I finished my scallop skirt this weekend!
Every time I put it on, I feel like candy. It’s just so pink and happy; my new, perfect summer skirt.
I made the skirt with a linen blend, and used some leftover cream linen from my Dubarry 5836 skirt for the second row of scallops. Since this skirt is so full, I think it would benefit from a crinoline! With so many gathers right below my waist, it makes my hips look a bit puffier than they are in real life. So I think some added *omph* at the hem would help balance things out a bit.
Where to start with my modifications….
I started out wanting to add scallops to a circle skirt, and realized I had a dress pattern that included some scallops at the hem. So what I ended up doing was hijacked the Simplicity 3791 dress by turning it unto a skirt. I used a basic rectangle waistband from my half circle skirt pattern (Simplicity 4532), then I completely revamped the hem.
Before I go any further here’s the original dress pattern cover for Simplicity 3791:
How the construction works here, is that the skirt portion is a regular rectangle skirt. But the facing is what is scalloped. So by sewing the scalloped facing onto the straight hem, when you flip the facing to the inside, it creates nice scallops. But the second piece of the pattern you see below the scallops is another straight rectangle that is affixed to the skirt by top stitching. This second bit gets a *mehh* from me.
So what I ended up doing: I used the original scallop facing for the hem, but instead of including the plain straight hem that the pattern shows, I made up a second row of scallops using that same facing on a separate rectangle of fabric. I had to come up with my own way of attaching my white scallops to the original line of pink scallops. So the simplest (and in my mind the best) solution was to just top-stitch them together.
Here’s a detail shot of my hem…
Hmm, I wish I would have taken a shot of the inside construction for you guys. If you’d like me to post a pic of the inside, just put it in the comments.
So scallops… they’re pretty and fun, but boy are they a lot of work! I had no idea they’d be so much work, silly me. heh I ended up sewing the whole scalloped border 4 times! Two times for the facing on the pink then the white, then I top stitched everything which was another two times. By the end, I really mastered how to free-hand-sewing the scallops on my machine without any chalk markings. :)
Since the skirt has a lot of fabric to it, I knew the waistband would get a lot of wear. So I added in some twill tape to the top seam to add some stability. I used a light weight interfacing on both sides of the waistband, but I think this skirt would have benefited from something stronger like hair canvas.
This skirt is the first time I’ve ever deconstructed a dress pattern in order to make a skirt. And I really winged it on the second row of scallops. It’s been just shy of a year when I first took to sewing, but I’m really happy and excited that I’m starting to have some “sewing confidence” to mix and match patterns and to try out new things.
I’ve been a sewing-machine this past memorial day weekend (no pun intended) that I still have a few more things to share with you guys later this week, although they’re still work-in-progresses. Can’t wait to show you peeps! :)
In: Sewing
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