skirtcafe.org

Before the skirts came into my life, I never would be thinking of what to wear in summer. Certainly not ahead of time. Now I have ordered fabric for summer outfits.

I ordered three tartan like light weight fabrics to make flowy skirts. I even might consider making a dress because I bought 4 yards in each color. One even was the last part on the boly so they gave me almost 2 yards for free. I will start with mini skirts with an elastic waist for an easy start. I'm getting ready for the summer.

beachlion wrote:I'm getting ready for the summer.

I wish I could even conceive of summer at the moment. We're headed down into single digits (F) tonight and won;t break the freezing point for at least a week. Summer seems a very long way off as I contemplate throwing yet another blanket onto the bed...

The first of the summer skirts is done. Just in time to withstand the heated discussion at another spot of the forum.

This was the easiest job by far because the lines of the design could be used instead of chalk.
Two to go yet.

Very good beachlion !
The hem bottom looks a tad restrictive in leg movement - I am thinking a bit more flare towards a skaters skirt.
But it is your creation for you - colors are summery and festive.

Could you do us a favor of the side and back views contortionist camera angle not withstanding ?

Is the back an elastic waist ? - pleats ? - pull on skirt ? - details ?

Wear it proudly - it fits you well !
But do wait until at least Spring !

This fabric was not as wide as the other two. The width is just enough for an unlimited stride. If I want a longer skirt, I have to make panels. For the waist I used a 3/4" wide elastic band. There are no pleats, just a plain tube-like construction.

The next summer skirt is done. Same procedure, same result. The bolt was wider so the hem longer which resulted in a more flowy skirt. However there is not much to flow with that kind of lenght.
It looks like I'm not that productive with such a simple skirt. Saturday evening and Sunday morning was more or less lost because my wife had to go to the ER for something quite common with older people. Details are quite disgusting so I leave it there. This afternoon I will start #3.
For the summery outlook I changed my flanel shirt for a T-shirt but after the photo shoot it was back into flanel again.

And #3 is prêt à porter, or in other words ready to wear. Before I use the fabric it will be washed and dried. The process sometimes pulls the fabric askew so in this case the squares will not be square anymore. With some diagonal pulling to fabric will come back to its original shape. I'm ready for the beach, now I have to wait for the warm weather.

I made a mini skirt with my new khaki light weight fabric to get the "feel" of the fabric. The fabric is not really flowy so I think a circle skirt will be a better option.
A dress of the same fabric is halfway the production line.

I like the look.

John

I made another mini skirt, this time a skater type skirt. The body is a 3/4 circle and the length is 40 cm, almost 16". It is quite flowy so with some wind, I need to keep it under control. I hope to finish a dress of the same material soon.

And another skirt saw the light. I made a longer circle skirt. But again this is not the right type for this fabric. It is not falling right around the hips. This roll of fabric will be grounded untill further notice.

With a cold wind howling around the house, the summer seems further away than ever. So to warm the soul, I made more summer skirts.
This one is quite short and fitted with darts. Ready for the beach.
This fabric was not as wide as my normal fabric, 40" in stead of 60". I wanted to make a pleated skirt so I connected three strips of fabric together. After some mathematics how to make the pleats, I ended up with 10 pleats and 8 were double pleats. It was quite a job to press the pleats at the right spot and in the right direction. All folds are also topstitched.
Kirbstone like pose without the Irish property as background.
Detail of the double pleats. I don't know if this is an accepted or even legal way of making pleats.

beachlion wrote:...Detail of the double pleats. I don't know if this is an accepted or even legal way of making pleats.

I've used a similar arrangement on the side pleats of a kilt to give enough extra material to prevent the back hem from being dragged forwards at each step.

Looks like s 'Double Box Pleat' to me

Uncle Al

Those pleats were a lot of work, first to figure it out and later to press and sew. Now I'm sure I made the right decision when I was 12. No kilt making but engineering.