Tutorials 1: Easy skirt method, easy ruffles, fabric flowers,straw hat to bonnet

I love a rectangle: part 1

A rectangle is a wonderful thing, it can make so many costumes in such a short time that it is the necessary go to for my costume making in a hurry.

So my first tutorial is to use the rectangle to make a skirt.  This particular one is to go under a Dames dress that was used last year and is being updated for another year’s performance so needs a different look.  This method is also great for making a skirt for little girls with the bonus of it being made quicker than a trip to your local Primark!

Here we go:

Cut out two rectangles from your fabric.  I had two metres of this pink stuff (not sure what fabric it is but it is a kind of jersey) so I cut it lengthways to make two equal shapes.  

Sew the shorter sides together so you have the extra fabric in the skirt, I would normally press the seams open (I like to cut corners but not with pressing as it does affect the end result) but this fabric is not going to be affected by any amount of ironing so it’s just not happening today!

Turn over the top twice and pin into place to make the casing for the elastic.

 Sew in place leaving around an inch gap between the start and finish of the stitches.

 Insert the elastic; I just tie a knot in the elastic and leave the gap open so that, if necessary, I can make the waist tighter for a smaller body to wear. Of course if you were making this for normal wear you need to sew the elastic ends together and then sew up the gap!

Now all you need to do is sew up the hem and you have a finished skirt.

I am however moving on immediately to the next tutorial and not bothering with a hem on this fabric as it isn't fraying (I like to avoid doing as much as possible as there are heaps of costumes waiting to be made and I don't have the time to be really neat)

Easy ruffles:

Take the fabric you want to ruffle and cut it into strips of the same width.  I am using some pink voile and cutting strips of about 8” in width.

Sew all the strips together so you have one length and then hem both top and bottom.  It may pay to mark the middle of the long strip with either a line of tacking or a pin (beware of the pin, it may drop out).

Now the good bit....get yourself some fishing line and secure it to one end of the strip near the edge, you can see I have tied it to a safety pin and pinned it to the edge(just ignore the fact that I am hemming as I zigzag the fishing line in place, I have done this so many times I don't need to see the line so save time by doing it together!).

 Now zig zag along the edge making sure the stitches go ‘over’ the fishing line and hold it in place (If you look carefully you can see the line glinting in the flashlight of the camera).

Sew the ends together making sure you don't sew over the fishing line as this will need to be removed later.

Pin the middle of your ruffle fabric to one side of the skirt (or whatever you are adding the ruffle to) and the ends to the other side so there are equal amounts on either side.

Sew the ends together making sure you don't sew over the fishing line as this will need to be removed later.

Pin the middle of your ruffle fabric to one side of the skirt (or whatever you are adding the ruffle to) and the sewn together ends to the other side so there are equal amounts on either side.

Pull gently on the fishing line to gather the fabric; here I have one edge gathered.

Keep doing this until the length of your ruffles match the edge you are sewing to and pin in place.  Here are all the ruffles pinned into place.

Sew along the edge of the ruffle.
Remove the fishing line by pulling out gently.

One ruffled bottom to a rectangle skirt....simple J

I used three times the skirt width on this ruffle to make it really full for a Dames skirt.

Quick and easy fabric flowers;

Cut out strips of fabric in co-ordinating colours, I am using lilac fabric measuring 14” by 4” and pink voile measuring 28” by 6”

 Fold the smaller strips in half widthways and tack along the edges leaving the folded side unsewn.

                   

Pull tight into gathers and sew into place.

                                          

Without cutting the thread repeat the process with the pink voile behind the lilac, pull tight and sew securely into place.

Both parts now form the flower, you can make as many 'petal' layers as you want, lots of lighter fabric like voile make really pretty flowers for Princesses, but these were for a Dame's dress.

My flowers are sewn directly onto the dress, and the glue gun put into operation to stick a gem in the middle of the flower for a bit of bling.

Straw hat to bonnet

Straw hats are incredibly easy to decorate and always add an extra dimension to a costume, especially a Dame’s.  The hat I am using has been previously used, on that occasion I just covered it with fabric that matched the dress and added a flag to the top.  However, the hat has sat in ‘the caravan of costume’ for a year now and has lost its appeal so I have decided to give it a spruce up.  I can’t complain as it cost me 50p from a boot sale and it certainly has given me value for money.

First up I am going to give it a bit of a chop!  The best way to figure out where to cut it would be to have a fake head and measure it against this, unfortunately I don't have a head except for the real one perched on top of my neck and that is the one I will have to use.  By putting it on I could feel which part of the brim I need to cut off and marked it with a red pen so that you can see it clearly.

The hat has been somewhat crushed and lost its shape but the wonderful thing about straw is that with a bit of steam you can get it to the shape you want it.

Here it is before steaming:

And here it is after:

Now if I was doing this properly, which of course I’m not, I would sew binding around the edges where I had cut the straw.  But being the evening after a day at work I haven’t the time or inclination so I have got out the hot glue gun.  A bit of braid around the outside and it looks all pretty.

Then I decided to put velvet ribbon on the inside to ensure the wearer doesn’t end up with a rash from all that itchy straw.

Some more red braid on the outside of the brim and some of the red velvet ribbon gives a pretty look to the bonnet.

But of course this is for the Dame so I am going to stick some extras on to make it over the top.

Feathers and a chiffon flower add a certain tackiness (urgh really?)  and the bonnet is all ready to wear.