DIY Gingham Circle Skirt

What seemed like ages ago, I pinned this gingham dress by Oscar de la Renta for a future sewing project and forgot about it.  It wasn't until I saw this pop up on Sarah Vickers' Instagram that I remembered that I already had the gingham fabric on hand.

DIY Gingham Circle Skirt

Difficulty: Easy

Time: ~1.5 hrs

Materials:

• 1 yard of 56-60" wide fabric (I had 1.5 yds of 45" and I had to carefully piece out the back to match up the gingham squares.  While this is doable, it adds complexity to a project that should be easy)
• 9" invisible zipper
• Optional interfacing (more info in this tutorial)

I used this great tutorial for the skirt, but added a waistband (tutorial here) and zipper (tutorial here) instead of elastic.  I love the drape of a circle skirt - uber feminine.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Striped Tulle Skirt DIY Tutorial

I fell in love with the striped tulle skirt on Jenny of CrazyStyleLove in last week's preview post and decided to make my own rendition.  If you'd like to make your own, please see tutorial below :)

Difficulty: Easy

Time: ~1.5 - 2 hours

Materials:

• ~3/4 yard base fabric (the navy blue underskirt and waist band - I used satin for relative weight and stiffness to give me some volume)
• ~1/3 yard contrast stripe fabric (teal stripes - also used satin) or less if you use more than 1 type of contrast like Jenny's skirt
• I used one contrast since I couldn't find any other satin color that I wanted to incorporate
• ~3/4 yard tulle fabric 

Steps:
1. Cut out your pieces - all are easy rectangles.

• Skirt Base = I went with a 1-seam skirt and used my desired length x fabric width for my skirt rectangle.  
• In this case, 22 x 56"
• Skirt Waistband = Use your waist size + 2" in your desired width * 2 + 0.5" for seam allowance. 
• I like a 2" band, so my rectangle was 4.5 x 29"
• Tulle Stripes = Depending on your # of stripes, your width will vary, but your length should be the same as your skirt base.  
• I had 3 stripes.  Two stripes were 12 x 56" and the other was 2.5 x 56"
• Contrast Stripes = As with the tulle, the width will vary on your # of stripes and desired end result.  The length will be the same as the skirt base.
• I originally went with one stripe at 12 x 56", but felt like the tulle wasn't noticeable enough, so then went with two stripes at 6 x 56"

2. Sew your stripes together by placing the right sides together (note: tulle is the same on both sides) and sew along the long side of each piece.

Another note on tulle, it stretches quite easily, so be sure not to pull it during sewing, otherwise your lengths will be mismatched.

3.  Due to the sheerness of the tulle, you'll see some unsightly stripe connections.  To mitigate, fold your contrast stripe inwards and topstitch it down.

4.  Place the right sides of your skirt base with your newly striped tulle panel and sew along the long side with a long stitch for gathering.

5.  Fold your skirt in half on the long side and mark the center point.  Fold in half again on the long side to mark your quarter points.  Do the same thing for your waistband.  Line up your marks and pin them right sides together.  These reference points will help you gather your skirt evenly.

6. Tug on your bobbin thread to gather between all of your markings so that the gathered length of your skirt now matches your waistband.  With the pins still in place, sew along the length.  This will join your base skirt and striped tulle overlay to your waistband.

7.  Insert zipper using this tutorial and hem the base skirt to your desired length.  The tulle does not need to be hemmed, so if you'd like it shorter, simply cut it to your desired length.  I kept mine longer than the base skirt for a little bit of a peek-a-boo effect.

You're finished!