A Smocked Skirt for the Whole Woman

Transcription

1 W A Smocked Skirt for the Whole Woman A Whole Woman Make-it-yourself Pattern by Christine Ann Kent President Whole Woman Inc. Text and photos copyright by Christine Ann Kent. All rights reserved.

2 A Smocked Skirt for the Whole Woman A Whole Woman Make-it-yourself Pattern Smocking is an age-old sewing technique where fabric is gathered into tight folds and then sewn down using rows of decorative stitches. The result is a scrunchy look perfect below a neckline or around the hips. This easy skirt requires little sewing experience and can be completed in just a few hours. Depending upon fabric choice and how you accessorize it, the skirt can look English, Navajo, Gypsy, Scandinavian, etc. The skirt can be worn with or without a belt and is suitable for any season. Materials Recommended fabrics are 100% cotton, linen, or silk. Pre-shrink all fabric by washing in cold water. Yardage requirements will be described below. Matching polyester thread. Unbleached cotton muslin the length of your skirt and 8 inches wide. Eight ¾ inch buttons. Large paper to make the pattern. I use newspaper roll ends available for free or little money from any local publisher. Basic sewing supplies. 1

3 Making The Pattern Wrap a measuring tape around your hips exactly where you want your skirt to ride and measure this circumference. Add 1¼ inches. This is the foundational measurement upon which the rest of the skirt will be built. Even though this skirt rides on the hips, for the sake of convention we will call this the waist measurement. Determine how long you want your skirt to be. This LENGTH will remain unchanged, because we are going to add 1½ inches of waistband at the top and take away 1½ inches of hem at the bottom. Waistband Total Width Front/ Back Side Front/ Side Back You will be making a total of three pattern pieces: - FRONT/BACK, - SIDE FRONT/SIDE BACK, and - WAISTBAND. You must have a way to create straight edges and right angles on the pattern pieces. I use a large, tabletop grid but a t-square and yardstick will also work. First calculate the TOTAL WIDTH of the skirt by multiplying your waist measurement by 2.8. The approximately 7 inches of seams and self-facings contained in the skirt have been factored into the design and will not be added on to the total width. Obtain the width of the FRONT/BACK pattern piece by multiplying the total width by Obtain the width of the SIDE FRONT/SIDE BACK pattern piece by multiplying the FRONT/BACK width by 0.4. Add the length to the FRONT/BACK and SIDE FRONT/SIDE BACK 2

4 pattern pieces. The waistband pattern will be 4¼ inches wide and the length of your waist measurement. Draw, label, and cut out your pattern pieces. Cutting Out The Fabric Pieces Garment fabric in the United States is sold in 44/45 and 60 inch widths. Assuming material width of 44 inches, if your hip measurement is 44 inches or less, you will need 3 yards of fabric to make a skirt with a finished length of 33 inches. Add additional material if you want a longer skirt. If your hip measurement is greater than 44 inches, you will need a total of 5 yards of fabric for this skirt length. For hip sizes over 44 inches, cut four FRONT/BACK pattern pieces from a single layer of fabric and seam these together to make two pieces. Press fabric, fold lengthwise with right sides together, and lay out on cutting table. The straight direction of the fabric from top to bottom is known as the GRAINLINE. Place the FRONT/BACK pattern piece lengthwise along the fold of the fabric and with the grainline. CUT 2 FRONT/BACK pieces on the fold. Do not cut the folded edge. The fabric will be doubled in width when unfolded. Place the SIDE FRONT/SIDE BACK pattern piece lengthwise on the fabric and the WAISTBAND piece along side it. CUT 2 SIDE FRONT/ SIDE BACK pieces and CUT 1 WAISTBAND. 3

5 Cut 1 WAISTBAND piece from muslin to use as interfacing. Interfacing will support the waistband and side edges of the skirt. Cut 2 strips of muslin 1½ inches wide and the length of your skirt minus 1 inch. Sewing The Skirt All seams are sewn using a ⅝ inch seam allowance. Pin muslin interfacing to WRONG SIDE of WAISTBAND. Stitch. Trim interfacing close to stitching. Press under ½ inch on one long edge of waistband. 4

6 5

7 With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, pin FRONT/BACK pieces together on the RIGHT side. It is helpful to label the pattern pieces on the wrong side to distinguish front from back and top from bottom. 6

8 Stitch and press the seam flat. On the OUTSIDE, sew ⅜ inch on either side of the seam using either a straight or decorative stitch. This finishing of the seams will keep them flat and prevent fray. With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, sew the SIDE FRONT/SIDE BACK pieces to either side the FRONT/BACK pieces. Finish the seams as above. 7

9 Turn the raw side edges of the skirt under ⅜ inch and press. On either side, lay a long strip of muslin inside along the fold so that the two fabrics are even at the top. The muslin should be one inch shorter at the bottom, which will facilitate turning up the hem. 8

10 Fold the side edges in once again along the width of the interfacing. Press, pin, and stitch near the inside fold of the facings. 9

11 Gathering The Skirt Mark lines for gathering stitches. On the WRONG SIDE of the skirt, measure one inch from the top and make marks (using pencil or chalk) six inches apart all along the width of the skirt. Using a ruler, connect the marks into one line. Repeat ½ inch from first line and continue for a total of 13 lines ½ inch apart. 10

12 Create the gathering stitches by using the longest length stitch on your machine. Sew along the gathering lines between facings. Do not backstitch or disrupt the lines of stitching. Upon beginning each row, carefully move the previously sewn threads to the side to prevent tangling. When all the gathering stitches are sewn, move the fabric to a place where it can lay flat. Without pulling on them, bring together all the threads on the WRONG SIDE of the skirt. Tie the threads together into a knot and trim the thread ends. These threads will not move during gathering of the skirt and the knot will keep them neat and tidy. Repeat on the opposite side. 11

13 Begin to gather the skirt by gently pulling the threads on the RIGHT SIDE of the fabric and pushing it toward the middle. It is unlikely you will be able to pull all the threads at once, so move the top few, middle few, and bottom few one after the other. The further you go, the easier it becomes to pull all the threads as a unit. As soon as you have 12 or 15 inches of length in the threads, tie and trim them like you did the under threads. This will keep them nicely organized. Alternate working on one side, then the other, gathering toward the center of the skirt. As the threads become long, knot and trim them again for easier handling. 12

14 It generally takes about 30 minutes to gather the skirt. You will want to be very careful to keep even tension on the threads and not pull them too hard. This is a lot of fabric to gather with unbroken threads, but polyester thread is very strong and the large number of threads distributes tension well. One broken thread will not be missed once the smocking stitches are in place. More than one and you should probably remove all the threads and re-sew. I have made many of these skirts and have never broken a thread. Be careful! 13

15 Gather the skirt to the same width as your waistband. Use your fingertips to comb the gathers into uniform rows. Fan out the bottom rows of gathers to ease over your hips. Pin the waistband to the skirt with RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. The waistband should extend ⅝ inch beyond the side edges of the skirt. 14

16 Baste the waistband to the skirt using a long machine stitch. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU TRY THE SKIRT ON AT THIS POINT. The side edges should overlap to a perfect fit. If you need more room in the hips, ease more of the bottom gathers out. Sewing The Waistband Sew the waistband to the skirt by sewing over the basting stitches. To eliminate bulk in the waistband, trim the skirt seam allowance to ¼ inch. Trim the waistband seam allowance to ⅜ inch. 15

17 Press seam allowances toward the waistband. 16

18 Fold the waistband in half lengthwise with RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. Stitch the ends evenly with the side edges of the skirt. 17

19 Trim seam allowances to ⅜ inch and trim the corners diagonally. Turn the waistband right side out. Press. Pin the waistband facing to the skirt and stitch close to inside fold. 18

20 Smocking The Skirt Using a decorative or zig-zag stitch, sew between all the rows of gathering stitches. If you prefer a less scrunchy, more pleated look, you can also just straight-sew over the gathering stitches. After the first three rows are smocked, the ends of all the gathering stitches can be cut. You can neatly pull them through to the underside with a needle and knot them, or just cut them off, as the ends become buried in the fabric after a washing or two. Finishing Sew button holes along the RIGHT side edge. Sew buttons on the LEFT side edge. 19

21 Trim a scant ¼ inch diagonally from the bottom edge of side facings. Turn up the hem ¼ inch. Press. Turn up again 1 inch. Press, pin, and sew the hem in by hand. Enjoy! 20