It was a few weeks ago, when I saw the video on YouTube and not just loved it right away, but knew I'm going to make a skirt like that.
I've been thinking about it ever since, tried to match jeans with fabrics, tried to figure out style, measurements and so on. Since then, a lot of things have become clear and now I know what I have to do and why. I love this journey and it helps me make the right decisions.
Obviously you can say I'd die of hunger if sewing would be my bread, but it isn't and besides, those who are earning their bread sewing, have previously training and experience, so they don't have to think for days. I don't, and I not only have to figure out everything by myself but also have to avoid mistakes as in this industry, mistakes are expensive.
Anyway, two weeks ago I went to the thrift shop to look for some fabrics. New ones are way to expensive for my project, so I thought the best solution is to look there, but could not find what I needed, but I found something else. I bumped into a nice dress, that was neither my size, not my style, but the fabric was quite nice, colorful and vibrant and I thought why not use it. Every 3rd day is always a sale date, this means I pay less than $1 for every piece, so totally worth it.
This is the fabric I prepared for the skirt, the 3 layers, as at the beginning I thought I'd make it with 3 layers. Then things changed.
I had a pair of jeans that looked like on the photo, unusable, so I thought it would be prefect for my first skirt, a test basically.
The size of the upper part, the denim part was not a question, but the back pockets are always problematic. You can't remove them as beneath the fabric may not, or in 99.99% of the cases is darker, plus the two upper corners would leave a mark, so you need to decide if you sew it over the skirt, or cut it. None of the solutions is easy, but you need to pick one. I decide it to cut it like you see marked on the photo. It still looks decent as 80% of the pockets is still there.
The front pockets are intact and usable.
After doing the measurements, had to realize I don't have enough fabric, so I needed to do some adjustments and this is how the first layer applied looked like.
Sewing wasn't easy. My sewing machine is pretty basic, doesn't have many features, so I had to improvise. Fake it till you make it, remember?
The back and the pockets were cause for concern but after seeing how it looked, I was quite satisfied.
And voila! My first skirt. The test skirt as that's exactly what it was. There's always a first and even though it's not exactly how I planned before I started, I can't complain. As a test, it's ok.
As I said, I had to do it with 2 layers as there was not enough fabric but it's ok like this as the total length is somewhere around 76cm, which is ok for a midi skirt.
Now I'm listing it for sale, so I ca buy the fabrics I needed.
Recycled, upcycled, job done! 😎 Two clothing items saved, to create a new one and there's still fabric for another project.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
