This post is part of the Stretch Yourself Series hosted by Miriam of Mad Mim and Miranda of One Little Minute. You should check out their series if you haven’t already. It’s a very thorough series on the ins and outs of sewing with knits.
Today Heather and I are sharing how to color block with knits. It’s really so easy. Promise.
When asked to participate in Mim and Miranda’s knit series (specifically the color block part), I immediately thought of these shoes. They’ve been circulating the interwebs recently, and I haven’t been able to get them out of my head. So I thought I would translate those shoes to a skirt.
I told Chris this was my business in front, party in back skirt.
We’re only doing it on one side, and we’re doing it with stretchy knit so it’s a lot more forgiving than you might think. Here’s how you can make your own:
You’ll need a stretchy base knit, something that has 40-60% stretch. The gold knit you’ll just grab some gold lame or swim material. It’s got good structure and stretch. You’ll also need pencil, large paper, scissors, seam ripper, pins, ruler and a sewing machine.
Make your measurements. Measure where you want your skirt to sit along your waist, measure your rise (distance between waist and hips), hips and skirt length.
Draft up a quick pattern using the above measurements. This is for 1/4th of your skirt. Since you’re using a stretchy material, we won’t worry about seam allowance.
Now we’ll cut out the material. It’s best to lay it out on the ground and weigh the pattern down on the fabric with bowls, cups and other weighty objects. Cut out with scissors or rotary cutter. Cut your gold piece just a little bit bigger than the bottom of your skirt.
Take one skirt piece aside and lay it on the ground right side up. Lay the gold fabric right side up about 3/4 inches below the hem. Grab your ruler, lay it down and cut through both layers.
Now you have your two pattern pieces cut at the exact same angle! Ready for piecing.
Lay the pieces right sides together, and stitch. Iron seam flat with a cool iron.
Line up front and back pieces right sides together and sew, using a 1/2 – 5/8 inch seam allowance.
Finish the hems: Roll hem with a serger, cover stitch, zig zag or double-stitch your top and bottom hems. Be sure to use a stitch that allows for stretch!!
Outfit details:
- top, earrings and necklace: H&M
- skirt: handmade
- shoes: c/o Blowfish
Now rock and roll!
