MODIFIED MAXI SKIRT TIPS...

So, I have found that being pregnant in the summer time is HARD! It is hot and I'm so tall that it's hard for me to find cute maternity clothes that fit my long legs and my long torso with my 29 week baby bump.

As many of you might have known, I have taken up sewing lessons from my mom.  I've learned to turn pants into shorts (a must know for when you have a little boy I hear), a baby blanket, and now knit skirts that can stretch and breath easy.

First of all, I went and got my fabric at the Fabric Mill.  They always have coupons, just search for Fabric Mill Coupons, screen shot the result with your phone, and take it in to get the discount.  For my skirt, I got about a yard and a quarter of knit fabric.  Remember though, my skirt was just knee length, so I didn't have to get as much as when you make a full length skirt.  The ladies at the store can help you figure out how much you need.  The biggest thing when getting your fabric is measuring from your waist, where you will wear the skirt, to how long you want it to be.  I measured mine from waist to about my mid calf, to give me some lee-way in case I messed up on the serger.

On my pinterest, I found a tutorial that I really liked.  BUT, I would change a few things.

Here are the things I would change:

1.  Measure, cut, and sew the waist part first.  (the two right sides faced together and sewn/serged down each end.) The waist measurement was way off.  Depending on how much your fabric stretches, you want the waist to be smaller then what she said to measure.  I would measure your waist, divide it by 2 and then subtract it by 1 to give you an accurate measure when you are measuring your waist.  Don't add anything to the measurement.  Remember that knits are stretchy!  Once you get it sewn, you might even think that it is still too big and want to take off another inch.

2.  After your waist is sewn, then measure your waist band.  Mine ended up being 18 inches.  I used the 18 inches for the top width of measuring my skirt.

3.   The next thing I would do is not to taper your skirt so far out on the bottom.  When we followed the tutorial, we laid out the fabric and used the edges of the fabric to be our angle measurement.  When we cut the fabric and then when we sewed it, it had these little flappy wings on the sides.  So, I wouldn't measure it all the way down the folded side or the other edge.  I wouldn't taper the bottom out of the skirt as much either.  Next time, I would do a straighter cut to eliminate the process of taking in skirt at the end.


Those are the only things I would change.  Other than that, the tutorial was pretty easy to follow, and I actually understand where to sew things together.  Where to put the fabric together, where to pin, etc.  This is coming from a girl who hasn't sewn much since 7th grade home economics class.

Hopefully your skirt will look as cute as mine!