Five Tips For Sewing Circle Skirts!

Whether its sewn to a bodice or just as a skirt on its own, you can't deny the awesomeness that is circle skirts! 

The draping! The swishyness!!!! 

But they can be a bit tricky to sew! so here's my top tips!

1. Choose your fabric - make sure its a medium or lightweight fabric as heavy fabrics don't drape well!

2. Be gentle - don't drag your fabric around like a caveman! Because you'll stretch it out!!!

3. Stay stitch your waist seam. because your waist will be cut both on the bias and on the straight grain it will stretch. So stay stitch unless you want it stretched out so you can gather it! 

4. Let it hang! Once its all sewn up place it on a dress form or coat hanger BEFORE you hem it! Circle skirts tend to stretch and end up with uneven hems so let it rest! I tend to go for about 48 hours if I have time! Then after its rested even it up!

5. Pick your even carefully, because its a circle they can be pretty tricky to hem but here are some easier options! Narrow hem! Using bias binding to hem [I love this method because its so quick] and hem by hand I tend to do this for fancy makes and do a 1cm hem and dainty stitches!!!

So do you have any tips for sewing circle skirts?

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Singing those shudda, wudda, cuddas

One question I get a lot when I alter my clothes is "what if you want it back how it was?" 

It's a perfectly reasonable question, if your thinking of altering something you spent actual money on rather than pulled from a charity shop then your bound to be aprehensive. 

So to start I always divide mine into two piles the ones that I'm hoping to salvage, this includes shrunken tee shirts, mr Knitwit jumpers, and old jeans. These are what I consider throw away projects, things that if they don't work it doesn't really matter because chances are they'd end up in the bin anyway. 

Then there's the alterations, things that just don't work right now! The things that I like but I just don't seem to wear for some reason. I like to make these item reversible so they can be used as they were originally intended! 

EXAMPLE! 

This skirt used to reach mid calf, it wasn't maxi and it wasn't midi. It was however filled with sentimental value (my dad brought it for my mum) 

Now I knew I didn't want to bin it, I love the lace and the waistband, but I also knew I didn't want to cut it incase a 30/40 year old Frankie still wants to wear this skirt but would appreciate more coverage! 

That's why this skirt has a 30cm hem. No seriously on the off chance longer poofy skirts are back in fashion all I have to do is unpick my hand sewing and I'm sorted! 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't all have to be so drastic, on refashioning program's and blogs we see them hacking away at garments. Well the thing is you don't have to, embrace deep hems! Keep the sleeves you didn't want one the off chance that maybe one day you will! Make the collar detachable and you'll find you can really turn your wardrobe into a workhorse! 

And then as you gain confidence in what works you can start to take bigger risks! 

Much love 

Frankie 

Xx

Refashion

Does anybody else binge read blogs? I do , every time I find a new blog I read as many post as I can physically manage in one sitting. Which is what I've done with "re fashionista" after reading a few (50) posts I thought I better take a good look at my own wardrobe. And then the purging began. 

I set myself rules, anything I hadn't worn didn't go back into the wardrobe, anything stained or holey? Bin! 

It did mean though that I ended up with some things that could do with a bit of refashioning , I started with this. 

Which I'd already refashioned once it used to have poofy sleeves and a large lace collar but I took them off ages ago just becuase they seem to get in the way and it made me look like I was a five-year-old. 

Sadly though it still wasn't getting worn, in the end I took a good look at it and decided the reason I wasn't wearing it was because I hated the elastic around the waist it was making  me feel constricted and it was just too uncomfortable.

I'm so out it came! 

Hey look there's a tent! I decided I didn't like the idea of having another tent style dress so , what I actually wanted to do was give it a high front and a Low back however I I'm screwed up a little tiny bit and ended up just being a level top in sort of a trapeze style! 

 I didn't hem lining because it's the type of fabric that doesn't Fray and I only turned over the gauzy hem once becuase I didn't want to loose to much more length after my high low hem accident! Instead I ran the open flame of a lighter along the exposed edges and let the bit that might fray melt a bit. (This is the laziest type of hemming I do! ) 

Warning though: always do a test on a peice of scrap as it only works on man made fabrics I.e fabrics that have a little plastic in! 

And open a window the first time I used this technique was on a stage costume and I flame , de frayed 24 seams. Let's just say the pink elephants didn't leave till a week later! 

I guess this counts as a top tip! Ooh rant I posh! 

Much love 

Frankie

Xxx