OPB Marie Sew Along: Week 5

Okay, you should have something that looks a lot like a skirt, just a bit messier than what you would want to wear out of the house. Let's make it look nice and neat!

What you'll need: your skirt, the remaining waistband and hem facing pieces, sewing tools, pressing tools, hand sewing needle.

This Week's Assignment:

1. Place your two remaining waistband pieces (they are the smaller ones) right sides together. Stitch up one side to make a long strip. Zig-zag each seam allowance and press them open. This waistband piece is going to go on the inside of the skirt, so technically it is referred to as a "facing."



2. Pin the waistband facing to the top raw edge of the skirt, right sides together. The waistband facing should be "smiling" at you when you pin it on - the short side should be the one you pin. Line up the seam on the facing with the sideseam of the skirt without the zipper.



3. Stitch the facing to the top of the waistband with a 1/4" seam allowance - use your presser foot as a guide. Start stitching at the side seam without the zipper and sew out towards the zipper (you'll need to do this in two stages - one side, then the other). Stop sewing about 1/2" from the zipper teeth on each side.

4. Zig-zag over the seam you just made, and press it up towards the top of the skirt.


5. Zig-zag over the top raw edge of the waistband facing. Fold it over about 1/4" and press.


6. Fold the waistband facing towards the inside of the skirt, hiding all the raw edges. Fold the raw edges next to the zipper towards the inside (making sure that they are far enough away from the zipper teeth that they don't affect how it functions). Working from the outside of the skirt, pin everything in place. Make sure that the folded-over edge of the waistband facing covers the seamline that you made when you originally attached the interfaced waistband piece to the skirt piece.



7. Now we are going to "stitch in the ditch" (incidentally, my favorite sewing term). Line up your needle with the original waistband seam on the front side of the skirt. Stitch precisely along the seam. Work slowly, making sure to catch the folded edge on the back side of the skirt. Your stitches should be hidden along the seam.


8. One last detail - add a line of stitching alongside the zipper to hold the folded edge in place.


Okay, you've got a waistband! We're going to finish the bottom of the skirt in basically the same way.

9. Take your remaining two pattern pieces. These will make the skirt facing. Place them right sides together and sew up one edge to make a long strip (just as you did in step 1). Zig-Zag each seam allowance and press them open.

10. Pin the facing to the skirt, right sides together. The facing should be "frowning" at you - i.e. pin along the short edge.


11. Stitch, starting at one side seam and working towards the other on both sides (again, you'll need to do this in two steps).

12. Bring the raw edges of the facing together and stitch.


13. Finish all the seams you just made - along the long seam, zig-zag over the seam allowance and press it up; along the short seam, zig-zag over each seam allowance and press them open.

14. Zig-zag over the raw edge of the facing. Fold it over about 1/4" and press.


15. Fold the facing to the inside of the skirt and pin it in place. You can play with the length of your skirt a little here - folding it slightly more or less to make it longer or shorter (but not too much, or the pattern pieces won't fit together properly and pin neatly). Press.


16. Secure the facing on the inside of the skirt using a blind hem. You can do this either by hand or machine (at least on most machines - check your manual if you'd like to try it on yours), but I prefer doing it by hand. It doesn't take long and it makes a nicer finish (in my opinion), plus it's a calm, meditative way to finish a project. To do it, work with the skirt inside out. Make a knot along the facing fold. Then make a tiny stitch in the skirt (picking up only a few fibers of the weave) directly across from the knot. Move back to edge of the fold directly across from where the needle came out on your tiny stitch. Make a larger stitch along the top edge of the fold. Move back across to the skirt fabric directly across from where the needle came out of the fold and make a tiny stitch. Repeat all the way around - tiny stitch on skirt, larger stitch on fold, being sure to always move directly across between stitches. When you need new thread, make your knots in the fold. This should leave you with a seam that's strong but nearly invisible from the outside.





And that's all there is to it - you've got a Marie skirt! I hope you enjoyed the sew along, and I can't wait to see photos of all of your adorable skirts in the Flickr pool!!