3 Fat Quarters and a Skirt

At the Boonah Guides Quilt & Craft Show recently,

I bought 3 fat quarters from http://www.apatchyquilting.com.au/ 

and set myself the challenge of making a skirt from them.

I kept it simple - a 6 gore straight self drafted skirt.

The right front and back panels are contrast to the other 4 panels.

I made sure I planned the pattern layout carefully before cutting out, because I wanted the right front & right back panels to be yellow.

Remember to measure twice and cut once.

 

Sigh, vanity makes you unpick.

The master pattern was drafted a couple of years ago, and

it seems a centimetre or two as well. The skirt was a bit snug with

15mm seams so I restitched them using a 4-thread overlock

and unpicked the machine stitching. Much better.

Of course then the facings didn't fit, so I lined the skirt

without a facing and under stitched it at the waistline.

I love under stitching - it's the perfect finish for linings and facings.

I pressed the seams away from the centre panels and

topstitched using a yellow/gold rayon embroidery thread

and my ditch stitch foot.

Hems are so easy on straight skirts.

I overlocked the raw edges and turned up a 1" hem, and also tucked

under the overlocking (just because I felt like it) making it a 3/4" finished hem.

If you are going to finish the hem this way (no visible raw edges) it is not necessary to overlock first. It was a last minute decision.

The easiest way to measure a straight hem is to place the

skirt wrong sides up over the end of the ironing board.

Then measure 2" (twice the finished hem width) from the

overlocked/raw edge and poke a pin into the ironing board.

Fold the raw edge up to the pin, move the pin to secure hem,

and press before sewing.

I used an invisible zipper in the side seam.

The sewing up was relatively quick and easy. It just takes a little

time to plan something not straight out of the box.

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.