Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Dress #5 -- Dirndl Skirt

With the help of Gertie's New Book For Better Sewing, I made my very own dirndl skirt. Ta-da!

I made this baby between my last two dresses. I was actually unhappy with it at first, but a few modifications and it's good to wear out! Here's how I made it:

I had 2.5 yards of that cherry material lying around. Not enough for me to make anything, really, so I figured I'd make this dirndle and if it failed, no big loss. I unfolded it and used the entire length. I cut it in a huge rectangle about 30 inches long. I put two gathering stitches all the way across the top and a'gatherin' I went!

For the waist band I measured my waist and cut a 3" rectangle of fabric of that measurement (made it a tiny bit bigger for a little bit of ease!) Gertie suggests a 3" waistband in the book, but when I sewed it on -- it looked really wimpy! It just looked like and afterthought and it didn't even properly catch some of the gathers (there was a lot!) Thankfully I still had some fabric left so I cut a 6" waistband rectangle. MUCH BETTER.

I then sewed the ends together except for the zipper slot, put in my zipper, and IRONED DOWN THE GATHERS! Someone suggested it on my FB because I thought they were terribly unflattering and poofy! Once I ironed them down it looked like a different skirt.

No pattern used or needed. Anyone can do this! It was fun once it started to come together (re: wider waistband!) Now I need a fitted red top.....

Learn how to make this Dirndl Skirt at Gertie's blog!

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