How to "Selvedge" a Skirt

I just took up the waist on this brown skirt this week. Now that it fits well, I focused on the appearance. It's nice, but a bit boring. I wanted something summery and fun to wear on my two upcoming beach trips. Inspired by 49 Sensational Skirts, I decided to spice up my new skirt. 

I considered lots of options, especially fusible applique, and fabric painting. But I wasn't in the mood to paint, and I thought fusible applique could too easily end up looking like a poodle skirt. Cute but really not MY style. Plus I wanted something I could finish fast, before my kids got home from the baseball game.

So I glanced around my sewing room looking for some other inspiration. I have been collecting selvedges for months, hoping to make them into a sewing machine cover, or possibly even one of these amazing quilts.  I decided to sacrifice a few for my skirt.  I tried pinning on a few just to make sure I liked the look of it, and to figure out which direction I wanted the selvedges to be turned.

I liked the way this looked so I pressed a bunch of selvedges flat, choosing the longest ones I had and ones with a neutral color scheme.

I started at a side seam, stitching the selvedges down only along the white edge (with white thread). I didn't even really pin it down, so some of my lines got a bit wavy. I like that hand-made look, but if you are not comfortable with "winging" it, of course you could measure and pin.  I spaced the selvedges closely at the bottom, and spread them out the further up the skirt I went.

As you can see, when I ran out of long selvedges, I didn't worry too much about matching up colors or patterns.

Here is the finished product. I love it!

I'm very curious to see what it looks like after washing, since the bottom edges are raw and not sewn down. I'm thinking I will launder it in a garment bag and hang it to dry. I hope it's not too much of a pain to press.

Taking In the Waist of a Simple Skirt

I bought a very simple, unlined skirt at a yard sale recently. It was two sizes too big but I figured it would be a great practice alteration project. I found this tutorial which was so helpful.

My skirt was a very simple fix. It is a simple A-line shape with a side zipper so I did not have to deal with the zipper at all.  I made sure my sewing machine was loaded on top and bottom with matching thread.

I put the skirt on first, and pinned the waist where it fit me comfortably. I needed to take in four inches at the waist. I detached the waistband at the back seam for a width of about 8 inches. I severed it along the back seam line and pinned it out of the way.  I then opened the back seam of the skirt about 10 inches. I pressed the seams flat and removed all those little threads left from seam ripping. A lint roller is helpful with that job.

At the top of the back seam, I measured two inches on each side of the seam and made a mark. I put the skirt panels right sides together and pinned them. I drew a line with a chalk pencil from the top mark, and tapered the line into the existing seam. I sewed along this new seam line, and tried the skirt on to make sure there were no unsightly bumps.

The last step was to take in the waistband strip. I pressed the waistband strips flat. I measured two inches on each side of the cut on the waistband, put right sides together and sewed along my marks. I trimmed off the extra fabric, and pressed the new seam open.  I sandwiched the waistband strip back around the body of the skirt , lining up the waitband seam with the back seam of the skirt, and stitched it back on, sewing thru the back and front with one seam.

I have to admit that I would usually have just thrown in a couple of messy pleats (or even safety pins, lol), and covered it up with a long blouse. I am so glad I took the time to do this simple alteration on this skirt. I looks very professional, and it only took about half an hour. The waistband seam is nice looking enough that I can wear it with a shirt tucked in.