Spring into Skirts

Why hello, tonight I am writing from my iPhone rather than my computer, just because I am so flippin' pleased that I can't leave my latest creative creation. I have been skirting again...

My love affair with skirts began, which was rather late for me,
Between the end of the Chatterley ban,
And 1963.

Eh, no, that's actually quoting from my second favourite poem by my favourite poet, the wonderfully laconic Philip Larkin (name of the poem: Annus Miserabilis, check it out!). My love affair began - late, admittedly - about four years ago. At the time I had lost a whole lot of weight and I suddenly discovered that maybe I wouldn't cut such a ridiculous figure in a skirt anymore... The first skirt that I bought was a tame, grey, sporty number. Lots of pockets and zips and details.

Oh dear, an iPhone photo again. Sorry, very grainy...

Sadly, I never wore the skirt that much. It was just before leggings made their big comeback, and I was just not a very "tight" girl... But I wore it occasionally, then less frequently, and for the last two years I think it just sat sadly in my wardrobe.

Until I came across it today. I had it in my hands to add it to the bag of charity clothes which is about to get another boost thanks to spring cleaning. And then a wave of nostalgia hit me and I felt that I should give poor little skirtie another try.

I quickly put my finger on the reason why I haven't been wearing it for so long: it is too long. It looks like a weird mix of old-fashioned mid-calf length and trendy side-pocket-style. But I decided that the trouser heroine aka moi was going to apply her clothes-saving magic to a skirt for a change. Tada! So out came the scissors and scrupulessly I cut of a good hand's width at the bottom.

Here it is, shortened but not yet hemmed. I managed to cut off the bottom rather neatly and slightly rounded. However, because there are side pockets that reach down all the way to the knee, I couldn't cut it too short.

I actually even went to the lengths of removing this little badge from the cut-off bit with the intention of sewing it back onto the skirt somewhere. The little tool here in the picture is actually my favourite sewing implement: the seam unpicker is a great little thing that I couldn't live without!!!

Anyway, I turned the skirt inside out, pinned the hem up and then sewed around the skirt twice to get the kind of typical, rustiv "denim-y" seam at the bottom. It was actually not that difficult.

And here is the finished item - sorry, not modelled by anyone, since yours truly is home alone and does not have anyone to take pictures of her *awwww*.

I am actually mega-pleased with my re-used skirt. It nearly was thrown out - but now it'll get a new lease of life. And I don't have to spend money on clothes (but can spend it on photo equipment, *yay*)

Best,





- Posted on Tour, using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rock Chic(k)

Festival season is upon us! I love the summer with all its outdoor events. The highlight of my festival season is always Ireland's "Electric Picnic", a so-called "boutique music festival" that has grown to such size over the years that it is not so "boutique" anymore. This year will be the fourth time in a row that I am attending it - tent and sleeping bags in tow - revelling in music from the likes of Arcade Fire, Pulp, The Chemical Bros, Mogwai, Death in Vegas, Big Audio Dynamite and and and...

I am so much looking forward to it all, that I am already in the middle of preparing for it. Yesterday I sewed myself my "Ready to Rock-Rock" - (sorry, the pun is only funny for anyone who can speak German. "Rock" is the German word for "skirt").

Right, I admit, it's not new. It is old. It is made from an old pair of denims of mine that have been sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe for the past two years after a worn-through patch made them too embarrassing to wear. But they are just the right kind of worn, washed out denims to be worn at a festival where you might end up in a mud-bath, anyway.

So I took the scissors to my jeans and cut off the legs at knee-height. Instead of discarding the cut offs, I cut them open at the seams. Likewise, I cut the top half of the jeans open at the seams, carefully cutting out the seam nearly all the way up to the zip.

Then I placed a piece of denim from the off-cuts into the open triangle under the bit that is to become the skirt. The length will be adjusted later.

I held the pieces together with pins. And sewed the bits together with a double seam.

Here is the preliminary result before cutting the hem of the skirt properly.

And here it is all cut at the right length. I actually decided to leave it unhemmed and go for the rugged, raggy look with bits of cotton thread eventually hanging down.

If you want slightly more detailed instructions, you can also look at my tutorial for a similar skirt I sewed some time last year. 

So I am now kitted out for Electric Picnic 2011. A skirt ready to be discarded on site, if dirty necessary. Can't wait to put my dotty wellies on!

 

Ready to rock!

Best,

Skirting the Issue

Why, hello! Let me skirt the issue today. Here is a little crafty thing I did - and which I had been meaning to do for ages. I have lately discovered skirts. For a long time I never wore any. My confirmation way back in 1852 1984 was probably the last time I was seen in a skirt. Ah, no, actually, it wasn't - I wore an unbelievable pleated affair to the then current boyfriend's fraternity do. (Not sure what to be more disgusted about - the frumpy skirt or the absolutely inacceptable fraternity sh*t that I put up with...) Anyhow, it's taken me yeeeeears - and several kilos of shed weight - to dare don a skirt. And now I quite like them. So much so, that I took my scissors to a pair of old trousers and made the snip.

They are not the hippest thing anymore, but you'll remember these skirts that looked like they had been fashioned from a pair of trousers. Well, they were. To get the right length of skirt, I placed my favourite shop-bought skirt on top of the trousers and then cut the legs off the trousers, leaving some extra material for the hem. The cut off bits I put aside.

Then I took the scissors to the top bit of the trousers, carefully cutting open the seams in the middle, all the way along the seam, right over the crotch.

Back to the cut off legs. I cut those along the side seams, too, receiving 2 separate pieces of material per leg. Then I placed one of those pieces inside, under the front of the top trouser bit and pinned it in place. Make sure you get it all smooth and right. (It probably would have helped if I had ironed the trousers before starting this project - the pictures would have looked better, too...)


For the next step I did not take a picture - having everything pinned into place, I sewed the skirt together. To give my skirt a bit of a jeans-y kind of look, I used thread in a contrasting colour and sewed a double seam. Bingo.









So, that is it - a new skirt from an old pair of trousers. Dead easy, took about an hour in all. And I am a fluky seamstress - but no pattern needed. Now, it's obviously not the chicest of garments, but it's alright.

Best,