How to Sew an Elastic Waisted Skirt [it's so easy!]

I am dreaming of spring. Lacy shawls, cardigans knitted with lightweight yarn, flowers blooming, birds chirping, and sewing super simple skirts! You can whip up a few for less than their commercial counterparts while you decide on all of the fun details. Are skirts too short at the stores? Sew a skirt! Want to choose your own fabrics? Sew a skirt! How about thread color? Sew a skirt! Pockets? Sew a skirt! 

Ok I think by now you will know what my answer will be to any question on this post :) So what are you waiting for? Stop into the shop today and we will help you find your perfect skirt fabric (and perhaps some embellishments!)

Supplies needed:

• A sewing machine
• 3" wide elastic
• Lightweight cotton fabric (we have so many choices at the shop!)
• High quality polyester thread (we have a rainbow's worth of colors!)
• Quilting pins (they are easier to see)
• Seam ripper
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Cutting board or rotary cutting mat
• Lint roller (optional but handy)

1. Designing skirt: Determine how full you would like your skirt and if you would like it at your natural waist or hips. For this XS skirt I chose for the elastic to sit at the waist to fit well on the mannequin. I measured the mannequin's waist and cut the elastic 1" less for a snug fit (2" less total after seam allowance).
2. Determining fabric width: To determine your needed width you can stretch the elastic as far as it will go + 1", or take your elastic's measurement and multiply it by 1.5 to 1.75.
3. Determining fabric depth: To determine the depth of your fabric take the desired length skirt length + elastic width - 1 1/2-2" seam allowance. Cut your fabric to desired measurements.
4. Seam elastic: Thread your machine with your sewing thread. Zig-zag or serge short ends of elastic. Place short ends of elastic together and sew together. Sew seams 1/2" unless otherwise stated.
5. Sewing skirt: Zig-zag or serge long edges of your fabric piece. Place right sides (the fun side with the print) together matching up the short ends, pin the short ends together. Sew short ends together and then zig-zag or serge.
6. Gathering: Thread your machine with a contrasting thread color. Select the longest stitch length on your machine, leaving long ends, sew without backstitching around the top edge just under the zig-zag all the way around, leave long ends before cutting. Pull your gathering sts until waist same size as the elastic. Pin the right sides of the elastic and fabric together.
7. Putting it all together: Re-thread machine with your sewing thread. Sew elastic and fabric waistband together pulling the elastic taut and removing pins as you go using a slight zig-zag stitch if you have it on your machine. Using the seam ripper remove the gathering thread. Now you will see why I wanted you to use a different color :)
8. Hemming: Try on skirt to help determine your hem length. Fold hem inward once (I turned mine about 1"), iron the hem, pin, and sew.
9. Finishing: Trim any loose threads, brush with a lint roller, and give yourself a hand for making a skirt!

xoxo,

Jessica

P.S. If you are making a 23" or less deep skirt you cut the fabric widthwise to get twice the amount of skirts! For example if you wanted a skirt with a hem circumference of 54" buy 1 1/2 yards of fabric, cut it widthwise and you can sew two skirts!

P.P.S. Did you know Makers' sewing studio is coming soon? You'll be able to book studio time and join us for guidance on all of your skirt-making (or other sewing) needs!

Call Me Crazy...Zauberball!

Call me CRAZY!!!  Zauberball Crazy that is! 

I am new to Makers' Mercantile and what did I decide to knit up as my first project?  The Zauber Dress, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald.  What a fun and crazy knit.  The dress uses 2 different skeins of the Zauberball Crazy, one yarn is knit in two rounds and the second is knit in one round.  

Zauberball Crazy is a wonderful fingering weight yarn that has two strands of the main ply that have been dyed individually and then twisted together for a crazy combination.

The crazy thing is I was able to knit up my dress in two weeks!!  Don’t forget I said fingering weight yarn, that is CRAZY!!  Here is a picture of my dress.  I have to say I am crazy in love!!

Happy (CRAZY!) knitting,

-Liz

It’s February. The month of love. Say what you will about the commercialism, about the actual roots of Valentine’s Day, etc. Here’s the thing. Winter is long. Life is difficult. Let’s go crazy for love for one month.

Now, I do approach it a bit differently when it comes to the how I want to celebrate love. You can have your dozen roses and dinner reservations with every other couple in town. I want the little pleasures. I want to think of love in a bigger way (or maybe it’s smaller, really). I want to pay attention and acknowledge all the little comforts of the day, the ways in which I show myself (and others) some tender love. I want to be conscious of the day and how I’m treating or neglecting myself and the people around me. You want love in the world, put it there. That’s my plan.

So, of course, I’ve been keeping a list. It’s a rough list of the stolen moments and pleasures that I notice in a day, ways to cultivate love of self and others. I plan to keep it going and I hope you’ll start your own.

*A ten minute nap before I pick up my kids from school

*A glass of wine in the early evening before the dinner making is in full swing

*Time spent looking at old photos

*Those first few minutes in bed, when the sheets and blankets are cool, and I get all buried in them and know the day is done.

*Checking mail when I know a package will be coming any day now

*Putting my phone out of sight and out of reach when it’s time to be with my kids—playing games, doing homework, watching a movie, etc.

*New yarn, beautiful and fresh, full of possibilities—I either wind it into a happy cake straight away and look at it all firm and upright, reporting for duty…or leave it a while, in the bag, like a little secret, waiting for me. I love all the energy it holds—the animal, the shepherd/farmer, the people and machines that cleaned and spun energy into the fiber. The creative energy of the colors chosen and infused into it. All up until this moment when it just waits for me to make a choice and our energies collide to make something new!

*A text sent with just one thing you love about that person (friend or lover!)

*Shhh…secret pantry treats: the chocolate or other snack I buy just for me and hide in the little cabinet where no one looks

*Podcasts: some are utilitarian for me, with solid interviews of knitters and crocheters in the industry. Some are for learning new techniques or some science or history. Then there are the more indulgent ones, where, yes, I will probably learn something, but I mainly listen for a certain soothing quality they contain. Knitsonik is the best example at the moment.

*The heel of the French bread that doesn’t look so beautiful on the platter, but slathered with butter, kosher salt, and a slice of radish or dipped into the sauce and followed by a sip of the aforementioned wine is such a treat. A moment of pleasure.

*A macaroon from RylieCakes—the color, the smooth outside cracking and breaking when you bite into it

* A few extra seconds added to that goodbye hug or kiss

*A favorite coffee mug, comforting every morning (and afternoon)

* My slippers, made especially cozy when I’m wearing handknit socks, after the chill of our hardwood floor In February

*A pretty bag to organize my knitting, with a spot for everything

*A handknit shawl, wrapped around my shoulders

*The heat pack my friend made me when she learned I’d been having some aches and pains (she sewed it that day!  Soft cozy cotton, filled with rice, heated 3 minutes in the microwave—it feels amazing!)

My list will go on and on. I’m good at cozy, and comforts take precedence in my life. Life is too short to not soothe ourselves and those we love­—and to take the time to notice how good it feels. So, that’s what I’m doing this February, the “love” month. I’m noticing the little things and adding some new ones. Life is hard; let’s take good care of ourselves and each other.