A Little A-Line Skirt (with lots of details)

This is a completely new project for me and a bit of a departure from my usual traditional smocked dresses.  The skirt is made from white Spechler/Vogel waffle weave pique and fully lined with Imperial batiste.  It has a lap zipper on the left side seam and an all machine microcheck bias waist facing that allows for button hole elastic across the back of the skirt for a custom fit.

The piped microcheck belt is held in place with four turned bias belt carriers and forms a bow at the front when tied in a knot.  The belt also helps with a custom fit on the skirt.

The hem of the skirt is a 1 1/2" bias cut pleated band.  I used a new (to me, at least!) little gadget, borrowed from the home dec world, for making the 1/2" pleats and it worked like a charm.  I'll be using this clever little thing on lots of other projects in the future.  It also comes in a 3/4" and a 1" size.

The simple to construct microcheck peasant blouse buttons down the back and features a scoop neckline with a smocked ruffle made from petite point.  The long straight edge of the neckline ruffle provides a good place to perfect the use of your dreaded roll hem foot.  I fiddled around a bit with mine, trying different size roll hem feet (ended up with the 3mm one) and different needle positions.  I was VERY pleased with the final results.

I can usually tell if I have travelled in the right direction by my granddaughter's reactions to new projects and I am happy to report that this one has passed the 'Hailey' test.  This will be one of the projects I will be teaching at Sewing At the Beach in January of 2013.  You can check out their website at www.sewingatthebeach.com.   The new information for 2013 should be up in early July.

The next series of photos are another take on this skirt.  This time I paired it with my little tailored jacket with bound patch pockets and collar.  The cotton knit tank top is bound with premade microcheck picot edge folded bias from Martha Pullen.  The fabric flowers are made from a 3" by 13" strip of fabric.  This will probably be one of the projects I submit to teach at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion in 2013.