Tutorial: Twist-and-Shout Skirt

A couple of weeks ago I saw on Pinterest this concept of a twisted panel. I wish I remember where I saw it so you could see! I liked the idea of the twist, but I didn't particularly like it as a panel. So, I thought it would make an adorable skirt! It's pretty easy even though it takes a bit more time than your average skirt. 

What you'll need for a 4T-ish sized skirt:

~ 1/4 yd of whatever fabric you'd like (I actually used fat quarters)

~ 1/4 yd of contrasting color

~ 1/2 yd for the skirt

~ elastic

First things first. 

For the skirt I cut a 22'' x 11" piece

For the twists I did 30 (of each color) pieces cut to 9" x 2"

For the skirt hem I cut a 22" x 4"

and

for the waistband I cut a 22" x 4" piece (this measurement will depend on how long you made the skirt piece!)

Here are my two contrasting pieces for the twists:

Match a colored and black piece together, right sides together, and sew down each long side. Make sure to leave the short ends open. Next I turn all 30 pair right side out, press them, and then trim the short edges.

After I've pressed the trimmed everything I sew the skirt piece together. Once that's sewn, I place the twists along the top about 2 inches down from the edge of the fabric. Once you've pinned all the twists in place sew them to the skirt piece.

After you've sewn all the twists to the top of the skirt piece, twist the bottom of the twists and pin under the neighboring twist. Does that make sense? If not, maybe the picture shows it better than I can explain.

Once all the twists are pinned sew them down.

Next comes the hem for the bottom of the skirt and the waistband. What you'll do is fold each piece in half and press. Then fold under the edges and press again. Pin the hem and waistband to the skirt making sure to encase the ends of the twists. Once everything is pinned, sew the hem and waistband on. For the waistband, make sure you leave a big enough opening to thread the elastic through.

When you're done, it should look something like this!

As for a final product photo, I don't have one! I made the elastic too small and can't get the skirt past A-girl's tush. Serves me right for guessing instead of measuring! I'll have to fix that though. Have fun and send me pictures!

sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com

Pattern: Pencil Skirt

One thing I like about making my own pencil skirt is that I can make it without darts, however long I want, and so that it will fit my body. I tend to have a harder time finding skirts, pants, shorts, etc. that will fit my hind end as well as my waist. I never could find exactly what I was looking for so I decided to make my own pattern. And it's super easy to do!

There are just a handful of measurements that I take which are easily done. Let's start with the front of the skirt.

**In the patterns below, I did not mark the seam allowance. I added that as I cut around the pattern pieces.**

The first measurement I take it the length of the skirt. I place one end of the measuring tape where I would like the waistband to be and go to my knee or just past. You'll need two of these: one for the front and one for the back.

The next few measurements focus on the waist/hip area and are all from side seam to side seam across the front. I measure at the natural waist, the hips, and then my thighs. Be mindful of the vertical distance between each measurement so you have a copy of your body's curves. With those three measurements, I divide them in HALF and mark them on a piece of paper (photo below). The next measurement I take is the width I want around my knees. I also divide this in half. I divide everything in half because I make my pattern so that the middle of the skirt will be the fold of the material and will make a more symmetrical pattern. In the picture below, the fold is on the left. You'll just cut 1 front piece when making the skirt.

 For the back pieces, I repeat the same process for the front. I measure from side seam to side seam across the back. For the back pieces I only measure at the waist, the biggest part of my bum, and the knee width. In the picture below, the left side of the pattern will be the seam in the middle of my back where the zipper will be placed. I add 1-2" to the middle seam (left side of pattern) to allow for the hemming of the slit and zipper. OR you can copy the outside curve from the front piece and extend the middle seam to the widest measurement. The first way is best with smaller tushes. You'll cut 2 back pieces.

 The last piece to the pattern is the waistband. This part is totally dependent on how tall you want the waistband. I make mine at about 2 inches tall and the length of my waist plus 4 inches. But, then I multiply the height of the waistband by 4. So, I'll have a strip that is 8" x my waist + 4". I multiply it by 4 because I fold the waistband in half and then fold in the edges to the middle. It strengthens the waistband and also eliminates the appearance of folded edges. A cleaner look.

For putting the whole skirt together, you'll find that in the tutorial for a True to Size Pencil Skirt.

For clarification or help shoot me an email: sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com.

Tutorial: True to Size Pencil Skirt

I love me a pencil skirt. Let's just get that out there now. My only problem with a lot of them is that 1- they cost way more money than I want to spend and 2- I don't know if I don't know how to wear them or if I can never find one that fits me comfortably. Anyway.....I really do love them. They're classy, slimming, versatile, cheap ($3-7 on average), and easy to sew! Why not make your own? Here is how I pattern my own dart-less (because let's face it, I hate darts) pencil skirt, but in the meantime, here's a tutorial for how I put mine together!

Supplies:

~ 1 yd of fabric (you'll need more or less depending on what size you are. I'm somewhere between a 2 and 4.)

~ coordinating zipper

~button

~ interface

Once I've cut out all my pieces from my pattern, I've got this: one front piece, two back pieces, and the waistband (I forgot to take a picture of it before I fold and pressed everything - in case you were wondering what those lines were).

The first thing I work on is the waistband. I fold it in half and press, open it and then fold the edges in to the middle and press again. I then set aside the waistband until later.

With right sides together I match the back pieces to the front pieces of the skirt. I then sew down both seams.

From here, I put the skirt on, inside out, and pin the back. This part is a little tricky by yourself, but it is definitely doable. Especially with a full body mirror. This is the part where you can eliminate the darts in the back. I just pull the pieces together and pin down until I hit the point where I want to slit to start.

This picture is to demonstrate two things: taking the skirt off while it's pinned, and where you will press the fabric. While the skirt is still on, I carefully pin down the material on both sides and slip out. After I've taken it off, I take it to the ironing board and press the fabric - folded over twice so the material doesn't fray. This seam is where the zipper will go in and makes the back slit.

Once the material is pressed, I like to line the edges of the back pieces together then line the zipper up and put a pin where it ends.

With the back edges still lined up, I sew from the bottom of the zipper pin and down the first fold line until I hit the point of the slit

When I'm done, the top should look like this: 

Next, I pin the zipper in and sew it to the skirt.

So far you should have a pretty little skirt starting to take shape! Next is the waistband. I fold right sides together, pin, and sew JUST one of the short ends. That's it. Oh, and snip the corners so I'll have a sharper corner. Hopefully, the picture demonstrates what I mean by folding the waistband.

For the waistband I like to fortify it with some flexible interfacing. The stuff I like to use is iron on, but it's sticky before you iron so it will stay in place! Cool, huh? And technically, I think it's fusible web, not interfacing. Is there a difference? Now you know how little I know about sewing! Anyway.....I cut out strips to line the waistband. For my waistband, it's about 2" wide strips by however long the piece of web is. 

I take the interface pieces and line them up in the waistband, sticky-side down.

Next, I fold the waistband shut again and press it.

The waistband is now prepped and ready to be attached to the skirt! Wahoo! Almost done! K, with the short edge of the waistband that has already been sewn together, you'll line that end up to the edge of the skirt just above the zipper. Pin the waistband and skirt together

When you make it all the way around the skirt you'll be left with the raw edges of the waistband. At this point, I fold the end right-sides together and sew the short end. Snip the corners and flip is back out.

Here it is with the corners flipped back out. Sew the waistband to the skirt.

Last few steps! Mark your button holes on the extra length of the waistband and sew. Attach the buttons. Hem the skirt to your desired length.

And ta-da! You've got yourself your own pencil skirt that no one will ever know was handmade. Trust me, everyone at Church is surprised to find out I made my skirt!

 My favorite part is digging through my button collection!

If you have any questions on how I did something or want to share what you've done, then send your thoughts/pictures my way: sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com.

Tutorial: Men's to Boy's Dress Shirt

We have an interesting scenario in our house: My husband has a ton of white dress shirts that are in great condition except for the elbows. My son does not have many dress shirts because I hate coughing up $15 for a shirt he's going to grow out of so fast and will only wear on Sundays. A predicament if I didn't sew. But, since I do, I use all of those old white shirts and give them new life! Welcome, free little white shirt!

What you'll need for this project:

~ one old men's dress shirt (you can use whatever type of dress shirt you want to!)

~ thread

~ dress shirt pattern

~ buttons

The first two things I do when making a dress shirt is take all of the buttons off. That way I have buttons for the new shirt and I didn't have to spend a dime! Love that. The other step is cutting the shirt, along the seams, into all the different pieces. Like so:

Next, I press all of the pieces and then lay the pattern pieces out. My little boy wears about a size 3T.

Sleeves:

Fold the sleeve in half and place the pattern along the fold. You'll want 2 separate pieces. Set them aside.

Front and Back:

Now, I actually can't fit a 3T on the front of a man's shirt without covering the pocket. So, I take off the pocket. In my experience, I haven't had problems with the holes left by the stitches in the pocket once I've washed the shirt. I cut out 2 front pieces.

I do the same for the back, making sure to fold it in half and place the fold on the pattern along the same line. You'll want just 1 back piece.

The two pieces will look something like this:

You'll notice the fabric on the front piece (red) sticks out farther than my pattern. That's because I didn't feel like taping another piece of paper to the pattern to account for the button holes. 

Next, I like to make sure the shoulders and armpits are in similar distance so I don't end up with a funny shaped shirt.

With the extra material from the front and back I cut out my neckband x2, collar x2, and sleeve cuffs (if doing long sleeves).

Constructing the shirt:

I like to start with the button part of the shirt. I take the front pieces and fold under the edge twice then press. You can add interfacing here if you want, but for a little boy I prefer not to. You'll see in my picture where the fabric is folded over on top of the pattern. That's the extra space I was talking about and didn't put into the pattern.

Once you've folded under each side of the front, pin, and then sew.

I like to sew right on the edge of the fabric. At this point, I move on to the rest of the shirt and add buttonholes and buttons at the very end.

Pin, right sides together, the back to the front of the shirt at the shoulders. Sew. Set it aside.

Next I pin the two pieces of the collar together and sew (right sides together). Leave the bottom open. Trim off the corners, turn inside out, and press.Trimming the corners will give you a sharper corner.

Next, I take the two neckband pieces and turn up the bottom edge and press. Do not sew them together yet!

When both neckband pieces are pressed, I place the collar between them and pin along the top. Starting at one bottom edge, I sew up along the curve, along the top (making sure the collar is sewn in), and then down the curve to the edge.

You should have a collar and neckband when finished. The bottom of the neckband should still be opened. Press down the neckband.

Now that the neckband and collar are sewn together as well as the front and back, it pin the two pieces together. I place each corner on the neckband flush with the edge of the front of the shirt.

I then work my way to the back of the shirt. If you end up making the neck on your shirt bigger than your neckband, no worries. A lot of mens' dress shirts have a little pleat in the back. When you've pinned the pieces together, sew them together making sure to catch the top and bottom neckbands.

After the neckband is sewn to the shirt, pin and sew the sleeves. Once the sleeves are sewn on, sew down the sleeve and side of the shirt.

After the shirt has been completely put together, you've only got a few more steps: hem the sleeves, hem the bottom of the shirt, add buttons and buttonholes. And with that, you're little man is ready to strut his stuff!

Pattern: Little Boy's Dress Shirt

Sewing is something I like to do without store-bought patterns. The whole purpose of sewing for myself and my kids is to keep clothing costs low. When you add the purchase of a pattern it defeats the purpose! So, rather than spend money on patterns I make them up! Sometimes it takes a few attempts, but the more practice I get the better things turn out!

For Halloween this year, D-man wanted to be Woody from Toy Story. Halloween is my holiday. It's the holiday that allows me to show off my stuff! Anyway.....do you know how hard it is to find a yellow and red plaid shirt that is true to Woody's style? Believe me, it is. But, not that like that matters because I would have made my own, regardless.

So, to make a pattern for a dress shirt, or button down, or whatever you want to call it -- grab a similar shirt from your little boy's closet. Just make sure it isn't stretchy like a t-shirt or you'll end up with a shirt that doesn't fit. If you don't have a dress shirt, no worries. You'll just have to take measurements and use a t-shirt as your guide. 

The first thing I like to do is fold the shirt in half and tuck the sleeve under. This shape will give me my front piece for the pattern.

 When it comes to making the pattern, I will some times use construction, white wrapping, or painting paper. Whatever I have on hand and is big enough. In my pictures you'll notice that the standard 8.5" x 11" isn't big enough, but you can tape more than one piece together or make notes. Anyway..... with the piece of paper behind the shirt, you'll trace right along the edge of the material, careful not to draw on the shirt.

 Once I've traced the shirt front, I take a fat tipped marker and add another 1/4" for the seam allowance. If you zoom in on the picture you'll notice that I make a few notes. Such as adding length to the bottom and making the center of the shirt extend out so that I can make the button portion of the shirt. You'll cut two pieces from this pattern for the shirt.

 I then flip the shirt over and repeat for the backside. This piece of the pattern you'll notice that I did not add the extra seam allowance down the center. That's because that portion will go on the fold of the material.

 Next come the sleeves. I lay flat the sleeve with the shoulder and side seams as my guide for the sleeve shape. You can do all sorts of stuff with the sleeves, like make it shorter, longer, 3/4, cuffed, un-cuffed, etc. For the Woody shirt I actually made cuffs, but for the pattern in the picture I was going for short sleeves. Whatever you do with your sleeves, make sure to allow enough room at the bottom for a hem (unless you're doing a cuff). In this picture, the non-seam allowance portion will be placed on the fold of the fabric and you'll cut 2.

 After the sleeves I like to move to the collar and neckband. I lay the collar flat and then fold it in half. Saves paper. Trace the outline of the collar and add the seam allowance. When it comes to cutting fabric, you'll need 2.

 Do the same thing for the neckband. You will also cut 2 of these. 

That, in a nutshell, is how to come up with your own pattern for a button down/dress shirt. I'll have tutorials on how to put all the pieces together soon enough!

But, in the mean time, constructing my own shirt pattern has proved pretty well so far. Don't you think?

If you have questions on how I did something or want to share your own project as a result of this post or related posts send me an email!

sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com