Pinwheel Skirt: Skirt Week 2012

Hello all! Today, we are going to attempt to walk you through the method to our madness on the skirt we chose to enter in the Skirt Week 2012 challenge. We began with Dana’s Circle Skirt pattern (Project Run and Play; season 4, challenge 1), but remixed and embellished it to fit our model’s specifications and our creative vision….all while we think keeping the integrity of the established pattern.


Remix 1: Peek-a-boo Pleats. After measuring and cutting the circle skirt pattern according to directions, we determined where we wanted the subtle peek-a-boo pleats to be arranged. Using a fabric marker, we marked and drew straight lines to cut the skirt into 6 pieces. Then, using Running with Scissors and Delia Creates tutorials, we made peek-a-boo pleats by triangulating the contrasting fabric from 1 inch width (waist) to 3 inches (hem), cutting the strips 1 inch longer than necessary for good measure. We sewed the pleats to the original skirt pieces, making a continuous skirt once again, and pinking sheared the edges. Next, we folded and ironed the main fabric on top of the contrasting fabric, leaving only a small amount of fabric showing, forming a peek-a-boo pleat. Finally, we stitched the waist and hem areas of skirt to hold the peek-a-boo pleats in place.

Preliminary sketch and finished skirt with altered peek-a-boo pleat placement

Preparing to cut skirt into six pieces for peek-a-boo pleats

Triangular peek-a-boo pleat sewn into main skirt and pinking sheared

Waist and hem sewn to hold peek-a-boo pleats in place

Remix 2: Continuous Bias. We had done bias tape before, but never a continuous stream of tape. Since it was a striped print, we felt as if a continuous strip would help in the overall appearance of the finished product. We relied heavily on No Big Dill’s tutorial, and after our 3rd attempt….ahhhh, SUCCESS! No fault of the tutorial…

Left to right: preparing fabric to sew together and continuous bias strips being drawn

Attaching the continuous bias to the skirt’s hem

Remix 3 (and quite possibly the most important one for us to ‘get right’): Built-in Shorts. Our little model was required to wear shorts under skirts in her physical education class, so this was a must! We followed the Maja Heirlooms Sophie short pattern, excluding the waistband. Unfortunately, at the time, we could not find any tutorial guiding us through this process. Classically, however, a week after finishing this project, we ran across this little gem and have tucked it away for future guidance. After hemming the shorts, we made a faux button cuff for each leg….completely unnecessary, but such a cute, hidden detail.

Remix 4: Waistband Covering. While the skirt was full and twirly, we wanted to keep the original look of a flat, elastic waist casing. We had 2 choices: dye the elastic or cover it with fabric. Since we had no experience with either, we opted for what we viewed as the lesser of the evils: fabric covering. Using the same material as the main part of the skirt, we made casing for the elastic and fed the elastic through it. We got really bogged down in this step because we wanted the skirt to have as finished of an appearance as possible with few, if any, unfinished areas. We ended up trapping the unfinished edges between the skirt and shorts by sandwiching and sewing the waistband between the two.


Remix 5: Not really a remix….more of an embellishment!! This skirt was made to spin, and we wanted to keep that theme alive in the embellishment. So after brainstorming every spinning object this world has to offer, we opted for a sweet, detachable pinwheel accessory. A pure stroke of laundry genius at its finest hour! We stacked two buttons in the center of the pinwheel, and finished it off with tacking down a twisted gray cord for its stick.

We’ll leave you with the happy model, showing off the wearability of this pattern. She loved it, so it was a successful day in our little sewing world! Let’s just say, a melting Popsicle was all that kept her from wearing it two days in a row.

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