Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Skirting the Issue on Simple Simon & Co

Hey! 

There's a very exciting project going on at Simple Simon and Co. and Project Run and Play this month. Have you heard?

Elizabeth and Liz, the two ladies who helm those blogs, are doing a sewalong with a difference - they're aiming to have a couple hundred (if I remember right) handmade skirts donated to girls in the foster care system. Whoo! To help all us enthusiastic and supportive seamstresses get ideas and resources, they're hosting over 40 bloggers -and their tutorials - on both Simple Simon and Co. and Project Run and Play all through July. Read more about Skirting the Issue here. And start bookmarking and pinning all those designs and patterns and ideas!

Today on Simple Simon and Co., I'm sharing my roundup of some of the skirts I've made for the girls in years past

and a new saree-inspired wrap skirt for teens (also adaptable for women)!


Remember how I told you of my love for ethnic clothes and more ethnic clothes? I still love them. And I wish I had more places to wear them to because they're gorgeous in such an elegantly-stunning-but-not-in-your-face-standout way. I haven't seen a whole lot of traditionally-ethnic-turned-modern garments in blogland (yet) so I thought I'd do one and show you how much fun you can have with it. 

This is a wrap-tie skirt - 
the design is nothing original but it's versatile in how it can fit so many different body shapes. Plus, by changing the fabric, you can slide from one end of the casual-dressy spectrum to the other.

All you need is a rectangle of saree (or brocade) fabric

and eight darts


to make it sit, hug and drape


when you wrap it around you


Simple! And I finished two (one to donate and one to keep) in about four hours - no procrastination needed! 

15 comments:

  1. Now you have a lovely skirt for the upcoming weddings! Just add a simple top.

    Cheryl in AZ

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    1. My thought exactly! Followed immediately by a "duh, why didn't I think of it two weeks ago?"

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  2. Michelle AgelastosJuly 10, 2012 at 9:46 AM

    Your saree-inspired wrap skirt looks amazing. So my style. I am new to sewing and was wondering how do you know where to put the darts? Did you get the fabric at Joannes or someplace else? How do I know how long of a rectangle to use? And where to place the straps.
    Thank you for having such an amazing site. I have two daughters, 6 and 3 and a little boy, 2. I have made the girls a few of your skirts for kids. I think your site is one of the best at explaining step by step how to sew and how to sew with young kids wrapped around your knees. Thank you for everything. And thank your for showing me the many uses of cardboard. We just moved and having to throw away most of the boxes was not an easy thing to do. At the moment the girls and I are making a solar oven out of some boxes. Thank you again for your website

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    1. Michelle: thanks for the kind words! Waist darts are different for the front and back but because this is a loosely-fitted skirt, I just made them the same. They're usually about 6.5 - 7.5" apart and about 4-5" long. These are not magic numbers - they have to do with body anatomy. I explained it a bit in this post:

      http://www.ikatbag.com/2010/08/drafting-part-iii-back-sloper.html

      (See Step 16 onwards).

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  3. What a lovely skirt! And a super project with the donation skirts!

    I'm worried about you, though... with all these quick projects, you may lose your procrastinating skills! Better get some practice soon! ;)

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    1. Guess what? I waited almost 5 hours to reply to this comment! How's that for procrastination?

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    2. It's a start, but I know you can do better than that! :)

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  4. Thanks for the great tutorial (and ALL of your other great tutorials). Thanks for the link to skirting the issue. I am definately going to participate. I'm in Hennipin county as well and wondered if you've reached out to the local foster care agencies to see if they'd like some donated skirts.
    Thanks again, Niki
    petitenik@hotmail.com

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    1. Niki, I'm afraid I haven't got that far, yet! But I will need to find a place to mail out this skirt to. If I don't, I'll send them to Liz and Elizabeth themselves.

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  5. This is so very gorgeous. I share your love of ethnic clothing and I would love it if you would share some more of your collection and/or how to incorporate ethnic clothing into everyday dress. As always, you are amazing :)

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  6. This skirt is gorgeous! I share your love of ethnic clothing and I would love it if you would share more of your collection and/or more projects like this.

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  7. I also love ethnic clothing, and your wrap is beautiful!

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  8. LiEr - love this piece. I will give this a whirl - I live in Toronto's India bazaar and I am always finding re-uses for saris for my girls' clotthing. Beautiful garment - 6 yards goes so far:) I especially love when the sari has a finished hem:)

    http://letsgoflyakiteuptothehighestheight.blogspot.ca/2010/11/inspired-by-india-upcycled-saris.html

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  9. Brilliant! I made a wrap skirt years and years ago by copying one I already owned. Now am inspired to stop whinging about the lack of 'decent' skirts to suit my shape and taste in the shops, drag out the sewing machine and have another go...though after three kids (3 girls like you...9,7and 5!!!!)might need to read those tutorials on pattern drafting/adapting ; )
    Love your blog especially all that cardboard making - I've loved making stuff out of cardboard since I was a kid and now feel somewhat justified in all that cardboard hoarding over the years...bring it on!!!

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  10. I know lots of women who wear their ethnic clothing - they either grew up outside the US or lived in another country for a time. The clothes capture my imagination every time. I would love to have a sari, but I don't feel like I have a legitimate claim to wearing it (my mother-in-law was raised in India and translated the Hindi in Best Exotic Mango Hotel before the subtitles did).

    Anyway, I would love to see more ethnic clothes coming from you. This skirt is beautiful. My best friend lined a wool cape with sari brocade. It was beautiful.

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