I thought it was about time that I made a skirt. I’ve made lots and lots of dresses lately and I fancied a change. I have had this fabric in my stash for a little while now and knew I wanted it for a skirt. During the Black Friday sale in November I treated myself to the Tulip Skirt PDF and I was excited to make it. I have made a Sew Over It Erin Skirt recently here and loved it, so I was pretty sure I would enjoy this one too!
Is anybody else taking part in the #2017makenine challenge? This is the first of my nine choices. A good start to the new year!
So just to let you know that it is only available in PDF format. I must admit I do prefer a paper pattern, but it didn’t take too long to put together as there are only 4 pattern pieces – a skirt front, a skirt back, pocket and waistband. Nice and simple. You can choose to make it in 2 lengths. I chose the shorter length as I am only 5’2″ and it was spot on.
I was so pleased with my fabric choice. The style of this skirt definitely requires at least a medium weight fabric. The pattern recommends a medium to heavy weight cotton, wool or crepe.
It was quick to make up. I prepared the PDF, traced the pattern and cut it out on one afternoon, and then it only took a couple of hours the next afternoon to sew it up. The pleats are easy to fold if you simply follow the written instructions, don’t try to overcomplicate it and then end up scratching your head for 10 mins like I did. There are photos to accompany the written instructions. I also struggled a bit with the waistband for some reason, but got there in the end!
My only other ‘alteration’ was that I used a standard zip and not a concealed zip as suggested. This was a bit of an error on my part. The pattern calls for an 8″ concealed zip and I was beyond excited to find that I actually had one which was the perfect length and colour already in my stash. Off I jolly well went fitting it to the skirt with my invisible zipper foot on my machine, thinking that the teeth didn’t feel like invisible teeth normally do as they run through the grooves on the zipper foot. It was only as I finished and zipped it up I realised that I had used a regular nylon coil zip, and therefore due to the width of the pull tab it wouldn’t be invisible at all. Ho hum, you live and learn, it doesn’t really matter that much I don’t think. At least the waistband seam matches up pretty well!
I chose to make the skirt without pockets. Unusual, as I normally can’t get enough of them but I wondered that in a skirt of this style whether it would make for too much bulk around the hips. On reflection I don’t think it would have made much difference as they would lay so flat inside the skirt anyway.
The back of the skirt is lovely and simple. Just a couple of darts for shaping and a nice smooth finish.
I’m really pleased with how the skirt came out. The shape is very flattering, feminine and very wearable.
I would love to hear if you have made a Sew Over It Tulip Skirt too. How did you get on?
Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts,
Take care and I’ll be back soon,
Kathy x
Oh your skirt is brilliant! You’re right it is a really flattering shape.
I’d such an adventure with this skirt, all my own making of course! Its really encouraged me to try out more of sew over its patterns.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, it made my day! I too am on a mission to try more Sew Over It patterns, I loved the Erin skirt that I made recently and there are a couple of tops which I have my eye on. Happy new year! Kathy x
Yes! Make them! I look forward to seeing them. Happy new year to you.
I too had issues with the waistband. I had to redo it twice to not crease it at the front. Also, after stitching I had to trim more than two inches of it. The darts are another thing I couldn’t figure out in this pattern. They end up looking weird or too pointy. I see in one of your pictures that you also had this problem. Also, I included the pockets, and I discovered that they are placed lower than usual. All in all, this pattern could use some more instructions and fixes, but the end result is lovely.
You’re right. It’s perhaps not as straightforward to make as I expected, but I love the outcome and will certainly make it again. Thank you for your comment, it is lovely to hear your views! Kathy x
I too had issues with how low they placed the pockets. I can’t use them unless my arms grow a good inch or two.
I trimmed off about an inch in total from my waistband but my skirt then ended up on the small side….would have been perfect fit with it left on…which makes me question whether the pattern front/back might be off as I’m sure I made my darts, pleats where they were suppose to be. I did notice the darts were a different size, one smaller than the other…perhaps they should have both been the small size then the waistband may have fit perfect (I made the size 10). Will have to make up another one and test this theory out. A trick to get the darts to not leave a pointy bit is to start sewing right on the dart point, on the very crease of your fabric, using a small stitch length of about 1.5mm(you can increase stitch length to about 2.5mm after first few stitches). Don’t take a back stitch at the start as this is often the case for the bubble effect. Instead, when you finish sewing your dart tie off the threads, not too tightly, at the point where you started stitching….you’ll never have another dart issue…one of the best tips I ever picked up.
There do seem to be some issues with this skirt! I haven’t had the chance to go back and give it another go but it seems that it is a skirt that needs some alterations. Thank you for your tip on darts, Melissa, this is not the first time I have heard this so will definitely try it next time. I’ve a feeling it could be a life changer!
Have a great day,
Kathy x
I’m in the process of making this skirt and for some reason my waistband doesn’t fit, :(. I’ve made sure I’ve cut out all the right sizes and I have but it just doesn’t go from one end of the skirt to the other! :(. X
I had to play around with the waistband to make it fit too, you might be able to see from my photos that it is still a little creased – so not perfect. You may have noticed my other comments on this post have shown others are struggling with the waistband too. I think I will have to revisit this pattern and make it up again, to try to work out what the problem is. In the meantime perhaps you could contact the Sew Over It team and ask for their guidance – it seems it may be a problem that they need to amend! Have a great day, and good luck! x