Back to sewing

After completing the last big project, I was desperate to cut my teeth on something quick and dirty to get back into the swing on things machine sewn. So when I came across a lovely green and peacock feather patterned fabric while out shopping with Gytha, I knew just what to do with it.

As I imagine with many people, when my jeans fail, they rip on the inner thigh, not the worlds most repairable juncture. So when my latest pair of black jeans split, I decided to do something with them instead of just consigning them to the bin.

I was lucky with the build of these jeans that I was able to slice off the legs just above the crutch seam, giving me a straight seam to work with on the hip pieces. The fabric that I bought was 150cm wide and 2 metres long, so I sewed the cut edges together with a french seam to give myself a good wide skirt.

I wanted to avoid bulk at the join of the fabrics, so I decided to pleat the fabric. Sometimes, joining the width of the skirt to the much (but not all that much) narrower width of the hip band can be an exercise in drowning in fabric. You can get around this by pinning the fabric down at the points of the compass first. That is, I lined up the seam of the skirt to the back seam of the jeans. Then, I found the half way point of the fabric and pinned that to the front seam. I repeated again for the side seams and it leaves the fabric more evenly divided and much easier to pin in the pleats.

When the skirt piece was sewn on, I folded the seam back up against the denim and sewed it down again to give it a little more strength; hems, they were made for me to step on.

And I have a finished skirt, in a little under an hour. And even better, it has pockets! Skirtage that still allows me to carry my keys and wallet without the need for a ruddy handbag. Suzie approves too, and that's very important.