Here's what I started with at the beginning of the week~
See that lace to the left? Well, here's what it really looks like on it's own.
It's about 15" wide!
I originally picked it for my Wholeport shipment to make some sleeves on a pretty top but when I had it in my hands I could only see it as a pretty little mini skirt.
Here's what you need to make the easiest skirt ever!
-Super duper extra wide lace and matching lining fabric
-standard sewing kit: sewing machine, pins, measuring tape, thread, scissors
-waist elastic
Steps:
1) The first thing you need to do is cut your lining to match your piece of lace. My lace is just under 1 metre long and about 15" wide. Consider this is size XS-S. If you're making a larger size you'll need a longer piece of lace. Just wrap it around your hips and add extra for a seam to figure out how much you'll need.
Pin your lace directly onto your lining fabric, one layer of each. I didn't even hem my lining because it won't fray. So, I lined up the bottom edge of my lace a little lower than the lining so that it won't show. Be generous with your pins so that everything doesn't slip on you.
2) Even out your lace and cut your lining at the same time. The top edge of my lace was pretty jaggedy so I gave it just a tiny bit of a trim. I couldn't afford to lose too much on the length of the skirt so I trimmed the least amount possible.
Don't forget to make sure that your ends are also straight and even too.
3) Keeping your lace and lining together, make a tube and stitch the ends together.
4) Set your skirt body aside and cut enough elastic to fit comfortably around your waist plus about a 1" overlap.
Sew the ends together.
I usually don't care what my stitching on my elastic looks like because no one can see it in a casing, but there's a chance with this skirt that people might catch a glimpse of your waistline so try to be tidy with your stitches.
5) Divide your elastic and waistline of skirt into fourths. Just pin directly across from your back seam, then bring those spots together and pin the ends again to find the fourths. Do the same with your skirt body. If you're making a larger size you may want to divide into eighths.
5) Now all that's left to do is to attach your elastic waistband to your skirt. There are lots of ways to do this but like I said up top, I didn't want to lose any length of fabric of my skirt towards my waistband so I attached the elastic on the outside, right on top of the fabric.
Match up the pins your marked with in step 4 on the elastic and the skirt, overlapping the fabric onto the back of the elastic about a half inch.
6) Use a straight stitch to sew the elastic onto the fabric, gently pulling the elastic as it glides under your presser foot. This will ensure a nice even gather.
Don't forget to remove all those pins that were holding your lace and lining together, because guess what?!?!! You're done!
I'm pretty sure my mini skirt wearing days are long behind me but I just couldn't resist making this cute little wardrobe staple. It's super easy to dress up and with a long light sweater you can wear it in the daytime too!
I hope you've enjoyed Lace Week! Don't forget, if you want to find your own lace pieces for awesome prices, just head over to Wholeport....or join their Sponsorship Program and you can get your own supplies for free too!
So, how old is too old to wear a short skirt? I know what all the magazines say but I want to hear what you think. Leave a comment below and let me know if I can pull this off or if it's something I need to give to a younger friend~
