As I previously mentioned, there are three methods I’ll discuss for inserting the zipper in this skirt. The first is for suitable for both skirts with and without side seams; especially if you’d rather have the zipper in the center back. The second and third (lapped skirt and invisible) are suitable for skirts with side seams, as you’ll need a seam to insert them. Either way, we’ll be doing this prior to adding the waistband. Be sure to read through each, as they have different steps in regards to sew the side seams.
This method does not utilize a seam for the zipper insertion, so it’s perfect if you want to add a zipper to a skirt that has no side seams, or the center back of a skirt that does have side seams. The best part of this method is that it uses a patch to finish the slash opening, so the zipper teeth are not exposed. If you are sewing a skirt with side seams, follow the first step. If not, skip to step 2.
I also recommend basting by hand with silk thread if you’re using a fabric that tends to mar easily when threads are pressed.
1. Right sides together, sew the right side seam. Press seam open and finish. Repeat on left side seam.
2. Mark the length of the slash opening at the center back from the waistline down (the length will be zipper teeth (for example 9”) plus 5/8”). Baste by hand or machine over the marked slash line.
3. Cut a piece of your fashion fabric 1 3/4” wide by the length of the slash line you marked on your skirt, plus 1”.
4. Place the stripe right sides together over the basted slash line, centering it over the basting. Baste in place around the perimeter to the skirt by hand or machine.
5. With the wrong side of the skirt facing up and using a small (2.0 on my machine) stitch length, stitch along the basted slash line. Start about 1/8” away from the slash line at the waist of the skirt and taper to nothing at the bottom of that line. Pivot and stitch the angled line to match the other side. Stitch again around the bottom point of the slash line to reinforce.
6. Carefully cut along the basted slash line from the waistline to the point (be very careful not to cut through the stitching you just did!), through both the skirt and patch layers.
7. Press the patch to to the wrong side of the skirt, making sure the bottom point is wrinkle free.
8. Baste the opening edges closed by hand or use a wide zig zag stitch to join the two edges temporarily. Make sure the top (waist) edges are level and the opening edges just meet but do not overlap.
9. Wrong side of the skirt facing up, place the closed zipper along the basted-close slash, centering the zipper teeth over the slash, about 3/4″ below the cut edge (waistline), so the top stop is clear of the waistline seam. Switch your machine’s presser foot to a zipper foot. Pin and baste by hand or machine.
10. Stitch (using a regular stitch length) around the zipper from the top (waist) seam, around the bottom (carefully—don’t hit the zipper stop! You may want to mark where it is with a pin before you begin), and up the other side. Stitch far enough away to give the zipper pull space, but about 1/4” within the slash line on either side.
11. Remove basting stitches around the perimeter of the patch, and the basting holding the zipper in place and slash opening closed. Gently steam or press (with a press cloth covering the fabric) the zipper opening.
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September 19, 2011 ·
42 lovely thoughts
posted in sewing
· tags: circle skirt sew along, sewing, tutorial
weekly visual moodboard be sure to click on the image to view the lovely sources!
Good afternoon, friends! Have you been enjoying this weekend? I do hope so! This weekend has been busy, busy, busy; but there are a lot of little things going on in the background here at EM headquarters, so no surprises there. Hopefully very soon I’ll be able to share with you some details of a little (er… actually big!) something that I’m super excited about (no, it doesn’t involve sewing or vintage, but is equally fun in my opinion!). I’ve been sitting on the news for a couple weeks now and am positively bursting at the seams! But sometimes one has to wait until things are a bit closer to completion to share… Anyway, enough my mysterious hints and ramblings–onto the links!
- Probably my favorite post this week: how to drafting your own pattern for 1930s circular French knickers from Vera Venus!
- A great list of resources posted on the Sew Retro community for vintage Singer featherweight machines! (I still want one to add to my little collection!)
- I pulled out my crochet hooks this week and have been tinkering with this darling vintage-inspired flower square pattern.
- Denise asked readers at her blog The Blue Gardenia if making muslins can be green? Be sure to read the comments!
- Spotted on Pinterest this week: a darling use for a trio of old tins. This would be great in a sewing area for all those odd bits and pieces!
Have a lovely rest-of-the-weekend, dears!
September 18, 2011 ·
17 lovely thoughts
posted in links
· tags: weekly inspiration
Tuesday I met a friend for a “farewell” outing (she is moving shortly). Now, our usual outings consist of thrifting, antiquing, knitting, geeking out about sewing or vintage fashion, and finding a good tea room for lunch. Usually a combination of the above. On this particular day, we were short on time, so a quick trip to the thrift shop down the street and lunch at a new-to-me tearoom was in order.
One of our favorite spots to rummage at the thrift shop is the stacks of china. I, of course, am always secretly hoping to hit it “big” with a complete set of a pretty china pattern. I only have what I’d call practical dishware—no real pretty pieces to use for the occasional gatherings (or elaborate dinner parties I dream up but never host…). But of course finding the mythical set of china (in appealing—not boring—colors!), is proving a bit harder than I anticipated. So while sorting through the piles of cute, but mismatched china and lamenting the fact that I can’t find my dream set, my friend said I should just start amassing all the pretty odds and ends I find. Sort of a “tearoom china” set. I’m sure if you visited a number of tearooms you’ve run across the one with the charmingly mismatched antique and vintage china. Those are usually my favorites sorts of places, so I thought: why hadn’t this occurred to me sooner?!
Later that day I spent some time digging out a small stack of vintage saucers I had thrifted last year and used a few here and there for holding things (but never for their intended use). I also added a couple of pretty tea cups I found that day at the thrift store. So here’s to the beginning of my “tearoom china” set! (So far all had for the princely sum of a little less than $5.) I’m seeing it the sort that I shan’t be afraid to use on a regular basis, and supplementing with standard white china plates and such as needed. Now just to find a place to store this…
Do you find the idea of mismatched vintage china sets endearingly charming? Or does it make you want to run from the room screaming? What is your favorite set of china (even just a dream set!)?
September 16, 2011 ·
54 lovely thoughts
posted in around the house
· tags: around the house, kitchen, thrifting + vintage
A couple months ago Portia of the Miss P blog contacted me with a very fun idea. The premise was a collective refashion project among a handful of bloggers—turning thrift store “duds” into cute pieces that breathed new life into the cast-off garments. Portia would provide the garment—a mystery piece that I would not see until it arrived at my doorstep—and I’d provide the ideas and execute the refashioning.
The brightly wrapped package arrived and I was eager to see what Portia sent me. Inside was neatly folded a two piece suit with a pastel, watercolor floral print. The suit was far too big for me, a bit dowdy, and needed some definite perking up—challenge indeed! Ironically, I had been toying with the idea of doing a dressmaker suit (meaning a woman’s suit that lacks the traditional tailoring we associate with a suit) in a 40s style for myself this summer. I had been poring over lots of “make do and mend” booklets and reading about the homefront during WWII. So my mind was taken up with ideas of how to apply the “make do and mend” challenge to the suit Portia sent me.
I’ve blathered on a great deal about my approach to the project, as well as some loosely strung-together steps of how I went about the refashion on Portia’s blog. I have to admit, I ended up waffling more than a bit with my ideas (did I really want a suit? or would scrapping the entire design of the garment and picking the pieces apart to make something radically different work better?), which meant I had to scramble a bit after my NYC trip to make this happen. Working under pressure sometimes is great fun though, and I have to say I am pleased as punch how this turned out! I’m hoping to get a bit of wear out of the suit before October (although in Florida wearing pastel floral year-round is not frowned upon), and then it shall be my spring suit next year! (Hopefully with a jaunty little hat—still to be found and acquired…)
A 1940s Advance pattern with cutting diagram for a man’s suit from my pattern collection.
The only “bad” side to this? It’s whetted my appetite for eventually buying a many-sizes-too-large man’s suit and doing a real 1940s “make do and mend” suit! If you’ve ever seen the layouts in old booklets or even old patterns from the war years, it’s a fascinating way of re-cutting a man’s suit using a ladies’ pattern, and creating something totally fresh! Now just to find the perfect suit at the thrift store. I’ve come very close, but of course I have a tweed-type fabric in mind and cant’ seem to find a complete suit! lol.
Be sure to stop by Portia’s blog and check out the other amazing refashion transformations that are part of the series!
September 14, 2011 ·
81 lovely thoughts
posted in sewing
· tags: 2011 sewing, collaboration, make do and mend, refashion, sewing, thrifting + vintage
Good morning, friends! Today I have a little bit of inspiration for you, this time from November 1940. Timely, I think, because if reading comments and other blogs is any indication, most of us are itching for fall. (Have I gone on about this enough already?! I know… Fall is my favorite season, what can I say? I’m hoping to have a post up later this week with some of the ideas I have for my own fall wardrobe and sewing plans.) I don’t think I’ve posted these images before, but if I have (it’s getting hard to keep track of what I have and haven’t over the past several years!), my apologies. At any rate, I think they’re worth a look!
I love the cowl neckline, fixed into the shoulder yoke on the right dress! The skirt draping is beautiful as well.
Love all the pocket styles on the left sidebar skirts and dresses! Definite sewing inspiration!
The dress with the plaid body and solid yoke is a fantastic idea!
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September 13, 2011 ·
28 lovely thoughts
posted in vintage inspiration
· tags: 1940s, vintage inspiration
