Please contribute: tips for sewing a simple skirt

Shall we do a collaborative blog post?  All about tips for sewing beginners about sewing a skirt.

At our monthly meetings we often get the question from sewing beginners: "I would like to sew but I never have before and I don't know where to start".  We have lots of advice and tips so how about collecting it all in one place?  Like right here!

We often recommend that a beginner sew a simple skirt first. There isn't quite as much going in terms of different elements that a dress or trousers would demand (getting sleeves to fit into the armhole, or doing a front zip on trousers).

First tip: when you want to use a stretch fabric and you have never sewn before then pick a firm jersey fabric that is a bit thicker than the cheaper jerseys that are very saggy and extremely difficult to sew with. Sewing with thin jersey fabric is something that I still can't do. Avoid it if you want to retain your sanity. Honestly.

Woven fabrics are much easier to sew with (as far as I'm concerned), but because they don't stretch they need to be fitted to your shape to look good.

There are different skirt styles with different degrees of difficulty. A gathered skirt made from two rectangular pieces is the easiest, - circular skirts and skirts made from flared panels are also relatively simple.

The more pieces your pattern has the more sewing you'll do, but you also get more opportunity to fit the garment to your shape because you have more seamlines you can adjust.

Sewing in a zip isn't as difficult as I feared when I was a beginner but you may want to go with a button closure on a first project. See how you feel.

A commercial pattern is useful because it has instructions: not just how to sew but there is also the layout of the pieces for cutting out, and it tells you which piece to interline. There is also really useful guidance on seam allowances and how to do the different ways of stitching (like top or edge stitching, under stitching, stay stitching, or how to stitch for gathering - all kinds of information).

The sewing pattern size is not the same as your dress size in shops. Measure your waist and hips and compare to the measurement table on your pattern. Most pattern envelopes have multiple sizes in them, often split by the smaller and the bigger sizes.

Above all pick a skirt shape that you are excited about! I often make the mistake of falling in love with the pretty fabric they used and forget to check the line drawing to see if I actually like the style. Which is kind of important.

Now I've gone on much longer than I meant to. I haven't even said much about sewing itself (the things we discover as we go along) - I hope that other Dressmakers Club members want to give tips and advice in the comments!

Goldhawk Road fabric shopping

A good dozen or so of us went fabric shopping today on Goldhawk Road in Shepherds Bush.  And a lot of shopping was being done!  There seemed to be almost too much fabric to make an informed choice - there certainly are a lot of shops.

We went to the Bush Theatre cafe/bar afterwards - such a welcome chance to rest our weary feet.  It also offered the wonderful opportunity to see and admire what we all bought.

There were such lovely fabrics and trims on show that a few of us started to seriously consider going back and buying more!

I'm glad to say that I didn't, but I'm also a little embarrassed to say that I bought more than the two fabrics I wanted. Now we all knew this would happen, right?

My one comfort is the thought that I have projects in mind for each of them.  Which made me think that a blog post would be great about what we are all hoping to make with our purchases today.

Here go mine, please feel free to add your project plans in the comments, or send me an email so I can send you your invite to contribute directly to the blog (we are hoping that all LDC members want to contribute, either via posts or in the comments)

At A One Fabrics I bought a dark blue wool - I am hoping to make this a straight skirt for winter.  If I make it soon I should be able to decide if I want a jacket in this, so I can go back and buy more.  Right now I only have one metre because it was rather expensive.  I really wanted a thicker fabric for a skirt, this was one of the planned purchases.

I also got a blue on blue batik fabric in the same shop for a sleeveless summer top.

The second fabric I wanted was a mid grey to make a bias cut top to go under a see-through lacey blouse. Success!  Two metre for £2 each, bargain!

I liked this fabric so much that I also got another two metres in a purple - maybe a cowl neck sleeveless top?

The same place also had a loosely woven cotton or linen in a light pink.  The exact shade I was after to make some bunting with that I wanted to make for some time.  I just need a bit of grey and navy fabric and I'll be good to go!

And finally I couldn't resist a black and white linen to make a second tunic out of.  I bought a very similar linen fabric in a big floral pattern from the same place some time ago and regretted not having bought more: this is just so lovely to wear!

Funnily enough Emma happened to buy the same fabric - it'll be really good fun to see what we each make with it.

What did you buy, either on our shopping trip or elsewhere - and what are you hoping to make?  It would be lovely if you add your ideas and plans in the comments, or put them up in a seperate blog post.  Just send me your email address and I'll send through the invite so you can post directly.

More Fabric Buying Temptation

Way back in June 2013 London Dressmakers Club member Colleen 47 posted a comment in the Discussions section of our Meetup site about Woolcrest Textiles and the bargains to be found there. Ever since, I have been meaning to visit.  It is open Monday to Friday only but a remark made at February’s Monthly Meeting, as to whether it would be possible to have Meetups on weekdays during the daytime for those who have free time then, made me think about investigating the warehouse as a possible place for a Meetup visit.

I set off to locate the warehouse, accompanied by fellow member Rebecca  Rogers.  We were a bit taken aback to find that 6 Well Street did not appear to exist but a helpful shop owner at no: 8 pointed us to a gap between buildings and into the yard where a huge sign above a brick warehouse left us in no doubt that we had arrived at our destination.

Upon entering, rolls upon rolls of fabric, piled high on racks, met our gaze.  I just knew I was unlikely to keep to my vow not to buy any more fabric – and so it proved.  It is very much a case of rummaging everywhere for what you want.  There are rough divisions of the fabrics into sections- wools, denims, lightweight etc.  The cheerful staff are happy for you to wander at will.  Nothing has a price on it but just ask; they may even decide, as they did with me, that the price is actually cheaper than their first quote.

They do not sell less than a metre of fabric but, after the first metre, will then sell the additional fabric in that length in half metres.  But it is at such bargain prices that it doesn’t matter if you have a bit more than required for the garment you intend to make.  My purchase of 2 metres of bright wool mix fabric for a jacket and 2 metres of ivory colour soft polyester for a blouse cost a total of £14. 

Having sated our eyes it was time to do something about our stomachs as it was lunchtime.  Walking along Mare Street we came across The Trampery.  It had a delightful cosy café with a tempting and inexpensive menu but, be warned, the portions are huge.  You can get anything from just a coffee to a full meal.  It seems  the sort of relaxed place where one could do a bit of hand sewing and chatting  gathered round a table –a  shame that it is not open late in the evenings  as a café or it would be great for an after work hours Meet up.

 I’ve since discovered that there are a number of other fabric outlets in the vicinity that sound worth a visit- can my finances stand any more research?!  Would any members be interested in joining up for a weekday daytime sortie into the textile venues of East London?

Details –  
Woolcrest Textiles, 6 Well Street, off Mare Street, Hackney, London E9 7PX.  I got the tube to Bethnal Green and then walked but Cambridge Heath and London Fields overground stations are nearer.  There are also plenty of bus routes. 

The Trampery “Look Mum, no Hands” Café, 125-127 Mare Street, London E8 3RH

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An online site for jersey fabrics

Is anyone looking for a jersey/stretch/knit fabric?

I just came across the online website of Tissu Fabrics and really liked their jersey fabrics.

These were my favourites:

They have lots of great colours in plain fabrics, and the patterns are lovely too!

A lot of their subject headers (from Cotton, Dress etc via Lycra to Viscose) contain lots of stretch fabrics.  Their prices seem quite good: from about £3.50 to £4.99 per metre.  There are more expensive fabrics as well, but most are in this range.

I am so tempted to get at least one of these, but my stash has grown beyond the shelves it is meant to live on - I am determined to not buy unless I have a specific project in mind but no suitable fabric.  Ideally I should find a pattern for a stash fabric, but when did that ever stop me?

They also do some lovely velvet and crushed velvet fabrics.

Delivery via Royal Mail.  Shipping for orders over £50 is free in the UK.

Do you know of a great fabric shop, either off or online?  Please add them in the comments, enquiring minds want to know!