Coco and Garçon Original - DIY Maxi Skirt

Here is a completely DIY-ed outfit (minus the belt), complete with eye bags and unwashed hair wooo. The 'bodice' is actually a $5 scarf from Portmans wrapped creatively. I'm working on a way to secure it so that I steer clear of any potential wardrobe malfunctions. SOOOO, let's get to the skirt :)

What you need:

Scissors - preferably fabric scissors
Light-medium weight fabric - I used navy satin leftovers from a failed project
Elastic about 2inch wide
Sewing machine, thread etc
Iron

 

How to:
1. Measure the elastic around your waist. Same as the circle skirt, it needs to be tight enough to look good but big enough to stretch over your hips. No zipper once again! (I dislike sewing zips.)

2. The fabric should be a big rectangle. Wrap it around your waist twice and cut to that width. When you wrap it around yourself, it should be long enough to touch the ground at least.

3. Hem all the raw edges except the bottom because you will most likely need to adjust the final length of the skirt later. The fabric I used, and many other fabrics, fray easily so I like to use a folded/rolled hem.

How to hem sheer/easily frayed fabric:

 1. Fold the raw edge in just a fraction, approx 0.5cm.Use your finger to guide the fold as you stictch. If you find it easier, you can first iron the 0.5cm fold before stitching.

2. Using a zigzag stitch, zigzag all the way down, keeping the fold all the way. Ideally, the stitch should be large enough to catch either end of the fold but for some heavier fabrics you can get away with a smaller zigzag (satin included). You may need to play around with the stitch size to see what works best. Try it on a scrap before your actual garment.

The zigzagged hem should look like that (two pictures down):

4. Back to the skirt, also zigzag the raw edges of the elastic. It can also fray.

5. Pin the end of the elastic to the top left corner of your fabric on the RIGHT side (the side that everyone will see)

6. Here's the trickiest part. Using a straight stitch, you must sew about 1cm from the edge but PULLING THE ELASTIC as you go along. The harder you pull, the more gathered your skirt will be. Keep in mind that you also have a limited amount of fabric so you must try to pull the elastic just enough. In the end, I ended up having some fabric leftover so I just cut the excess off and zigzagged the raw edge again.

7. Flip the elastic up and you will (hopefully) see nice flowing gathers of fabric :)

8. Right sides together, pin the two raw edges all the way down the skirt. Sew with a straight stitch.

9. Lastly, cut the hem to your desired length, zigzag the same as the other raw edges. Iron the hem up and machine stitch/hand stitch in place. I hand stitched because I think it looks nicer :) TADAAAA, done!

And here is the finished product. I hope my instructions kind-of made sense. I actually didn't finish the bottom hem and ended up cutting this skirt into a fishtail/high-low skirt. Tutorial for that will be up soon, as well as a tutorial for an ombre/dip-dye skirt. Yes, I've made three skirts in two weeks. And I've baked countless goodies AND made a dress for my mother. That's right, domestic goddess right here :)

Portmans scarf (worn as top); Temt belt; DIY Coco and Garçon skirt