Voile Gray Skirt: modcloth knock-off

10:30 PM

I've been itching to sew a little for myself, but being pregnant definitely dampens any excitement for clothing.
So I've been thinking of making things I can wear with the baby belly and when I'm normal after the baby is born.
So first up is a simple skirt made with gray voile cotton and has texture in the thick waistband.
Obviously the cuter version would be a regular person, but it's got a stretchy waistband for maternity as well.
It's a knock-off of ModCloth's In Tandem skirt also made with voile.
Voile is 100% cotton that is semi-sheer and really light weight so it has to be lined.
This skirt took 2 yards and about 1.25 yards of the lining.
gray and chiffon skirt

From reading the description from ModCloth, their skirt has a zipper and is just kind of huge, relying on the sash to keep it up.
I liked the gathered almost ruched look on the thick waistband, but thought the zipper huge waist wasn't the best idea.

So I had a genius idea to use the lining as the base, and with elastic thread/shirring technique, sew the voile on top with excess fabric to add the ruched/ wrap texture between the rows.  
As I got going, I realized the lining was preventing the elastic thread from scrunching up the waistband.
Bummer when the shirring just doesn't work.
So I already had elastic in the casing at the top, and just added elastic to the center and bottom to help scrunch the waist in so it wouldn't hang on the hips.  I had a tutorial of my method, but when it didn't work out I didn't keep taking the step by step photos.
Basically my original idea was using the lining 7" tall to allow the top casing and bottom seam allowance to attach skirt.  The voile top layer was 11" tall.
I serged the top and bottom of the two layers together and just worked the excess top voile between the layers to have the extra gathered texture.


The skirt itself was 120" around gathered up and sewn to the waistband.

In the end, the excess fabric between rows of shirring did add a cool texture to the waistband rather than the regular shirred scrunch.  I ironed the waistband to flatten or crush the gathered texture.
I think the majority of the pregnancy I'll just wear it without the sash as the waistband kind of gets crushed and shortened under the belly as it gets bigger.
But I thought the light gray would work for fall/ winter as well as spring.

I had a bit of left over voile and decided to make the sash as an optional way to wear the skirt.
It's just 6" wide and has a tiny hem around all four sides.

The skirt doesn't have belt loops, but I wore it with the sash a few weeks ago and it stayed put around the waistband.  

In the end, a simple skirt, but a new way to add texture to a basic shirred waistband.
The bow sash is also a fun girl detail you can add or remove depending on the occasion.
 

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12 comments

  1. Looks great!

    http://iliska-dreams.blogspot.com.au/

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  2. It look absolutely fantastic! So inspiring. Congratulations on your pregnancy too. xx

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  3. You make pregnancy look so cute :) I bet this skirt will be your best friend after baby too. I'm still pretty reliant on my shirred-waist skirts and shorts, 9 months later...

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  4. That is such a cute skirt. I never had anything that cute when I had all of my children. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

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  5. i think it is PRETTIER than the knock off--and the not working shirring it gorgeous. although i understand not wanting to do maternity sewing i will say--if i looked that cute pregnant i would TOTALLY want to sew for myself :) you're beautiful!

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  6. I like your skirt better than your inspiration I love the cool texture of the waistband. Great job Jessica.

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  7. Love the sash. That skirt looks similar to your shirred pocket skirts. It looks so adorable! The fabric choice is awesome! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. This is really sweet! I love the color and the sash, and the texture on the waistband is really fun. =)

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  9. That skirt is a winner! Typically when I see maternity skirts they have a funny proportion to them (probably because they are usually very A-line), but this one looks amazing and very flattering. Good job!

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  10. That is so cute and so are you! I love skirts with elastic waistbands even when I'm not pregnant :D

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  11. Love love love! I follow your blog and just wanted to say this one jumped out and grabbed me....and I think pregnant women are adorable too! This project inspires me to try some new sewing territory.

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  12. I love the skirt and was wondering where you got your red tights. I saw in another post you said you are tall, I'm also tall and having a hard time like you finding tall maternity pants other than old navy.com. I've mainly been wearing leggings, but those are starting to get too tight and I wanted some tights. Are they maternity and long enough?

    Thanks

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