Under the Sea Skirt

I have had this pretty piece of fabric hiding in my bin for a while now.  It is a vintage piece.  Very lightweight, silky fabric, and the print is amazing.  I love the under the sea theme.  Perfect for this surfer girl.

I didn't have very much of this fabric.  Maybe a yard and a half or less.  I didn't want to cut into it too much, since this print is one of a kind.  I decided to cut it in half and turn it into a long, flowing skirt.  

I recently made a trip to Joanns for some supplies and I happened upon the foldable elastic.  I remember pinning a blog post about how to use it and it looked like a super simple way to make a skirt.  I grabbed some for fun, and that is pretty much what inspired me to finally do something with this fabric. Here is the blog tutorial I used for inspiration and tips to using the fold over elastic.  I didn't follow her tutorial exactly.  I kinda went my own direction with it, which I will explain as best I can.

First, I cut the fabric in half.  I serged the two side seams together and then serged the top and bottom edges to finish the fabric and make it easier to hem and pin to the elastic.  I didn't want to cut the fabric, so I did not cut mine more narrow at the waist.  I left it as two rectangles and then I gathered the top.  

Next, I cut the elastic to fit my waist.  In hindsight, I would have really stretched the elastic around my waist to get a more snug fit.  I only stretched it a little when I cut it to my waist size and now that it is finished I realize it could have been a tad tighter.  Just something to keep in mind when you cut the elastic.  Then I sewed the elastic ends together, making a closed circle.  I pinned the fabric in four places around the elastic to start.  Center, side seams, and back.  Moved the gathers around a bit to make them even and then pinned in four more places, between the other pins.  You can use more if you want.

Once I had everything pinned, I moved it to my regular sewing machine and sewed it to the elastic using a medium long (3.0) stitch, stretching the elastic as I go to make the fabric line up just right.

I switched my machine over to a long zig-zag stitch, folding the elastic over and down as I sewed. 

Here is how it looks close up once it is folded over and sewn.  My poor fabric has some holes now from where I pulled out the gathering stitches.  Oops.  No one will see it, though.

Then I folded up the hem, just a hair, and pressed it in place.

And sewed it.

It's not the prettiest finish, but it was a very fast way to make a skirt.  I finished this project in under 2 hours.

Here is the finished product:

It probably isn't the most flattering skirt in the world, but I love the print.  It feels so light weight and comfortable to wear.  I slipped this outfit on after I got done surfing.  I like that I can still feel like I am in the ocean, even when I am out of the water.  

I'm a bit of an ocean freak.  I often feel more at home and sure footed when I am in the ocean on my body board, than I do when I'm on dry land.  Now I can take a little of the sea with me and maybe it will help to keep me grounded throughout my day.

Now I want to go surfing … maybe I should put on my new skirt!