Skirt Cafe is an on-line community dedicated to exploring, promoting and advocating skirts and kilts as a fashion choice for men, formerly known as men in skirts. We do this in the context of men's fashion freedom --- an expansion of choices beyond those commonly available for men to include kilts, skirts and other garments. We recognize a diversity of styles our members feel comfortable wearing, and do not exclude any potential choices. Continuing dialog on gender is encouraged in the context of fashion freedom for men. See here for more details.
Until now I have ordered medium to heavy weight denim fabric to make skirts. With the summer around the corner, I wanted to try something light weight so I ordered light weight denim. It feels like the material for dress shirts, thin and smooth.
To get the feel for the material and to have a quick result, I made three skirts. It is just a cylinder with a hem of 110 cm (43") and elastic band at the waist. Quick and dirty. The three lengths are 35 cm (14"), 40 cm (16") and 45 cm (18"). (*)
The 35 and 45 cm skirts are finished and the 40 cm almost. The skirts feel very airy, even in the house. Coming Thursday I will go to the beach and will test the 45 cm and maybe even the 40 cm.
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This is a model everybody with a basic sewing machine could make.
(*) Inches are rounded.
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All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
Welcome to the world of the lightweight skirt and they look just like everyday skirts that substitute for shorts. beachlon. Most of my skirts are made from light cotton or polyester type materials and they are so comfortable to wear. Denim is ok but can be a bit heavy and hot at times. There's nothing better on a hot day than an above the knee skater light skirt - it doesn't have to be as short as a mini.
Last edited by Sinned on Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
beachlion, as far as I can see they look great. My skills with a sewing machine are little to none and it amazes me that so much can be done with one. Keep up the good work.
Fred
"The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle."
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Yesterday I went for a hike in the nearby mountains. I am a photographer and it is getting too hot in the desert except at sunrise. I parked in a campground and was wearing an above the knee camouflage skirt with hiking boots and a back pack with cameras and emergency gear. I was walking through the campground and met a guy who was camping and we began to talk about our outdoor experiences, where we were from, and other chit chat. He noticed I was wearing knee high nylons over my socks,( "Kushy Foot" available at Rite Aid pharmacy). I don't advise sheer because they run very easily. I wear them to keep stickers from getting in my socks and to keep ticks and other insects from crawling into my socks. They are also very good for preventing blisters on my feet. I discovered them eight years ago and have been wearing them outdoors ever since. The guy noticed several scars and stitches on my knee. That was caused by a guy under the influence of drugs and I was nearly killed in the crash 37 years ago. It is one of the reasons I like to walk and hike. Any way the point is that the guy noticed all of these details, but never mentioned or asked about the skirt I was wearing. I would have explained to him if he asked, that it is very comfortable, does not chafe, allows unlimited stride, and ventilation. I like the light weight fabric better than jeans or shorts. I think it's funny that he never mentioned it. Maybe he thought it was more personal than my scars or the nylons in my boots. I am glad the conversation didn't include the skirt and it may have brought up a question about what I was wearing under it. I would have said "underwear."
I use an electronic call to attract predators, and I place trail cameras with motion detectors and use a mixture of dog food, canned cat food, bird seed and rabbit food for bait. Bird food attracts quail and rabbit food attracts rabbits and rodents that will attract predators and owls and hawks. I return to retrieve, relocate, or re set the cameras once a week. I am in the process of editing the best ones.
It is possible that the man was waiting for me to tell him about the skirt. I just acted as I normally would, as thought it didn't matter.
I ordered new light weight twill fabric, black and navy, 5 yards of each. Yesterday, the order arrived in a seriously mishandled box through UPS, who else. When spending $49 or more, it was send for free. But that is still no reason for mistreatment. Ordering more than 4 yard gave me also some discount and I ended up with $49.30. I felt quite Dutch with that feat.
The navy fabric appeared to be lighter in color and it looks more like a fabric for expensive business suites. In efect I like it more the navy. The fabric is tumbling now in the washing machine. You need to wash new fabric to get rid of the chemicals they use to ease the fabrication process.
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The mauled box. Don't let UPS transport your glassware.
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The blue appears slightly ligther in the picture than in real life.
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All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
After a lot of circle skirts and the tubes with just an elastic band, I'm back to skirts with darts. The simple form is a pencil skirt where the hem has the same diameter as you have at the hips. But that is limiting my stride too much. So it should be an A-line style. That involves some engineering to make a fitting pattern.
Before I start to make skirts from the new fabrics, I decided to use up the last of some thin denim fabric.
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I also used up the last jeans style button so I have to go to the shop soon.
This is about the length I prefer, not too short when sitting and not too long when walking.
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All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
The thin denim fabric is nice flowy and light to wear but the construction with darts makes it a little tight around the hips. That causes horizontal folds in the front and back. So no more thin fabrics for slightly formfitting skirts.
As a test for the new fabric, I made a circle skirt (technically a cone shape) from the last scraps of blue fabric. The last of the roll started already to fade from the sunlight. Total length 34 cm (almost 13.5 ") and made of 6 panels. Too short for my current surroundings but right for the beach.
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Now I have to work on the new fabrics before they start to fade.
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All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
