Skirts – Stacey Stitch

Simplicity 4579: All Sewn Up – 50s Fringed Skirt

Published on July 4, 2015April 21, 2016 by Stacey Stitch12 Comments

My Step Mum found this pattern for me and I instantly fell in love with it especially the fringe trimmed version of the skirt, who doesn’t like a bit of fringing after all? So when the fine folks at Zazzle.co.uk got in touch with me so see if I would collaborate on a couple of posts it was instantly clear that this pattern would be perfect.

If you haven’t heard of Zazzle.co.uk they’re a fantastic creative customisation website with a whole host of different products but obviously, for me, it’s all about the crafting. I can’t even begin to tell you how wide ranging their fabric options are as it would take a whole post up in itself and I’d never get around to showing you my skirt but I will give you a quick overview.

You can pick from various categories from colour, pattern to theme. I obviously went for retro of course, but there are lots of others to choose from. In those categories you can pick the type of fabric, as its summer here I went for a cotton obviously (and I am glad I did due to the heatwave we’ve had) and then there’s the fun bit of customising the pattern too.

The only tough thing I found about the process was narrowing down my fabric choices as there are so many.

Anyhoo, they are fab and you should check them out.

To start the skirt is a 28 waist and 38 hip. Due to the lovely weather we’re having here in the UK, recently not being in the best of sorts and my love of dairy I am now sporting 40 inch hips. So I had to adjust the pattern.

I started by tracing the pattern onto some Swedish sewing paper and marking it up, then I made the hip adjustment by cutting out a perpendicular section from the hip line to the hem line and fitting and extra half an inch in.

I sewed up the darts and joined the sides and all went swimmingly. I put the zip in as instructed, even though it’s not the normal way I’d do the zip but it worked out okay if not a little fiddly. You don’t get anything from not trying though, right? Even if that something you do get is a little frustrated.

Then it was on to the hem and the decision of what I should do about the fringing. For all intents and purposes the instructions said to leave a length of fabric under the fringing but after trying out all options I decided not to do this. It just looked a bit odd.

So I took the skirt up a little extra and removed the split. Then I started sewing the fringing in. I have a little experience of sewing in fringing due to my previous burlesque dancing ways but I had only ever done it by hand. I did use the sewing machine this time and took a steady pace with it. No problems, no seam ripping, just a very happy me by the end of it.

All that was left was hemming to do which, as usual, went without a hitch. So ladies and jellyspoons here is my finished, sewn up skirt. What do you think? I;m super happy with how it turned out and it’ll look great for a work as well as a Sunday mooching round the vintage shops.

Disclosure: Fabric supplied by Zazzle.co.uk but all thoughts on their services are honest and my own.

Sewing: Circle Skirts for Soul Girls

Published on September 1, 2014 by Stacey StitchLeave a comment

You’d think from my lack of sewing posts I’d been laying the needle down but I have been sewing, honest! I recently made two circle skirts on commission for some soulies I know.

I’m holding off the full post about this as I’d ideally like to get some pics of the ladies in question in them and a short clip of them dancing away.

So until then, here’s a little pic of one of them on my dummy and an awesome soul tune that you should dance about to!

Butterick B5895: The Gertie Capris – 3 Different Ways

Published on May 5, 2014 by Stacey Stitch11 Comments

You probably all sat there thinking “c’mawn…where’s the sewing?!” lately didn’t you?

Well, I have indeed been Sewing for Vegas as I promised a few weeks back, it’s just been terrible weather here and combined with Timothy working away, and out of town visits to friends and family, I haven’t been able to get some photos until now.

So where did I start? 4 metres of stretch slub denim going for a song on ebay. Perfect, I thought, this will be a good foundation for my day wear when I’m pounding the pavement and looking at the wonders the strip has to offer.

So I got out my Gertie capri pattern and cut out the pieces (in a bigger size than my test pattern a few months ago) and got to sewing. I found the tips over at Handmade Jane’s blog on denim sewing tips a great help and before you knew it (and in a day) I had a pair of denim capris.

Following this I decided to make up another pair for shorts, because it’s an easily to chop some length off a pattern, and the day after voila! A pair of high waisted denim shorts to be roaming about in.

Then I got all cocky with myself and made the decision to adapt the pattern and make a skirt.

Now, this might not seem like a lot of bother for some readers of this blog but I have never attempted anything like this.

I made the adjustment to the front parts of the pattern, ensuring I took the seam allowance off the centre as this would be placed on the fold.

I made a few other adjustments to the back side of the legs to taper in more and made a toile with some stretch cotton, before using that toile to cut the pieces of denim for the final skirt.

I have to say I’m so happy with how it all turned out and now I have my day wear for Vegas.

I just have to find something for my top half as however liberal Vegas may be I’m sure they don’t want me flouncing about topless in the streets.

So what’s next? Well, I’ve been joining in on Gertie’s slip sew along as I have never sewn any undercrackers or used that type of slinky material.

I am also starting my Gerties Sew Retro Bombshell Dress class on Craftsy to make my birthday dress for Vegas. So much to do and only 30 days to go!

If you liked this blog please vote for me in the NVA as I’ve been nominated under the Best Vintage Fashion/Lifestyle Blog category. Voting is open throughout May and it’s a simple click to select Stacey Stitch and then enter your email address to confirm the vote. Clicking on the photo or links above should take you straight to the website. It’ll only take a few minutes of your time if you have it spare! Thank you!

Simplicity 2654 & McCalls 7292: All Sewn Up

Published on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by Stacey Stitch13 Comments

I have been sewing, honest! I know I’ve been quiet but with the heatwave we’re having at the moment and Wimbledon proving to be quite a distraction it’s taken me quite a lot longer than I thought it would to complete the skirt and top combo I started a couple of weeks ago.

I started with the McCalls 7292 view B top and went for quite a thick red cotton that I had in my stash. The top was quite simple to make but did come out a little bit bigger than I would have liked. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve lost weight recently or if I should have allowed some ease on the pattern. I have used this pattern before (view C) and it has fit me like a glove so I’m not entirely sure why it was different this time around.

I decided once it was finished to embroider a flower on one of the shoulders to make it a bit more interesting and it came out quite nicely. The patterns are ones that were handed to me from my Nana, now her eyesight isn’t too good she can’t do much needlework.

I started on the skirt from Simplicity 2654 view 3, a full circle skirt. I used quite a thin black cotton and it was simple from start to finish (apart from taking ages to cut out as I was watching the men’s final and getting very excited about Murray!)

I did embroider the bottom with the larger flower pattern, hoping that it would lift the skirt a bit as it looks very black. The red against the black didn’t make it pop as much as I thought it would. I know that might sound a bit silly but I did think after maybe I should have put some red ric rac on the bottom of it, then again it might have made it look a little cartoon-y and this is, really, a top and skirt for work so it doesn’t have to be too colourful.