Earlier today, I had my last Spring 2022 Sewing Class. It always amazes me how quickly the eight weeks go by. This spring session went by extra fast since I missed the first class due to our trip to Disneyland and California. However, that didn't stop me from making the most of the remaining seven classes!
My first project was to finish the rainbow placemat that I started back in the fall. It turned out really cute and after I saw it, I wanted to make another one. Originally, I was going to make 6-8 of them for our dining room, but it took so long to complete the first one, that I figure I'll make easier ones for the placemats. These first two will be decorative mats instead! I haven't quite finished the second one because we switched to another project... but I was 100% ok with that. And I'll finish it at some point!
March 29th, when I walked into my fourth class (our 5th week), my instructor excitedly told me that she'd found a simple tutorial on how to make tiered skirts and that we would be able to make one during this class! During my first class, I had told her how much I wanted to make a skirt like Mirabel's in Encanto. She had gone home and done a little research. The other lady in my class is in her first sewing session, but since this is an easy project, my instructor said she would be able to join us if she wanted to. I left that class with a small supply list for next class and a lot of excitement!
On April 5th, I came to class with my elastic band (for the waist) and my three yards of inexpensive cotton fabric. I chose a turquoise blue fabric with white and yellow daisies scattered on it. I thought the pattern was cute and the fabric was on sale! I probably spent a little more on it than I should have considering this was my first skirt, but I really wanted a fabric that I would end up wearing after the skirt was completed!
That morning, we worked out the waist measurements and how long each of our tiers needed to be. Then, we took turns cutting our fabric down to the correct dimensions. I spent the rest of that class sewing panels together to make them longer.
During our April 12th class, I was able to cut the long panels down to the correct sizes I needed for each tier. The part that took the longest amount of time was folding and pressing the hem for the bottom tier of the skirt. After I finally finished pressing it, I was able to sew it together pretty quickly. I've never sewn something that length before and I was so happy with how even it came out! (Look at those stitches below!!!)
I spent the remainder of that class sewing the basting stitches into the top of the tier panels. Then, I spent a few minutes starting to gather the bottom tier of the skirt before realizing that it was going to take me forever. Class was ending anyways, so I took it home to gather during our two week break (for the school's April vacation). Naturally, I was doing it last night before class, but at least I didn't have to do it during class!
Or so I thought anyways...
This morning, my goal was to finish my skirt. Unfortunately, I didn't quite reach that goal. Apparently, I got a little overzealous with the gathering, and I had to let a bunch of it out in order for the pieces to line up correctly. (My instructor said she did the same thing.) Lesson learned, but I spent more time spreading the fabric back out.
Then, the universe had a few more things to throw at me. The basting stitch of my middle tier broke so I had to resew that. Then I had to re-gather it. Before I was able to finish sewing it, I ran out of bobbin thread. Thankfully, everything (other than using the seam ripper) was quick but it still put me behind where I wanted to be.
I did stay a few minutes late to make sure that each of my tiers were correctly sewn together. After zigzag stitching the bottom to the middle, and then the middle to the top, I at least had something that looked mostly like a skirt. I still have to sew the seam up the back and add the elastic and the top hem, but other than that, it's done!
I'm really excited for how easy this project was and how many possibilities there are to make more in the future! I'm thinking about making myself a bright rainbow skirt, as well as a pastel version that would be cute for the spring. I might make a red, white and blue one for the 4th of July. I haven't even thought much about the possibilities for Halloween and Christmas. Plus, I'm still planning to make my Mirabel inspired skirt!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to our fall sewing class... as long as there are at least three of us so we can run it. They've been letting us get away with fewer people due to COVID, but I guess we really need to have at least three people. So here's hoping we get at least two other people who sign up to join us so I can have another session of sewing projects and learning this fall! °o°
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