PlanetJune

I’ve been very busy crafting this week, but most of it isn’t quite ready to show off yet. But I’m feeling proud of myself, because I made a new skirt from scratch in an evening, and without a pattern:

It was really easy - I just traced around an existing skirt, added seam allowance, cut the fabric (I used 100% cotton) on the bias, sewed the sides together, and then sewed a loop of elastic in at the top and hemmed the bottom. The elastic waist gathers the fabric around the top, and you can just pull the skirt on and off.

I decided that I wanted the gathers around the waist to be perfectly even, so I stretched the elastic to the same width as the fabric and then sewed them together. Then I had to stretch it all out again so I could sew down the waistband to hide the elastic. With hindsight, I’ve thought of a much simpler method that will look just about the same and take a fraction of the time.

I’m going to make another skirt with my simpler method - it’s a really cute simple summery skirt and it would work with pretty much any kind of fabric. Would anyone be interested in a tutorial?

I bought this top because I loved the colour and the print, and the 60% off price tag didn’t hurt either. But when I tried it on, it just looked wrong to me. The dark brown fabric was too prominent and the ribbons that go under the bust and tie at the back just didn’t look good on me.

I figured there had to be a simple way to modify it so it wouldn’t look so strange. A quick bit of refashioning was in order…

After unpicking the seam between the brown neckline piece and the ribbon at each side, I looped the two ribbons over each other at the front for a gathered knot effect and then fed them through the unpicked areas to the wrong side of the top. I re-sewed the seam, sewing through the ribbons as well to keep them in place, then trimmed the excess ribbon from the inside. Finally, I snipped off the belt loop from each side and here’s my finished result:

Not bad for half an hour’s work!

There are some more modifications I considered (shortening the length slightly and/or adding some beading over the brown neck area), but sometimes the hardest part is knowing when to stop, and I like it the way it is now, so I will call this project done.

A note before I begin: British trousers = American pants. I may use the terms interchangably in this tutorial after living in Canada for the past 4 years

As I am all of 5′ 2″ tall, it’s very rare that I find trousers that aren’t too long, and yet the petite ranges are typically just slightly too short for me. So, as I have to shorten my pants every time I buy a pair, I thought you might like to see how I do it.

The ‘regular’ way of taking up trousers involves ‘invisible’ stitching (i.e. only catching a couple of threads of the outside fabric). This is tricky, time-consuming, and if you’re not very careful, you can still see the stitches on the outside.

My method leaves a visible hem on the outside, but I don’t see anything wrong with one neat line of stitching, and for everyday or casual trousers, it can even leave a nicer finish than the hidden method. Maybe you won’t want to use this method for your best interview suit, but I use it for everything else!

You will need:

• sewing machine
• thread that matches the colour of your trousers
• seam gauge (if you don’t have one, a measuring tape or ruler will do)
• scissors
• straight pins
• sewing needle
• marking pen/pencil
• iron

Method:

1. Try on your trousers so you can see how long they need to be. Note: remember to wear shoes while you do this, or your trousers will look too short when you wear them with shoes!
    
2. Fold up the trousers to the length you want them to be (it helps if you have a mirror so you can see where they will fall when you are standing up straight). Adjust until you’re happy that they don’t scrape the floor but aren’t going to be too short either. Remember different heel heights will affect the apparent length, so keep that in mind.
    
3. Pin the turn-up to the back of each trouser leg (just one pin) to stop the turn-up from falling down when you take off the trousers. This is just to give you the required length, so don’t worry about being neat. Have a final length check after pinning. Looks good? Okay, now you can get changed into something more comfortable (and don’t prick yourself on those pins!).
   
   Pinned to length at the back
    
4. Measure the length of the turn-up on each leg. They should be the same, but if they aren’t, pick a measurement midway between the two.
   
   Comparing the turn-up lengths

   If they are very different, you should probably try the pants on again and check which one is right! Make a note of your measurement (for these trousers, mine is 9cm).

5. Remove the pins and turn the trousers inside out.
    
6. Fold up the bottom of each leg, to the length you measured above, and pin in place.
   
   Pinned 9cm turn-up
    
7. Iron the fold so it is pressed into a crease.
    
8. Mark 1 inch above the fold, all the way around both legs, then remove the pins.
   
   1 inch marked in white pencil
    
9. Be brave - this is the scary part! Cut the turn-up around the lines you have just drawn, but be careful not to cut through both layers of fabric - just the turned up part - otherwise you’ll end up with capris!
   
   Starting to cut
   
   Partially cut
   
   After cutting

   Handy hint: you can even use the cut-offs to make hairbands.

10. With your remaining 1-inch turn-up, begin to fold the raw edge inside, so you end up with a 1/2 inch turn-up with no raw edges visible. Pin in place as you go.
    
    Starting to fold in the raw edge and pin

    Continue folding and pinning all around the bottoms of both legs. You can iron this fold in place before sewing (I like to; it makes the sewing part easier) or just sew it at this point.

11. Set up your sewing machine with a thread colour that matches the main colour in your fabric, for both the top and bobbin threads. Set it to a medium length straight stitch.
    
    Winding a matching bobbin
     
12. Using the 1cm guide on your sewing machine (or whichever guide is just less than 1/2 an inch) sew around the bottom of each leg.
    
    Ready to start sewing
    When you get back to the start, sew over your first couple of stitches and then finish off.
     
13. Pull the loose threads to the wrong side of the fabric. You can knot them together for added security, if desired, then thread them through a sewing needle. Push the needle into the turned up fabric, and out a couple of inches further along.
    
    Hiding the thread ends
    Pull the thread ends to make fabric scrunch up slightly, then snip off the threads flush with the fabric, so they disappear inside the fabric when you pull it flat.
    
    Snipping the ends
     
14. Turn the trousers right side out and admire your handiwork!
    
    The finished seam as it appears on the outside of the trouser legs - crisp and neat.
    
    Perfect!

The August whiplash challenge is called ‘wardrobe surgery’ and involves refashioning an exisiting piece of clothing by deconstruction/reconstruction or embellishment/decoration.

I looked through my old clothes and found this long skirt that I used to love in the mid ’90s, but now it’s hopelessly high-waisted and really doesn’t do anything for my body type:

Yuck! I hope it didn’t always look this bad on me! It’s so unflattering…

Here it is laid out on the floor (inside out) so you can see the shape of it: 

How did I turn this into the cute strapless dress shown below?

First I took in the side seams between the original waistband and the new hip area. I added two vertical darts at the front between the bust and waist to fit the bodice more closely, and then added two more vertical darts at the back from the shoulder blades to just below the waist, to fit the curve of my back.

I turned the old elasticated waistband inside the dress (which helps to keep it from falling down - always a risk with a strapless top), and took the bottom of the dress up by 12cm to bring it up to knee length. I used the excess fabric cut from the bottom of the dress to make straps, but the dress looked better without, so I removed them again. I was also considering making a fabric flower to accessorise, but I think the dress looks classy the way it is, so I’m going to keep it simple.

I love the fit of this dress! I can never buy dresses because of my pear-shaped figure, but this does exactly what a dress should do - fits around my top half, and floats over the areas I don’t want to emphasise. It took a lot of pinning and re-pinning (and in some cases unpicking seams and trying again) before I got the dress to fit like this, but it was worth it!

I’m entering this into the deconstruct/reconstruct category on whiplash.