Saturday 9 June 2012

Sham's Tablecloth skirt, winter version with fitted waistband

I am so pleased to have done some sewing.
SDC10010
Despite the baleful prescence of the dress of doom, having a long weekend (Thank you, Queen Elizabeth II) is very exciting for my sewing plans.
This is Sham's Tablecloth skirt in a winter version. I have used a medium weight wool plaid, which originally thought it wanted to be a fulled jacket from Burda World of Fashion, but changed its mind.
SDC10014
This is the third version I have made of Sham's excellent pattern. The two previous versions had a lot of wear over summer.
 I have made a few small changes at the waistline to accomodate my discovery, back in the dark ages when I was 13 or so, that elastic waistbands are not flattering to persons with my figure. I need all the waist definition I can get.
 When I cut out the waist circle, I use the template for my waist, per Sham's measurements, but with approximately 1.5cm ease ( 5/8'') , rather than 2". I then give myself 1cm seam allowances (3/8'') by pulling the waist circle pattern piece (folded in quarters) back until the edges lie 1cm off the folded fabric. I want the waist to fit snugly to support the heavy skirt.
I cut a lining piece for the central square section of the skirt only, and treated it as one piece with the outer skirt whilst attaching the waistband. 

SAM_1406

I then choose a straight grain section of the skirt for location of the placket, and apply fusible interfacing in a 7cm wide strip to about hip level. (Sorry no photo)
Next I slit the skirt to about 5cm above hip level, and sew a long strip of fabric (cut on grain) along the whole slit laid out in a straight line, to be the placket.
This time I used a less heavy fabric than the outer skirt, as the wool is rather bulky.  I interfaced this placket fabric as it has a little stretch, which I did not want.
For this skirt, I rolled the placket over the seam allowance and topstitched so that the inner placket fabric formed a contrast line when the placket is closed.
SAM_1410
The inner side of the placket is backed by a strip of the outer woollen fabric, as I felt that the thinner purple fabric would not support the buttons. I catch stitched this to the lining as shown.
SAM_1409
I then measured the width of the finished inner placket, added this to the waistband  measurement + seam allowances for both ends of the waistband and applied a straight (interfaced) waistband to the top of the skirt.
Although this waistband has very little ease, the weight of the long, full skirt pulls the waistband down a little. I have offset the buttons as shown so that there is effectively no ease at the waist. Despite this, the skirt is very comfortable to wear.
SAM_1411
My plans for tomorrow are a knit extravaganza basic tops day. I need something to wear with my new skirt - pink, purple and green is a bit outside my normal neutral colour palette ;)






10 comments:

SewRuthie said...

OOh beautiful skirt!

Little Hunting Creek said...

Pretty skirt-love the Colors!

Tia Dia said...

It's beautiful! I haven't made up one of these skirts - YET! Your plaid is to die for!

Jillybejoyful said...

Gorgeous fabric, beautiful result!

Thanks for the details on the fitted waistband; I do want to try this. To clarify, you end up with a fold at the bottom of the placket, right? Does this hang smoothly & blend in with the other folds in that area?

When thinking this through, I had wondered about adding a seam all the way down & cutting the rectangle at the bottom a bit shorter to accommodate, or have a fold like (I think) you did.....?

Karin said...

Another awesome version of this skirt! I'd like to try this sometime.

shams said...

A beautiful version of the skirt, Karen! A fitted waistband makes a lot of sense for many women. :)

Thanks for sharing it!

Sharon said...

A fun skirt and looking forward to seeing all those wonderful coloured t-shirts.

a little sewing said...

Beautiful skirt and especially love the fitted waistband with buttons.

Mary Nanna said...

I love the colours of the plaid and am sure you would have also done the Burda number proud.

I hope you have lots of opportunities to twirl in your lifestyle. It's a shame not to take full advantage of the skirt's opportunities.

Scruffybadger said...

I ADORE this skirt - how wonderful! The tartan is perfect & I love how it hangs (& swirls too!!) The placket is also a pretty feature with ideal buttons ...gorgeous