Maxi Skirt

Here is my very first skirt creation. As with the rest of my "beginning" projects I am learning new things along the way. I found this stretchy polyester/spandex fabric from the clearance section at JoAnn Fabrics which I thought was pretty and a fun color. I am hoping to really step out of my box and find some fun and even brighter colored fabric for a later project.

sadly this picture doesn't do the colors justice

The hardest thing about this project was deciding how I wanted the waist to fit. I got the idea from this blog Here but of course my brain had to alter it in a few ways. For one I didnt want to attach a top to the skirt because I wanted to be able to wear the skirt with whatever top I wanted and any color. So I decided to make the skirt flowy by gathering the waist fabric just like the blog, but I wanted to attach the waistband and also use a zipper. The waistband was hard because I wanted it to be 2" (more of a wider style band) but I only cut the fabric and interfacing at EXACTLY 2" which means I didn't have the extra 5/8" seam allowance that I needed to attach it to my skirt which led to this happening once I folded the skirt over:

I obviously didn't have it big enough to then fold over and sew again. I have yet to sew the waist down to the front because I haven't decided if I want to sew it with the machine (because you would see that stitch from the front) or sew it by hand, which I could possibly hide the stitch in the middle layers of fabric so it wouldn't show from the front.

The other problem I came across was sewing with stretch fabric! Apparently there is a lot to learn about sewing with stretch fabrics. You need to have the correct ball point needle and you need to use the correct stitch on your sewing matching. The stitch is called a "stretch stitch" which looks like a zig-zag stitch. I looked in my sewing manual and it said which one was for stretch fabrics (thank goodness).

Finally once I had the zipper on (which wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be) I tried on the skirt and realized the zipper was sticking out and bunching in the back making a non-flattering look which is why I have no rear photos below...Haha! So I still have to figure out how I am going to get the zipper to lay flat, finish the waistband (take it in a little depending on where I want it to sit on my waist), and finish the bottom hem. I only did a quick baste stitch on the hem for my photos cause I have no patience. :)

Here are some final photos! Enjoy..