The $5 Skirt

With the weather warming up and my body somehow not ready for my usual summer attire of cut-off denim shorts (!!) I decided knee-length skirts might be the way to go this year.

But I don't seem to own any. Nor did I have any spare funds to devote to buying or making any.

So, I set myself a challenge: to make a skirt pattern and then make a skirt, without spending any money on new materials. Everything used had to already been in my house.

I had a plain, light-weight fabric in my stash - I paid $4 for a chunk of it a while ago at an op shop.

Next I went to You Tube and found an excellent A-Line skirt pattern tutorial from a user called SweetMaterials (you can search her if you're interested, but oh looky - here's her website here)

I used her instructions to make a pattern tailored to my waist and hips and made the two back pieces as per her instructions.

For the front, I wanted something slightly more decorative due to the plain fabric.

So, I measured a piece of paper to 8cm width and added it to the inside edge of the front pattern piece, so it sits on the fold. Basically, it meant that the front was 16m wider than the two back pieces put together.

Then I drew in lines every 1cm apart, from top to bottom.

I used these guidelines to fold pin tucks on the right side of the fabric - three on each side and then a 2cm panel in the middle. Now, if you're mathematically inclined you might see that this is where I went wrong. I don't speak maths, so I am still unsure BUT I think I probably should only have added a 7cm panel (so the total width of the insert was 14cm). The 8cm seemed to add too much fabric and the side seams were pushed to the back of the garment slightly. I can live with it though.

I sewed down those folds...

...and then finished the skirt with some embroidery stitches to keep the folds in place, bias tape around the top, a hem at the bottom and a zipper at the back.

And now I have a cute new skirt for summer, for materials that came in under $5! It's the first pattern I've made for my own clothing and I'm hooked...

Ps. How lanky is my baby?? At 11 weeks, she's like a cute spaghetti strand. Clearly, she takes after her father not me!