parade of skirts

For a long time I didn't think that I was capable of sewing something that I would actually wear. I've never been good at following patterns. My mom can sew anything from a pattern, so you would think I would have picked that up in our 18 1/2 years of living together. But I was a bad a seed and refused to learn. Regret. Luckly I seem to have a knack for figuring things out (after much trial and error). Following patterns would be much easier. And faster. But oh well. It works.

So these are my favorites. My skirts. I'm so looking forward to summer so that I can wear a skirt every single day. That's my summer wardrobe - t-shirt, skirt, Chacos. Perfect. And I'm posting these because they are all EASY. Anyone can makes these. And there are so many AMAZING fabrics to choose from right now. Seriously. Check here. Told ya.

This first one is about as simple as you can get:
I bought this knit fabric from Wal-Mart for $2 a yard. Cut it so it'd fit loose around my hips and was way too big for my waist. Put right sides together, sewed it into a tube. Then, I shirred (sewed with elastic thread in the bobbin), about 20 rows around the top of the skirt. That's it. I didn't hem it or anything. It's not anything spectacular, but it sure is comfy. It's great over bathing suits too.



This fabric I found at a yard sale for $.50. I'm sure it's just polyester or something, but it's really pretty and soft. For this one I wanted a wrap skirt, so I layed a knee length A-line skirt on the fabric, cut out three, sewed all three together, hemmed and put in some ribbons to tie it. Easy. Not perfect, but easy.

This is one that I actually followed a pattern on. Kind of. I bought this pattern, but was surprised because there was no pattern inside. Just measurements of how much to cut. Which, after I started, I realized made sense. No pattern is really needed on this style. Don't be scared of making a tiered skirt. It's easy and super worth it. I added an extra tier on top because I wanted it longer, and ended up shirring that top tier later on.

This is another no pattern wrap skirt. Just three panels sewn together. But then I added some pretty bias tape around the edges and used buttons instead of ties. I love this skirt. The fabric is Heather Bailey's Pineapple Brocade.

Another tiered skirt. Love it. I bought this fabric at Joann's for $2.50 a yard. It's super light. I wish I'd bought more.

I bought this fabric from a sweet little sewing shop in Preston, Idaho that nearly brought me to tears. Apparently I get emotional around large quantities of beautiful fabrics. I know. This one is the half circle wrap skirt from this book, which I highly recommend. I've gotten a lot of ideas and learned some really helpful techniques from it. I love this skirt. I would wear it every day if I could. The fabric is by Denyse Schmidt and it's called Daisy Bunch in Blue and Orange from her Katie Jump Rope line.

I bought the fabric for this skirt from the same little shop. I don't remember what the fabric is called or who it's by, I just thought it looked fun. And, as my friend Cristan pointed out, I can wear it with any color shirt. Nice. It's also a three paneled wrap skirt with bias tape around the edges and a tie.

So there's my homemade skirt collection. Each one of them was made in a matter of hours with no paper patterns to follow. Anyone can do it. You can do it. Buy some cheap fabric and give it a try. It won't be long before you realize that you like what you're sewing for yourself better than what you're seeing in the stores. And in many cases it's cheaper. But it does kind of suck the fun out of shopping when everything you look at you think, "I don't need to buy that. I could make that." Pressure.