My New Winter Knit Skirt Tutorial



There is nothing better than a comfy, cosy knit skirt to slide into on a cold winter's day. Something with a bit of stretch to make the day at work easier. I found this thick knit fabric on the remnant table at Fabric Vision last year. Like all good fabric bargains, it resided in my stash for a good 12 months before I finally got to making something of it. 

Time always being short, I found a very simple retro pattern to use; then snazzed it up with some grosgrain ribbon down the side seams.

It was a really good Sunday afternoon project, suitable for beginning sewers, and can be done in no time at all.
I laid the pattern out on the folded fabric making sure the grain of the knit fabric is straight by lining up the selvage edges. 

The stretch of the fabric should be greatest around the body of the skirt so check which way the fabric stretches the most. The front of the skirt is placed 'on the fold' - otherwise you will be stuck with a seam down the centre front. I folded up some of the length of the skirt as it was longer than I wanted.


First sew the invisible zip into the centre back seam of the skirt. Place the right side of the open invisible zip onto the right side of the fabric and pin one side on, so the teeth of the zip are pushed flat. Sew along the crease in the zip using either a special invisible zip foot or an ordinary foot - both will help to help to hold the teeth out of the way. You can never sew right to the bottom of an invisible zip, so just stop when you get close to the end. Now sew the other side on and do up the zip. Only once both sides have been attached can the centre back skirt seam be sewn up.

Now sew the darts into the back of the skirt and the pleats into the front.

Sew the side seams together and over lock the raw edges. Press the seam and pin the grosgrain ribbon over the seams. Top stitch on as neatly as you can.

Using a dry iron - ie no stream, press interfacing onto the waist band. Don't move the iron around, just press and lift so the interfacing doesn't wrinkle and crease.









Pin the waist band onto the skirt making sure that the skirt waist is not stretched onto the band. Leave an overlap of fabric on the left side to accommodate the button hole. Also ensure the band matches at the zip or else one side will be longer than the other. Fold the width of the band over and sew around as shown in the picture.
Sew both end then turn into the right side. Press the band making sure the inside edge overlaps the outside seam. From the outside of the skirt sew the band down so the inside seam is caught.

Measure, press and pin the hem. I sewed a small piece of grosgrain ribbon across the kick pleat at the back of the skirt.
Bag out the kick pleat seam by folding it back against itself and sewing across on the crease of the hem.

Sew the hem using a small herringbone stitch. A busy pattern like this really doesn't need a line of visible stitching as well.

Out for a casual family coffee at The Colombo.

Cute Pleated Duck Skirt

With all this time for cooking, things have been a little quiet on the craft blog front in the last month or so. Christmas breaks being such a great time to have a tidy out, I've been attending to a few unfinished projects - both knitted and sewn. 
This cute little duck skirt is the first to get an airing, I started it so long ago I can't find the pattern I based it on. It was vintage, I can remember that much. I took it to school to show the girls how to sew the pleats and the invisible zip in. They named it 'the pukeko skirt', but I still think they look like ducks with their little short legs.

It's made in six panels with the pleats added later to get the correct fit. I put the invisible zip on the side to avoid having the split the centre back panel in half. The original pattern did not have a lining, so I cut one using the shape of pleated front and back panels and sewed it to the outside layer before attaching the waistband.

 I have teamed it with a label-less op shopped top and suede Django and Juliette sling backs. 
All I need now is some more summer weather.