The skirt will be worn by “an 11-year-old, but she looks like she’s 16”.
It doesn’t have to be precise. Just a general idea, a general guide for someone who knows what they’re doing. It’s got to be fast, the wedding’s in a couple weeks, and it’s got to be free, or almost free.
Me? I don’t know nothin’ about no sewin’. I’m just trying to help my friend find what she needs for her friend’s mother, daughter and sister.
I have no idea where to find such a thing.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
I wish I could sit to describe the whole process to you. I’ve been sewing for years, so such a thing comes naturally for me.
What I would suggest you do is have the seamstress snag some Butcher paper, or newspaper, or any kind of paper, and fashion a skirt out of that. Take it apart, add 1/4" all around the paper skirt, and use that as a pattern.
Failing that, go to your local fabric store, and ask for some help. I like Wal-Mart for patterns, because Simplicity and McCall’s are always 50% off.
All of the printed information in the world will not help you out in this instance, I am afraid. Sewing is kind of one of those things you need a warm body for.
It looks like your friend’s friend has chosen well … that design would be probably the simplest wearable item it’s possible to make (well, with the exception of a scarf, maybe)
I made a very similar item last month using the “look, guess and experiment” method and (IMHO!) it looks great. And I’m only a moderately competent sewer
This is a modified version of the recipe I used (I had a zip, not a wraparound, you need a little more material for that). This works for a lightish material, or a very light one with a lining. If the material was heavy it might bunch up a little (but that’s not the sort of material you’d use for a wedding, I’m guessing)
Measure off her widest measurement (somewhere round the hips). Cut a rectangle of width 1.3 times this, length whatever-you-want-the-length-to-be plus two inches for hemming. If it needs a lining, that should be about an inch shorter and less wide. Hem it all the way round.
Cut a waistband about 4 inches wide (it folds over to be 1.5 inches plus a little bit of width for hemming) and about 1.4 times her waist. Iron the bit which will be the back of it onto heavy interfacing 1.5 inches wide, half an inch up from the bottom of the strip.
Gather in the top of the skirt using symmetrical pleats around the sides, so that it ends up the same width as the waistband. Leave a third of the waistband-width at each end unpleated (these become the wraparound panels) Pleat the left and right sides the opposite way to each other (so that it’s truly symmetrical). If there’s a lining, arrange it so that the lining pleats are halfway between the outside layer pleats.
Fold the waistband over and sew the skirt onto it (ie lay the skirt on the table face-up, put the front side of the waistband onto it face-down, fold the back part of the waistband with the interfacing over it so that you end up with three edges of material to sew together. Tack the inside edges to the waistband (so that when you wear it they sit up, hidden behind the waistband, rather than falling down and making your waist look bunched up)
*Fasten the front with two hook and eyes or press-studs on the inside at the visible end of the wraparound, and a press-stud or a button at the invisible end.
My version of this took about 3 hours - I’m guessing a wraparound would be quicker because (a) no fiddly zip to put in and (b) when I did it, I was trying to make it foot-length-on-myself, which necessitated taking it off and trying it out about a zillion times till I got the length right.
If it’s to be made with a lining, I suggest cutting out and tacking up the lining bits first to see what it looks like, 'cos lining is cheap. Butchers paper is ok, but it’s too stiff and crinkly to really look the same as material does.
Congratulations to your friend’s friend’s mother’s daughter by the way
