arrrggghhh! – the I’m a pirate skirt
I absolutely adore this skirt!
The fabric is some sort of striped rayon (I think) that I inherited from my aunt, and the “pattern” is a pleated rectangle with an elastic waistband at the top.
I started making something else out of this fabric, and I can’t for the life of me remember what it was, but it obviously didn’t work out. I took that project apart, and pieced the pieces back into a rectangle of sorts. Then I pleated the top edge into wide overlapping pleats, that I then stitched into place.
I originally installed a zipper and had a proper waistband, but that made for a skirt that slipped & slid all over the place. So I removed the waistband & zipper, closed up the size seam, and added a thin elastic waistband above the pleating.
The elastic and the pleating kind of fight each other when it’s hanging on the hanger – the elastic pulls in, but the pleating doesn’t, so the elastic waistband ends up looking a little funky. But it’s perfect when I wear it, which is (really) the important part.
(you bet I make these photoshoots do double duty.)
My favorite part of this skirt, is the hemline.
Two of the pieces I ended up with after the unsuccessful first project were skinny and slightly angled. So I pieced those one above the other, and put that piece at the front of the skirt.
Instead of intentionally matching that accidental angle, on the other half of the skirt, to give the skirt a high-low hem,* I left the panel my right (the left side of the picture) as it was, and let the hem take a vertical nosedive to the floor.
*a high-low hem is a hem that is high in the front, and then dips lower in the back, they were huge on skirts and dresses a couple summers ago.
I love the asymmetricality of that bit of the hem, and the edge it gives the skirt.
The downside of this, is that the skirt is very long, which means I can only wear it with certain shoes, these nude booties being one of them.
As piecemeal as the construction of this skirt was, I’m pretty damn chuffed with how it came out.
PS. I’ve didn’t realize exactly how much TopGearUK I’ve been marathoning until I actually used “chuffed” in a sentence – I blame knitting my winter coat.
How to Knit a Winter Coat
I’m almost done with the knitting for my winter coat. I have a ball and a half left of yarn, which will add about 4.5 inches to the body. And I figure my deadline is the super cold weather we’re supposed to be getting later this week.
I’m not sure if anyone else is crazy enough to try knitting a proper winter coat, but if you are, here’s how I did it.
Step 1: decide to do it.
Ignore exactly how much knitting it’ll be, and don’t think too hard about how cold winter gets. I’m in New York City, so it gets cold, but not quite cold enough for me to decide not to do this.
Step 2: find your yarn.
You want something warm (no shit…), so an animal fiber of some sort. You could also use a wool, or llama, or other animal fiber, but you want to stay away from plant fibers, man-made fibers, and silks.
I’m using Misti Alpaca Chunky, which is 100% baby alpaca yarn. I have 14 or 15 balls of yarn, which translates to 1500-1600 yards of yarn.
Step 3: pick your stitch pattern. Density is gold.
A stitch pattern that creates dense fabric, helps help keep out wind/rain/snow/winter slush/gross weather. So I would suggest a slipped stitch, or fair isle pattern. If you have a tight gauge, you might be able to do stockinette, or a cable pattern, but stay away from the lace.
I’m using an all-over slip stitch pattern, in a chunky yarn, on a US size 10 (6.00mm) needle. The stitch pattern is a slip 1, knit 1, on the right side, and slip 1, purl 1 on the wrong side. It makes for slow knitting, but really warm fabric. I really wish I could photograph this sweater in a way that conveyed exactly how dense this fabric is.
Step 3.5: Swatch liberally.
It’ll save you a lot of headache, heartache, and knitting time later.
Step 4: choose your sweater shape/knitting pattern.
I’m doing a super straight forward, drop shoulder, boxy cardigan, so I’ll be able to layer lots of layers underneath it.
I knit the fronts and back in pieces to keep them portable. Then closed up the shoulder with a 3 needle bind off, picked up stitches for the sleeves and knit down towards the hem. Then I sewed up the side seams & underarm seams.
Now I’m adding as much length as possible to the body, so I picked up the stitches around the hem, and am planning to knit until I run out of yarn.
Step 5: figure out how you want your sweater to close.
Buttons? Toggles? Hooks & eyes? Snaps? Zipper?
I’m waiting till it’s all knit to figure out how I want to close it. I’m debating between toggles, hooks & eyes, snaps, a zipper, belting it, or some combinations of the above.
Step 6: knit.
Because the slip stitch makes for very slow knitting, I’ve kind of lost track of exactly how much tv I’ve caught up on while knitting this sweater.
Step 6.5: just keep knitting. just keep knitting.
Step 7: Finish it. Wash it. Block it. Wear it.
(which might actually be four steps, but I haven’t gotten there yet.)
I’m still knitting the body, which I’ll (hopefully) finish tonight. But I’ve done all of the sewing up, and wove in the ends (mostly so I could photograph it without the sweater having unintentional fringe.)
I waffle back and forth on if the sweater will be warm enough to actually be a coat. Today, I’m leaning towards “it will be warm enough.” And if it’s not, I’ll probably cry, then add a full (sewn) wool lining.
But I’ll deal with that once the knitting is done, for now, it’s “just keep knitting, just keep knitting.”
The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 14 – a new sweater!
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
DAY 92 – OCTOBER 31th
Boring Black Sweater
Khaki Scarf
Black Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Flats
Long Necklace with Spinning Pendant
Various Rings
Halloween! I’m not a huge dressing up for Halloween person, I figure I made things for every other day of the year, and so I just can’t get myself excited about October 31st. But I did go with all black, and those shiny things on my shoes are skull beads… so we can pretend that was intentional, and not just coincidence.
DAY 93 – NOVEMBER 1st
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Black Shoes
Various Rings
This sweater is new, but not quite finished. I wore it all week because this week has been particularly cold and rainy, and this sweater is pretty warm (especially if I actually cover my shoulder.)
DAY 94 – NOVEMBER 2nd
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Striped Pirate Skirt
Black Flats
Various Rings
This sweater is sewn out of a nice thick, cushy, sweater knit, so it’s warm and cozy. However the exposed seams do have a tendency to shed, I’m continually sweeping up yarn pills (but that’s nothing new). The original plan was to stitch down all of the seams, but I think I want to over-lock them instead.
I must not be the only person who wears a new handmade garment multiple times in a row. I do it partly because its new(!) and I want to wear it. And partly to get a sense of how it’s going to hold up, and if there’s anything I should go back and fix/rework (like finishing the seams on this sweater.)
DAY 95 – NOVEMBER 3rd
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Boring Black Sweater
Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Sneakers
Various Rings
This sweater is acting a lot like a fall jacket would, since I didn’t have time to make a proper fall jacket. And with another sweater under it, in this case the boring black sweater, it becomes particularly cozy.
DAY 96 – NOVEMBER 4th
Colorful Knit Sweater Dress
Black Tank Top
White Underskirt
Black Tights
Black Flats
Bead Crochet Bracelet
Various Rings
I spent one of the only warm sunny day this week sitting at my desk, looking longingly out the window…
DAY 97 – NOVEMBER 5th
Boring Black Sweater
Khaki Scarf
Black Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Tights
Black Flats
Bead Crochet Bracelet
Various Rings
Back to black. I definitely prefer this skirt without tights, since they kind of negate the effect of the side slit. It’d probably work better with different tights in a different color.
DAY 98 – NOVEMBER 6th
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Jade Cropped Sweater
Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Black Flats
(I actually turned around at my front door and changed into boots.)
Various Rings
The Jade Sweater was one of the first things I made for this project, but haven’t worn until now because of a dropped stitch that needed fixing.
This was the perfect day for staying inside with tea. But I didn’t. It was also the kind of day that turns you around at the front door to change into boots. Cold, rainy, and grey. Perfect for brightening up with some flowers. I’m never quite sure how I feel about wearing a skirt with flowers in the middle of fall, but I think for this particular day it worked.
Also! We’re almost at day 100 of the self-made wardrobe project!!!
