The Crazy Swirly Skirt

Tada! Here’s the Didn’t Quite Make It To Me Made May make! My new Crazy Swirly Skirt. It’s a straightforward circle skirt, made in two pieces because the fabric wasn’t wide enough for me to do it as a full seamless circle.

I wanted you to see how it matches the shoes perfectly

 

 

Eek, it was a bit blowy!

I had to tinker around with the light and colour levels on that second pic, and the black top has not fared well out of that process, but the skirt *has*, and that’s the important part of the photo, right?

I was going to bang on here about how this is one of my more ropey makes, but actually, there’s only one element of it that’s a bit disappointing, the rest of it is fine and dandy.

Firstly, I got the maths right and the waist circle is the right size, there was no need to do any gathering to make it work. Secondly, it’s got a great zip insertion (a hand-picked lapped zip, my favourite). Thirdly, the hem is looking pretty damn good. I used this tutorial from Coletterie, for machine hemming a curved hem. The only thing letting the side down is the waistband, which is not one of my finest hours. I am trying to use what I’ve got in the stash, so I used a length of petersham that I had, I thought that would be perfect. And it should have been, but I was lazy/impatient/stupid about how I put it in, and although it’s fully functional, and it’s neat inside & out, I wouldn’t want anyone who understands anything about sewing to look too closely at it!  It’s not terrible, and it’s certainly not bad enough for me to want to rip it out and do it again. It’s just not “perfect”.

Having said that, I still love this skirt. I fell for the print big-time last summer, when I was shopping for the Fall For Cotton challenge (I hear it will be back again in the Autumn, so I’m mentally readying myself for that) and when I was thinking of what to make next, it leapt into my consciousness. I think it will be a useful addition to my collection of me-made skirts, and will go with my gazillion black t-shirt tops. It’s also a brilliant colour match for the Slouchy Teal Cardigan, and the When Two Become One refashioned t-shirt. So plenty of styling options. I’ve still got a metre and a half of the fabric left over, and I’m even thinking I could use it for a matching top, then I could wear them together like a dress.

What else do I love? That it’s so twirly-whirly! Yay for little flirty circle skirts!

Who would have thought, back when I was 14, that I’d have a use for Pi?

This is totally down to Amanda! She put the idea in my head of getting a quick skirt done by the end of May. So tonight saw me wrangling fabric and trying to work out all the radius calculations for a circle skirt. I know the By Hand London girls have got an app for that, but it doesn’t go quite big enough for my waistline, and I wasn’t sure how it would work with two side seams, because my fabric is only 110cm wide, not wide enough for a full seamless circle.

I am totally cheating with this one. The seams are both on the selvedge, so I’m not neatening them. (Shock, horror, and general pearl-clutching from the purists may now ensue.) Nothing’s going to fray in the wash, and I like the idea of having the selvedge details inside the skirt.

Get ready for a crazy print skirt shortly!

I’ve done everything bar the hemming. And sewing on the bar & hook. I’m going to leave the hem to drop over the weekend, and see what it’s like when I get back from France. I’m a tiny bit regretful that I won’t have this to wear while I’m away, as it would have made an awesome finale to Me Made May, but I know from experience that there’s no point trying to hem a circle until the bias has had a chance to hang for a few days.

The trip to France is a little bit sad, my sisters and I need to do the final signing off of some legal matters for my mother’s estate, but mostly I am expecting the weekend to be more about fun and laughter, good food and drink, sunshine and the beach. And anyone reading this in the UK would have to agree with me that those are all well worth the trip.