I had been dreaming of a tulle skirt since spring. Especially when I saw Kelis' fabulous skirt in The Coveteur article, that I posted about. I mentioned my apprehension regarding such a whimsical piece. I do dressy... but never whimsical... that's simply not me. Even I at times, question how a garment will fit into my wardrobe and my lifestyle. Where in the world would I wear a tulle skirt, particularly a BOLD fuchsia one?! How impractical, right?
Wrong! You know the perfect time to wear a bright, bold shocking pink tulle skirt? To a Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Pink Party -- sponsored by the North Central Alabama Susan G. Komen and B-Metro Magazine!
Of course I used Simplicity 1427, view C. I knew I wouldn't make a ball-length like Kelis', so the midi length would be perfect. Remember back in the day, we called that "tea length". I had previously read some negative reviews on this pattern. So I *tried* to work this pattern with an open mind. I tried too... So here goes: First for view C, I cut the size 14. You need over 14 yards of tulle. Thank God for how cheap tulle is per yard! And over 4 yards for the lining which I used satin fabric. So this ended up being a $50 project. For those of you that don't sew and wish to have a custom skirt like this made -- DON'T even think of scrunching up your face when you're quoted a price. A lot of labor goes into this!
I've never had a problem with slow sewing projects. As a matter of fact, I actually love them and I'm so glad it's fall so that I can get into some tailoring projects. But what I don't like are fiddly and tedious sewing details. And working with tulle and having to make gathers falls under fiddly and tedious. Also, hemming a wide circle skirt. Yep, that's pretty tedious as well. I hated that and literally suffered through it.
Let's talk about how this skirt is constructed. Now, if I were making this skirt on my own I can see why you'd need that amount of tulle and why to do it in layers -- for the fullness. But what I don't understand is why cut the tulle into sections and THEN sew it back together. The first pattern piece (why do you even need a pattern piece???) has you cutting out 8 pieces of 60" sections of tulle, and sewing 4 sections together twice, that will create 2 sets of gathered circle skirts that will be layered atop each other. My question is what's the benefit of adding the seams? Those two layers are sewn onto a yoke (center picture below) and the lining. Remember that part.
The next pattern piece is a little larger than the first and you do the same thing all over again. These two layers are sewn onto the waistband and all of this is sewn to the yoke and first set of layers. The finished look is the first picture above. Why is the yoke needed? I think this part is what threw off other people that made this. I didn't find it confusing, just unnecessary.
But even after the weird construction method and details, I was pretty pleased with the way the skirt turned out. I guess the end justifies the means! And who knows, I may even make one in black! Here are some shots with friends from the event:
