Project by Rebecca Cole
The Camil fabrics feel so summery and a wraparound skirt is perfect for those hot summer evenings or to wrap around a bikini on the beach. This skirt is one size fits all and requires some measuring and simple sums to make sure it fits you perfectly.
Time to Make:
1-2 hrs
Skill Level:
Adventurous Beginner
You Will Need:
· Camil Metre pieces + 1 matching FQ piece
· Sewing machine
· Complimentary sewing thread
· Fabric pen
· Ruler
· Straight pins
· Tape measure
· Fabric scissors
· Iron
Method:
1. Fold a metre piece of fabric in half lengthways and cut it in half. Seam the two short ends together and press the seam open, creating one long length of fabric. Repeat with a second metre piece. Trim one to 50cm wide (this will be the bottom fabric) and one to 46cm wide (this will be the top fabric).
2. Lay the fabrics on top of each other. Layer them so that the seams are sitting in different places to prevent bulk. Layer them so that the ends sit 4cm apart. This should create a 4cm frame of bottom fabric all the way around the top fabric on the outer wrap. Stitch along the top lined up edge 0.5cm from the edge to hold both fabrics together.
3. Measure at the widest part of your hips, measure from one hip bone to the other hipbone across the front. This is to measure the crossover. Mine measured 38cm (I shall reference my numbers in brackets, just adjust accordingly for your own numbers.) Halve this measurement (19cm) and mark this from each end of your skirt. Line up the marks and this should then form the centre front of your skirt. Place a pin in the centre back points and also at the side points to mark the 4 quarters of the skirt. Measure from one side to the other and then double it to get the circumference of the skirt when worn (142cm).
4. Next measure the size of your waist (this is the line at which you would like your skirt to sit) and add on 2 cm to create some ease. (104cm + 2cm = 106cm). Take this measurement away from the total circumference you measured in step 3. (142cm – 106cm = 36cm). This tells us how much excess we need to remove from the waist to make it fit us.
5. Forming the darts: Keeping the skirt pinned closed, turn the fabric through so that the wrong side of the fabric on the outside. Lay it so that the side pins are at the sides and the opening is facing you. Using a ruler and a fabric pen, mark 4cm in from the sides along the top of the waistband and 27cm down the sides. (In the photograph I have only marked 16cm down but on fitting I realised that this wasn’t a long enough dart for a smooth fit.) This will have removed 16cm from the excess in the waistband. Take this number away from your excess measurement (36cm -16cm = 20cm) and the divide this number by 4 (20cm ÷ 4 = 5cm). Each of your 4 remaining darts need to be 5cm wide.
Measure 17cm from the side edges in along the waist edge on both sides. Draw lines perpendicularly down from these points 15cm. Next measure half of your dart width either side of these lines (for me with a dart width of 5cm this is 2.5cm either side of each line). Next join these points to the bottom of the dart to create your dart shapes.
Stitch along each of the side darts and then fold the waist darts along the middle line, pin and stitch these also. Press them to the sides, away from the centre front and centre back.
6. Turn the skirt round the right way and lay it so that you are looking at the front part of the wrap. Trim the corners of the two fabrics into nice even curves. Run a line of top stitching all the way around the outside edges of both layers, 1cm in from the edges, this will allow the edges to fray in a controlled way.
7. Using the matching FQ piece, cut strips 6cm wide. Join them together to form one long strip 3.5-4m long in length.
8. Press along both the long sides of the strip 1cm in and then fold it in half and press again.
9. Find the centre point of the waist of the skirt and match it with the centre point of the tape. Fold open one of the sides of the tape and stitch along to attach it to the waist of the skirt on the inside. Turn up the ends of the tapes and press. Press the waistband up along the seam you have sewn.
10. Fold over the ties along the pressed fold and, starting at the turned up ends, stitch all the way along closing the tape. When you get to where the waistband is attached to the skirt, fold over the waistband a stitch right along the edge, covering the line of stitching already sewn. Continue along to the other end of the tape and finish by stitching the other end closed.
Your skirt is now ready to wear.
To see more from Rebecca, visit her on Instagram @becky_cole_sews
Made by Rebecca Cole for The Craft Cotton Company 2021