I made this simple skirt a while back after feeling a bit bugged by the lack of casual summer staples in my wardrobe.
I had some raspberry interlock knit I scored at JoAnn for $3 in the remnant bin. Did you know that the remnant bin is a great way to find awesome fabric for cheap? I even found some amazing (and sort of affordable) remnants at Britex when I was in SF last weekend. I didn't end up buying any of them and I still felt like I spent a million dollars there.
The skirt took about 20 minutes to make, and only requires one seam. You don't even have to finish the edges, so really it could be a 5 minute sewing project. I like that kind of sewing!
It even has a slit up the back. Perfect for running around with a slim pencil silhouette. This is eerily similar to the
maternity pencil skirt tutorial I made way back when I was pregnant, but it's not doubled up and I've included some more detailed information on how to sew with knits.
Alison made a similar skirt another quick tutorial from
Elle Keeps Moving (hers has two seams, but might be easier to draft if you already have a similar skirt). I'm a bit obsessed of the fabric Alison used, it's nothing short of awesome.
SINGLE SEAM KNIT PENCIL SKIRT TUTORIAL
Supplies:
- interlock knit with 1.5-2x stretch (about 1 yard or less, depending)
- sewing scissors
- pins
- sewing machine
- matching thread
- measuring tape
- ruler and drafting paper (optional)
Gather your supplies. Fold your fabric in half. The straight line in the image above is the fold.
Take the following measurements: waist, hips, rise (distance between waist and hips), length. Figure out your hem. Mine was an inch and a half. Subtract 2 inches from your hips and waist measurements. This sounds nuts, but since your knit is stretchy, you'll want it to hug your curves.
With drafting paper and pencil, draw a straight line the desired length of your skirt plus top and bottom hems. Measure 1 1/2 inch down from the top of your length line and make a mark. Create a line that curves up slightly as long as your final waist measurement (waist-2in.÷2). For the hip measurement, you'll go down the length line the rise (distance between waist and hips). Mark in a straight line the final hip measurement (hips-2in.÷2). Repeat the same measurement at the bottom of your skirt. Now outline the silhouette of your pattern.
Now cut out your fabric and pin right sides together. When sewing with knits, no matter how stable they are, it's crucial for you to pin every seam! I pin about every 2 inches. With a 5/8 seam allowance, sew your single seam. You'll want to stop about 3-5 inches from the bottom for the slit. Be sure to secure your stitches. You can use just a simple straight stitch for this seam, but if you want extra stability, you can use double needles. Press seam allowance open.
While the fabric is still inside out, roll the top down for your hem. Iron and pin the hem down. Use a fairly close and wide zig zag stitch for this seam. It will allow for the most stretching without breaking so you can easily slip the skirt on and off. Press the top hem.
For the bottom hem, you won't need as much stretching for the top, so you can use double needles. DON'T USE A SINGLE STRAIGHT STITCH. Double needles allow for some stretching, single needles in a straight stitch do not. If you don't have access to double needles, use the same zigzag stitch used on the waist.
Finally, tack down the slit at the top and you can fold and stitch down the raw edges.
Fini! Let me know if you have any questions!
This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without the express consent of Melissa Esplin. I love getting shout outs from around the web, but please, link with love. Do not copy this post, publish more than 2 photos or outright steal this idea for commercial publications. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!
I used the pattern I created for 
I did a high-low hemline for the top. It may seem that's all I'm doing these days, but I've really always been obsessed with them. I remember in 9th grade wishing the backs of my shirts were longer than the fronts. I may have made the back a little too long for this top, so when I get a bit of time, I'll unpick and rework the hem. For now, it works just fine if I belt the top or tuck the top in.
Outfit details:
You know it's bad when your 4 year old asks if you've been crying all day. No, I just have giant bags under my eyes and no make up because I went to bed at 2am. Not the most brilliant planning on my part. Whatever, let's keep things real.
Outfit details:
Aren't these shoes adorable? Blowfish sent them to me last month. I packed them for our beach trip last month, they were perfect for milling around town. They're perfectly beach-y, but still comfortable.
I've paired these fun kicks with unexpected prints, and with bright solids (below). I thought these would be a once-in-a-while shoe, but they've become more of a staple shoe for this summer.
I've been trying to branch out with my work to include more analog art and graphics into my design work. Painting these flowers was definitely a nice exercise to get back into the art end of things.
My mom grew the most amazing irises when we grew up. They were enormous and so colorful. I've painted that flower a zillion times, so it was fun to branch out of that as well. Although this definitely has me in the mood to paint a few more irises for my own house.
This particular card is headed nowhere, but I need to get my letter/card writing on. I've got a lot of overdue thank yous to send.
I've included two versions of the simple fold card. One with thanks written on it and the other blank for you to keep blank or fill in as you wish. Click the button to download. All artwork is subject to ISLY terms of use.
The theory of tailoring this top was simple. I needed to take up the neckline and take in the sides. It was a bit more daunting because of the slippery fabric and the hem finishes. I had a lot of unpicking to do in order to even get started on the project.
Thank heavens the structure of the top was so simple. I took up the shoulders by 3 inches and took in the sides by 4 inches on each side.
It's not quite sheer, but it's really cool and super simple. It's a fantastic summer top. The color and texture are what attracted me to the top in the first place. I could definitely see myself styling this top for spring, summer, fall and winter.
I think if I were making this top from scratch, I would've pressed the bottom pleats better than you can see here. I wonder if my steamer will get the puckering out?
Outfit Details:
A few of you wondered how I took in the neckline, this is a rough sketch of what the refashion looked like. I made sure to unpick hems before taking in any seams. As soon as the seams were right, then I reconstructed the hems. It's all sort of case-by-case basis, but that's generally how I work on my refashions.
Sponsored By:
It's the first time I've been in the city since we've moved away from the bay area, and walking around this area brings back so many awesome memories. Oh how I've missed this place!
This is an outfit I wore a few days ago. My sisters-in-law are in town this week, both of them are actually hanging out with my kids while I'm in San Francisco on a really fun "business" trip (more details to come - but you follow along on 
Before I left, the girls agreed to watch the kids while Chris and I went out on a date. It was a real treat to go out with my man and just wander the streets of Pleasant grove without a worry in the world. We went to Sammy's for burgers, fries and shakes. We'll definitely go again.
I've been following the artwork of Colt Bowden (met him once at an art fair & purchased one of his drawings), so it was fantastic to see his gorgeous 
Outfit Details:
I couldn't have been more excited to see these beauties pop up in the private teacher/student gallery in the last couple weeks. The quote (above) by Pablo Neruda is really fantastic, and 
Tara of 
We had a great turn out. Even Chris took some time out of his work schedule to party with us. My sister-in-law Brooke is in town, so she helped set up and take down and play with the kids.
Felix definitely had a blast chugging Bee's Lemon Water.
I had not tried all of the 
The chocolate dipped strawberries from 
I made my aunt Bee's secret lemon water recipe and threw in a few sprigs of fresh mint from my balcony garden. Mmm! I had a great time hanging out with old friends and meeting some new ones, too. I hope you got a chance to get outside yesterday.
A big thank you to the sponsors and 
I'm pretty sure my studio and the kids' room will be the last to get packed, but my productivity is waning just thinking about all of the stuff I have to move. While I was blankly staring at my studio (as I often do - what a time suck) I thought I'd share this organizational discovery that I made not too long ago.
I've been on the hunt for a good storage method for my rolled papers, but I couldn't seem to find anything that fit. Either the dimensions were off or the price was ridiculous for something so simple. While passing the bathroom section at Ikea, I had a brain wave and snatched up a 
Even if you're not planning on coming to the event, you should check out 
I haven't done a thing to the grey one, although I might shorten the sleeves on that one. The ashy brown one fit well, but the color looked terrible on my lifeless pale skin. I dyed it a deep purple, really the perfect color for all seasons. I could pair it with browns for fall, blacks for winter and bright hues for spring and summer. The dye job didn't turn out as solid as I would've liked. I think it might be related to the fact that I didn't wash the new dress before dyeing. It's almost uniform like a tie-dye, but it'll be interesting to see if it will even out with wear.
I shortened the sleeves and in an attempt to bring up the hemline of the dress, I added three pleats across the chest.
The pleats were trickier than it might seem. I had to be very particular with measuring and steaming in order to get all of the seams straight, and I needed a stretchy straight stitch. I found that the stitch with three stitches like this: ||| worked out the best.
This dress is perfect underneath my shear tops. I love that I can wear it plain, under crop tops or shear tops.
Outfit details:
I went for a simple layout and theme, and keeping the over-the-top girliness at a minimum. I think it turned out alright, if you ask me.
Since the pattern and text is sort of androgynous, I thought I'd provide a boy and girl fill-in-the-blank printable for you to use on any future baby showers. All you have to do is print, cut in fourths, fill out and send. Heck, you could even use the plain back side to address the invitations and send it off as a postcard to reduce paper and postal costs.
Are you going to any baby showers this summer? What's your favorite gift to give? Mine is a 
Today was possibly the worst day to wear white, but I've made it through the day virtually unscathed (which is nothing short of a miracle). Penelope did some spectacular mono prints and foam prints this morning in her art class. I'm so happy she likes art and isn't afraid to get dirty with it.
I've 
Since the material was fairly transparent, I either needed to make a lining or she'd have to make sure to wear a slip every time she wore it. I personally hate wearing slips, so I got creative.
I figured that if I folded the fabric in half, meeting the two selvages, it was the perfect length for her. I folded the fabric and sort of made things up as I went along, measuring, pinning, pleating, ironing.
Before finishing skirt, I realized that the skirt could be worn two ways, with the pleats exposed or not. The finishing looked the same on either side.
The difference between the two sides is subtle, so it doesn't make a huge difference that it's reversible, but if it were me wearing this fabric, I know I would end up staining one side since I'm terrible with the color white.
Here's a detail shot of the pleats. It's sort of hard to see them with the print, but the print sure does hide my little mistakes.
Opting out of a side zipper, I made an elastic back so she can slip the skirt on easily. As I was thinking about it, my neighbor is only 11 and probably has a lot of growing to do. As she grows, she can cut on either side of the fold of the hem to lengthen the skirt. I thought that was pretty clever.
A tutorial is on its way, if you're interested in making one for yourself. It takes a lot of measuring and pinning, but it's easy. Only straight lines.
Come Join us next Monday (June 18) at 11:30 at Draper Park. It's got a fantastic playground for little kiddos so we can all have a good time chatting and playing. 
We're on scrimp and save mode, so I do feel a bit guilty about buying clothes that I don't need. But this top was $4.50. And the print was just too cute. So now I won't buy any more clothes until after we move into our new house.
The top was a simple crop in XXL. It was more than a bit too wide, but at the perfect length for a longish crop. It hits right at the top of my jeans. BUT, the back was somehow shorter than the front. How was this?
I added a black block of accordion pleated jersey in the back. This lenghtened the back hem by 3 1/2 inches. So I can comfortably wear this top without my guts showing in the front or the back.
I also pinned a little gathering (true late 80s style) with a yellow heart earring that I have. Earrings make pretty great pins, did you know that?
Outfit Details:
Supplies:
I looked for shells with holes already bored into the tops. It's not hard at all to find these. The more irregular the holes, the better!
Tape off the area for painting.
Paint with your desired nail color in strokes parallel to the shell's ridges and away from the tape so you don't get any paint under the tape. Allow to partially dry before removing tape, a minute or two.
Tie knots with the end of each around the middle of the other. You can see this technique 
Thread the middle through the hole.
Thread the knotted end through the middle loop.
Cut your piece of cording to the desired length and knot the ends together.
Thread the middle of the cording through the bottom side of the shell, and stopping as the knot hits the hole of the shell. This is good for shells with small holes.
Wear or give away to a friend!
The green stripes just scream summer. I'm really loving this particular shade of green. I'm thinking of incorporating it in my home decor.
Penelope looks so grown up in this picture. Completely annoyed at Felix and his hair-pulling antics. 
She still loves him, though.
Outfit Details:
Felix
The night before we flew out to meet my parents for our vacation, I made a simple swimsuit cover up. I liked the 
I used a 
The above was my uniform at the beach. It was really comfortable, stretchy, dried quickly and was the perfect length for walking around or playing in the water.
Our summer is off to a fantastic start with a lot of projects and exciting milestones ahead. How about yours? Do you have any fun plans?
