Very soon I will be heading to DisneyLand in Tokyo for the very first time! I’m hugely excited about this trip, so to put that extra energy into something usable I’ve been planning and making outfits. The first one was a mermaid skirt to wear to DisneySea, but this time I’m making a red skirt with white spots to DisneyBound as Minnie Mouse herself.
Initially I intended to make a three-quarter circle skirt for a flouncy skirt that would spin prettily, but the lovely bright spotted cotton fabric I got wasn’t quite wide enough to accommodate that kind of design. So I decided to wing it instead of making a plain gather skirt like I should have. I wanted to have a go at pleating up a skirt that had a flat panel at the front, as the way gather skirts hang towards the front is the one thing I dislike about the simple design.
To start, I measured my waist and cut a long rectangle of fabric slightly longer than that measurement to make the waistband. Then I ran a zigzag stitch around the edges to stop the cotton fraying. I ran this zigzag stitch around the edge of each piece I cut out as I find cotton always frays the second I touch the cut edges and I didn’t want to have to deal with it.
Then I put the rectangle around my waist where I wanted the skirt to sit to see if it would fit, it did! I did this over clothing as I wanted the option to tuck a top into this skirt. I also made sure there was a decent amount of crossover to accommodate a button to join the two sides together.
Because I had cut the fabric all the way to the selvage, I then fixed the edges over to hide the lighter edges. Really I should have cut a better strip of fabric, but this worked at the time, and I decided to take the lazy pathway and hide the evidence.
The last pieces I cut out were pockets. Every time I make an item of clothing that is possible to fit pockets into I do that because pockets are massively useful and I hate carrying bags. These pockets come from a skirt pattern I have previously sewn up and they’re nice and roomy. I cut out the same pattern piece four times, twice on a folded piece of fabric so the pretty spotted pattern could be visible inside the pocket on facing pocket pieces.
With all the fabric cutting done I moved on to working out the placements of the skirt on the waistband. I folded over the band and ironed a crease down the middle to create the shape I needed. I though about adding some interfacing too, but didn’t. I would later come to regret this. But for now, I marked the centre of both the waistband and the skirt fabric with a safety pin to provide a starting point for measuring out pleat placement.
For the skirt, I wanted a flat panel at the front similar to a kilt, then pleats facing backwards towards the centre back zipper. I used a tape measure to measure the front of my waist where I wanted the front panel to sit, then used a ruler to fold this length into place either side of the centre I had marked. Then I measured and folded some pleats evenly just behind and either side of the front panel.
I continued measuring the pleats evenly around the rest of the skirt. By the time I got to the back I had more fabric left over than I needed, so I just made the pleats a little longer to use it all up. This should also add a little extra flounce to the back of the skirt and make it move nicely when I walk. Added bonus of not measuring properly! Everything was pinned in place to the waistband so it wouldn’t shift before I had a chance to sew it into place.
Next I worked out where to place the pockets. I wanted them buried in a pleat so that the pocket opening as well as my sloppy sewing could be hidden. I marked the pleats I would later cut for pocket openings, but didn’t cut them yet. Then I set aside the pocket pieces for a tiny bit later.
Next I sewed the pleats in place onto the waistband. I left the pins in place and crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t hit any and break my sewing machine needle. Luckily I didn’t!
However, I did catch large chunks of the waistband in the line of stitching and then had to unpick it and start over. The second time I sewed it in place I pinned the waistband down to the skirt and out of the way. Unpicking always makes me more careful the second time through, though it always makes me wish I had been more careful the first time. One day on a sewing project I’m sure I’ll learn this lesson more permanently, but this project was not that project!
I did a little more unpicking around the pleat I’d marked out for the pocket. Winging it creates a lot of unpicking work! I then slit a pocket opening following the markings on the pocket pattern.
I sewed each pocket piece in place, then sewed the pockets together making a pouch. I then pinned this up to the waistband making sure not to catch any of the pleats up so I could sew it in neatly.
Then I sewed the pockets in place adding a little more stitching to the waistband to mend the unpicking I did to create space for the pockets to be placed.
Next up; the back zipper. I made sure I changed my sewing machine foot over to an invisible zipper foot before starting, but I did a lot of procrastination. I am terrible at placing zippers and need a lot more practice, so I always dread this part! Eventually I pinned the zip in place, steeled myself, and started.
Once I had the zipper in place I moved the zipper up to see if it worked, and it did! But when I went to move to back down again the mechanism got stuck and I noticed that I had caught some of the teeth of the zipper in the stitching… This is why I hate placing zippers! But practice is what you need to get good at something, right? So I unpicked the zipper and tried again and on the second try I managed to place it successfully, if not neatly.
Once the zipper was in, I “stitched in the ditch” to catch the waistband on the inside of the skirt and hide the tops of the pleats away. The very last fiddly thing left to do was sew the button hole. I used the button hole functions of my sewing machine to do this, but because the fabric is so light and I didn’t add interfacing way back at the start of this project to stiffen it up, the button hole is one of the ugliest ones I’ve ever sewn. Thankfully I bought big sparkly heart shaped buttons to hide the button hole under so nobody will ever have to see it.
The last thing left to do was the hem! Half way through the project I decided to change the skirt from a maxi length to falling between my knees and ankles. I pinned it up and it ended up looking pretty flattering. Because it is a gathered skirt this means there was no curve in the hem like with a circle skirt, which is what I’m more used to sewing. So the hem was nice and easy! I folded it, ironed it, and ran a line of stitching the whole way around. Then the skirt was done and ready to wear on my trip to Disney!
It feels like this project is more a list of how not to sew than how to make a nice skirt. But I feel like I have learned a few lessons as a result of winging it, first and foremost is that winging it is possible! I love being creative, so hopefully I can carry this kind of creativity forwards to other sewing projects in the future. Maybe with just a little bit more forward planning next time…
And the final skirt? Well, here’s a picture of it! Hopefully I can get much better pictures when I wear it to Disney!
