Olive Stripe A-frame Skirt
Last week, I shared the beginnings of my stash busting efforts. I had overdyed some fabrics in order to make them more wardrobe friendly. I'm happy to report that, at least in one instance, this was successful.
When I decided to dye the pink striped fabric, I immediately thought the stripes might be a fun fabric to use for an A-frame skirt. I had been needing a green, fall appropriate skirt for my wardrobe since retiring a beloved clover green wool skirt that had seen better days (much, much better days).
The final fabric dyed a bit lighter than I had imagined, but after sewing this skirt up I've worn it frequently since and been able to coordinate with many of my tops and sweaters. Total wardrobe win!
The skirt came together easily, since A-frame making is now cemented in my brain. I think I knocked this guy out in an afternoon.
I cut the side panels and waistband on the straight grain, but cut the center and top pocket panels from the cross grain, so the stripes would go horizontally. I'd suggested this in the alternative a-frame layouts, but I wanted to try it myself.
I made a few other changes too:
1. I have gone one size up in the past for a more relaxed fitting skirt, but I felt it was a bit too loose and decided I wanted something in between. So, I traced the larger size for all side panels and then traced the smaller size for the center panels, which worked out pretty well. You could do this too if you liked.
As you can see, there might be a little too much ease in the hips now. The fabric has a lot of give, which I thought might be curtailed by cutting the cf/cb on the cross grain, but it still seems to have stretched out. I may go back and skim off the side bits I added, bringing me back to my usual size.
2. Instead of having a button closure, I decided to close it with a hook and bar. This was mostly because the fabric stripes are made from a thick cord in the weft which posed potential problems for executing nice looking buttonholes. I made a quick adjustment to the band as follows:
After the first step of attaching the waistband, sew the waistband closed, as though continuing the edge center back seam (where the zipper is). Trim off the remaining waistband.
Just like for the normal waistband, fold over, press, and sew as in the instructions. I note it as optional in the instructions, but I find that I always baste the waistband before sewing the final side. It helps a lot! Just sayin...
I successfully used my blind hem foot to hem this bad boy on the machine (with a few missed spots). I feel like the perfect machine blind hem is an illusive creature. I can set in a sleeve in silk and bang out a bound button hole, but no matter how hard I try, I always miss a few stitches with the machine blind hem. Perhaps I'm rushing.
Once the skirt was made, I thought it would be fun to look at some of my up-and-coming top project fabrics to see if it would coordinate. I think I'm in good shape, though I'm a bit skeptical of the red ikat to be honest. Perhaps a skirt to work with my red tops is in order...
Overall I'm psyched about this skirt! I blend in perfectly with my fall surroundings, as is evidenced by this blurry outtake:
And I'm also psyched to be showing you guys more that A-frame has to offer! I have so many ideas for pattern tweaks and hacks on this one and I can't wait to share. Keep an eye out for knit a-frames, further pencil-ifying, and adding a lining! (I'm looking forward to making a wool a-frame from one of the handloomed tweeds I have picked up over the years, but I'll need to add a lining as the tweed is quite scratchy!)