Sew A Child’s Skirt: Part Two Top Stitching Tips
Following on from this post, this is the second part of making a child’s skirt. I’ve not split these up as it’s an arduous task making this skirt, just simply because there are a few techniques I’ve used that are very transferable outside of little girl’s skirts so I figured it’d be an easy way to to take the bits you needed.
1) Use a foot with a bar
I often get comments about how neat my topstitching is and people often wonder how I can get a row of stitching so close to the edge of a garment and it be so straight! Well let me share my secret, I always use a foot to help achieve those dead straight lines. I have several “go to” feet for top stitching depending on where it is on a garment and how close to the edge I want to be. All these feet have the same thing in common – they all have a little bar that your fabric butts up against and you can use as a guide.
These are the three I use most often but if you have any other type of foot with a bar it will work too. You can achieve different widths by moving your needle position left and right (look carefully where you needle will come down so you don’t hit a bar!). The one that gives the narrowest results is the edge joining foot pictured on the right. I’ve never used this foot for edge joining, I *think* it’s supposed to be for attaching lace to garments but I cant be 100% sure and it was the first one I used to help me top stitch. Then when I started quilting I got a few more feet, and they had bars too – yay! The 1/4 inch foot gives you a wider top stitch and the stitch in the ditch is great when top stitching where 2 fabric meet, like here in between the piping and the skirt.
2) Increase your stitch length
When top stitching you’re often going through several layers of fabric, especially if you consider you’re often sewing through both the seams as well as the fabric. To give your topstitching the best chance of looking neat it’s a good idea to increase your stitch length. I generally increase from 2.5mm to 3mm, sometimes more if fabrics are thick, or there are more layers.
For my skirt I used a stitch in the ditch foot and set my needle position to the left and the guide nestled in the ditch between the two fabrics and left me with a beautiful, even and neat top stitch.
Next post will all be about the lining!
How To Attach A Rib Knit Waist Band
We recently took delivery of some cotton elastane rib knit at Plush Towers and I’m a little bit in love with it. It’s such a great alternative to elastic and I think it looks much more professional. It can be used for waistbands, cuffs, t-shirt necklines etc.
I decided to make another skirt following this tutorial from Danamadeit.com and customised the waistband to use the rib knit. It took under an hour (it was actually closer to 30 mins!) I thought I’d share how I pimped the waistband:
1) Work out the amount of fabric you need to make the skirt by following the instructions on this tutorial.
I used these fabrics
2) Decide how high you would like the rib knit waist band to be and deduct this amount from the length of the main skirt fabric.
3) Measure your child’s waist and cut a length of rib knit according to this measurement plus one inch and twice the height you’d like the waistband to be. I cut mine 3″ high, then fold in half giving me a 1.5″ wasitband. Press the waistband whilst folded along the length.
4) Sew the 2 short ends together to make a circular waist band. Use an overlocker, or an equivalent stitch on your sewing machine if you don’t have an overlocker.
5) Fold in half along the pressed fold. This is your finished waistband.
7) Prepare the hem by folding up about half an inch of the hem, and them half an inch again so as to hide the raw edge. You can adjust the exact hem length later.
8) Gather the waistband by basting 2 lines of stitching along the top of the skirt, leave long threads at either end.
9) Pull the threads tight and gather the skirt.
10) Put the skirt inside the waistband with right sides together and ease out the gathering on the skirt fabric so it matches the waistband and the gathers are evenly spread. Pin, or make it easier with Wonder Clips
11) Sew the waistband in place with your normal machine very close the the fabric edge. Once secured and you are happy the gathers are even secure with an overlocker, or overlock type stitch. Stitching in place first makes it easier to correct any gathers, should you need to.
12) Check the length of your skirt on your child and hem accordingly by pressing half an inch, then folding over again to hide the raw edge
13) You’re done! Easy peasy rib knit waistband is attached.
My next project with rib knit is this jacket. I’m going to use red double sided cuddle fleece and use Scarlet rib knit at the cuffs and waistband (instead of the ruffle). That’s the plan anyway! I might need to finish some UFOs first 🙂
Crayon Roll Tutorial
Baby Plush has recently got into drawing in a big way, apart from being irresistibly cute toddling around insisting she put crayon to paper it’s amazing how it can keep her occupied, quiet and still for such a long time and she’s not yet even 2. Always one to jump on any opportunity for 5 minutes of peace and quiet I figured it’d be silly not to make her a crayon roll which I can just pop in my bag when we are out and about and so far it’s a huge hit.
Crayon rolls are super easy to make and you can knock one up in about half an hour (have you gathered I quite like these super speedy makes yet?!), here’s how I did mine.
What you need:
3 co-ordinating pieces of fabric 13 x 5 inches (I used fabrics from the Hello Tokyo Collection from Robert Kaufman)
1 piece of medium weight iron on interfacing 13 x 5 inches
1 piece of matching ribbon about 24 inches long
Matching sewing thread. I always use Guttermann Sew All Thread
Step 1
Take the interfacing and iron in on to the wrong side of fabric C which will make the inside lining of your pencil roll
Step 2
Fold Fabric B in half length ways and iron
Step 3
Take your folded fabric B and place it on to the lining fabric C matching the bottom edges of the fabrics together. Next draw lines in tailors chalk starting 1 1/4 inch from one short end and then at 3/4 inch intervals until you reach the other side. Starting in the middle (in case your fabric shifts) sew down each line in a co-ordinating thread, these will make the pockets for your crayons.
Step 4
Fold your ribbon in half and sew it in to one side of the crayon roll. I used a triple stitch to ensure it’s secure
Step 5
Place the outer fabric (fabric A) onto the other pieces of fabric so that the right sides are together and sew around the edges ensuring you leave an opening of a couple of inches so you can turn the right way. Snip the corners.
Step 6
Nearly there! Turn your fabric out through the hole you left and press, ensuring the opening is pressed flush and even to the rest of your sewn crayon roll. Top stitch all the way around ensuring your opening is sewn closed and fill with your crayons!
