( this is the only finish photo, Katy was NOT in the mood for taking pics)
I really adore clothes that are well fitted and flattering and can be found surfing the internet looking at ( mostly) vintage clothing for all of the features that I drool over. My friend Brooke ( apriltwoeighty) is in LA interning with Luke and has been posting about her adventures that happened to include a box pleated skirt! WHAT!?! I LOVE box pleated skirts and immediately asked whet pattern she used! She used the Merrick's Art tutorial . It is very basic and has all the ideas that are needed to make the skirt. So, using this tutorial I dove right in!
This is what I learned on the first go round...the pleats are what fabric is showing not what is hidden in the back ( face palm). This skirt had 4in pleats not 2.5in pleats.
The finished skirt was perfection in the front...
However the back was as wonky as Weeble!
and I did not follow the recommended waistband sizing so I ended up with WAY too big a waist...
That's okay...this was my "trial" skirt and even though all of my sewing was perfect ( of course) I was okay with trying from scratch again.
So off I went to find what other tutorials were out there that explained a little more in depth on how to make this skirt for all different sizes and I found this youtube video Pleated Skirt Tutorial by Sara which has a more in depth explanation and some math to help make a pattern for more than one size but this can be a little tricky too using the math given in the video. I had Katy's help me with some of the numbers and we came up with something that I felt comfortable going in and attempting.
The second skirt I used 2.5 in pleats. I left about 1in on each end for the zipper. Somehow, it did not work out...grrrrrr...when I placed the waistband on the skirt it was way too short. There was no way it was going to work. I walked away and made dinner for the people of the house and gave myself a little break to think on what my next step would be.
When I went back to the drawing board ( my cutting mat) I noticed the angled guidelines! I was doing a happy dance! I centred the waistband, pinned it down and then trimmed the excess fabric from either side. I had to insecure the pleat to either side of the trimmed fabric but it was doable!
I ended up with aligned back pleats!!! WOO HOO!
I will be making more of these skirts. They are super fast once you have the basics down and are very comfortable ( the most important part).
2 comments
You will figure out that skirts! When I was a kid, my mother made all our clothes, including very serious pleated skirts in plaids. Every single pleat matched, the zippers were hidden, and the skirts were beyond wonderful.
Me? I'd love to be able to make a simple non-plaid skirt of any type.
Keep working on that pleated skirt
The end result looks fabulous! The original? I'm just trying to work out WTH you did to that zipper lol
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