Back to basic: Black miniskirt

It is has been a while I haven't posted a thing on this blog. Not that I have been idle. 

After a rush mast summer and 4 garments made for dear friends' wedding, I took a small break and hope to focus on the fun aspect of sewing. I'm getting there, slowly.

I've also been pretty busy with work. Jetsetting in Europe most months or sometimes weeks. This means that once I'm back home, I don't fancy starting big projects.

A few friends inspiring me. To name a few: Kelly (http://makesewdo.wordpress.com/about-2/), Chris (http://throughwoodeneyes.tumblr.com/), Pete (http://owlshield.tumblr.com/), Kate (http://kshirley84.tumblr.com/) and lovely Charlie (http://littleearthquakepots.tumblr.com/). There are a few others that do not have blogs that would deserve many praises (I'm thinking about you Martha).

They're all local artists and two of them are actually on the path of making a living of it. I'm always impressed by their drive and creativity. 

Let's circle back to the point of this post: the black miniskirt. 

Actually should it be written mini-shirt instead? I like hyphens, so don't trust me.

The fabric is an average quality woven jersey that is fairly stretchy. This was a remnant from a top I made for my company's Xmas party. The beauty of this material is that it is ideal for the overlocker/serger. 

The pattern is home made and this time I really should use the final product and make a proper partner of it. I mean the notes I took to make the pattern were 3 things:

• Hip measurement (95+5cm of ease)
• Length of the skirt (35cm)
• and the width of the belt (16cm)

I already knew my waist measurement, bear in mind you'll need this too for the belt.

I had to hack the width of the skirt quite a lot, (hip measurement). I think I overestimated the width of my bum a fair bit (note for later: deal with light body dysmorphia). Not an issue with the overlocker, it took 2 pins and about 2 minutes to resolve. I love it.

The pattern pieces were:

• belt x2
• skirt x2

It is soooo simple.

Sewing directions:

1. Stitch the top of the belt (wrong sides together)
2. Stitch the sides of the belt to form a loop (wrong side together)
3. Stitch the skirt on both sides (wrong side together)
4. Turn the skirt the right side on, do the same with the belt
5. Slide the belt with stitched top down, and pin the open bottom (two layers together) against the top of the skirt
6. Overlock the 3 layers together
7. Fold the bottom hem (1cm) and pin it
8. Stitch the hem with a double needle to keep the stretch properties of the fabric
9. Enjoy!

This skirt is really simple. If you were to make it with a non-stretch fabric, you could add a band of piping between the belt and the skirt. You could also make wavy edges to the skirt.

This is a very basic model and can be accessorised and improved very easily.

Details of the hem stitched with a double needle. They look scary, they're actually so easy to use. If your sewing machine has a stretch setting, it is worth doing a test first to understand how the stitch will fit the hem.