt was a bit of a problem. I'm still not 100% convinced of my novice-ness in sewing so I get a little too easily convinced I can do things that are either not possible or not flattering.

I bought this fabric at Ikea when they didn't have the number fabric I am currently obsessed with:

Yesterday I started working on it. Part of my problem was I only bought one meter of the fabric, so I didn't have much to work with and I had a very small margin of error. My initial plan was to simply use elastic from an old skirt I have and use that to gather the top. It didn't take long for me to enact this plan:

This is the skirt I was using as a template (and from which I took the elastic band). I think I'll turn it into a flow-y strappy top at some point, summer-style. One advantage of making my own clothes is that I can account for the fact that I'll probably be wearing a bra, so I can make the straps perfectly. Anyway, back to the skirt.

I cut the fabric to the length I wanted, cutting two strips (one from the top and one from the bottom) which would then become the casing for the hem. I used my new tailor's chalk which was awesome.

I stitched the two sides together to form what would become the side seam.

Then I attached the top and bottom panels (to cover the hems) and threaded the elastic through the top one. Here is where my big problem happened: There was just way too much fabric at the top for the amount of gather I needed at the elastic, so it got very thick and bunchy.

In this picture you can see just how thick and bunchy it was. 

I thought I'd take some of the stress off of the top by making the skirt a bit better fitted, so I took it in as demonstrated above. This didn't actually help the waistband so I was superfrustrated. The only place the skirt looked somewhat decent was right on my hips, which isn't really my style. During the day at work though I had time to think about it and I decided I didn't mind that much, I love the fabric just too excessively and I'd wear it anyway I could.

This morning I decided to just completely retry the top of the skirt, this time directly attaching the elastic to help with the gathering and so I wouldn't have such a chunky waistband. So I had a fun time using my stitch remover, then I attached the elastic. You can also see that I started to reattach the waistband cover at this stage too.

Ta-da! It looks much better now, the waistband is not nearly so chunky and weird. The only problem is that, since there's no gather to the waistband cover at all, there's no give from the elastic. It's like the elastic isn't in there at all. Which I discovered when I tried to pull the thing over my hips. No dice. So I have to squeeze in it by pulling it over my head. I think I'll put a button or something on it, to give it more give for easier getting into.

Here's the back of the skirt, or the front if that's how I want to roll.

 

I also made this new pin cushion from a wooden doll thing I got at Ikea. Not sure how I feel about it, though. I think it's a bit creepy.

And here I am in the skirt. Luckily it fits perfectly just under my breasts, which is a little frustrating because I had finally managed to convince myself yesterday that I didn't need to only wear high-waisted skirts. Oh well. 

May Day Long Weekend - Days 2+3

So on Sunday and Monday of the previous long weekend I only made one new thing, but I also finished the convertible/infinity dress (finally!). That took me all day Sunday (making the bias tape was very time-consuming). Here's what the new bottom of the dress looks like:

I'm very pleased with it. It looks so much more finished, which is fantastic.

On to the new piece I made. I didn't take loads of pictures of the process because I misplaced my camera in the middle of it. So all I've got are the before and after pictures of the fabric. I had Google searched for how to turn a sheet into a dress and came up with this little beauty, which I desperately wanted to make. I had this old duvet cover from Ikea:

which is light pink on one side and dark pink on the other. Initially my plan was to make it reversible but I realized my seams were all wrong for that so I ended up using the light pink on the outside since it's a more muted colour. Also, using two pieces of fabric, especially quite thick fabric like this, was not the smartest move for this dress. When it came time to gather the sleeve bits there was just way too much fabric to deal with, so I gathered as much as I could and then made little ties to cinch the ends up. This actually worked out way in my favour because it ended up creating a semi-sweetheart neckline and cute little cap-esque sleeves. Here's how it looks finally:

I'm super happy with it. I'll try to get a better picture, though, of the detailing on the sleeves and the ties but I think you get the picture.

Next up is to try to make one of these satin rosettes (I seem to have forgotten lately that I adore fake flowers) and, also, on Monday (my birthday) I'm going to Ikea to get some fabric to make some more spring dresses. I'm currently in love with the idea of a dress from this print. But of course I'm also looking forward to just looking at their fabrics and feeling like I'm in a real country. Yay! Plus soon I'll be headed to America for a few weeks where I'll insist on sewing with my sister, and I already have two patterns waiting there for me, so, we'll see how that goes. Oh, and I have some fabric from Mood waiting for me there as well to make a crinoline. How exciting!