We are stardust, we are golden... (stitching up a skirt)

I've had this lovely starry fabric stashed away in my fabric box for over a year....

It makes me think of the Joni Mitchell lyrics "we are stardust, we are golden" from Woodstock. I've been listening to lots of Joni lately and had her playing whilst stitching up this skirt so the two are now permanantly associated in my mind :)

I bought the fabric to use for a blouse pattern that I had, but never got round to making it. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I don't really ever wear blouses. Finally last week I decided that enough was enough and it was time to put these lovely golden stars to good use - and to make something I will actually wear. So I dug out one of my favourite easy patterns - a highwaisted full skirt with pockets (all my favourite skirts and dresses have pockets), which incidentally is perfect for twirling! Here are the pieces...

You simply cut our 8 of the skirt pieces and 4 of the pockets, then stitch along the seamlines of the skirt, putting in the pockets on either side and a zip at the top of the waist on the back. Easy peasy!

(I got this pattern for free somewhere online a couple of years ago. I wish I could remember where so I could point you there. I thought it was from the Burda website (a wealth of free patterns and sewing knowledge) but I can't find it there, anymore sorry! Anyway, the pattern is really straightforward and you could probably sketch one up quite easily by measuring your waist, and your hips as per the photo above if you're feeling adventurous.)

I started by lying the pattern out on the wrong side of the fabric to make sure I can cut out 8 pieces... this took quite a bit of working out and eventually I had to shorten the length of the skirt to get it to fit....

Here I am pinning together the pieces ready to sew with the seam lines marked out on the wrong side of the fabric to make sure the measurements are all precise ...

And away we go!

I got the pockets all stitched up (no pictures of that stage, sorry), the side seams sewn up, and the zip attached at the waist, so all that was left was hemming the skirt and sorting out the waistline. Rather than just folding down the top of the waistband as per the instructions, I decided to reinforce the waist with interfacing and an extra piece of waistband fabric (to go on the inside of the waist unseen) to stiffen it as the waist is quite high on this skirt and it helps to give it a more polished look. I used one long piece for the front of the skirt (4 x the pattern piece waist measurement x 15cm~ the length of waistpiece) and two short pieces for the back (2 x the pattern piece waist measurement x15cm~the length of waistpiece)...

Measuring and cutting the interfacing...

and waistband fabric...

and ironing the interfacing onto the extra waistband pieces...

I stitched these last bits into place....

by the spooky glowing light of my sewing machine

And... TADA! Here's the finished skirt...

The high waist makes it perfect for pairing with belts...

And I told you it was perfect for twirling...........

In the words of Joni, all that's left to do now is get myself back to the garden :)
Do you have a favourite pattern that's nice and simple to stitch up?
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