Red Wool Skirts

The weather forecast for this Sunday that just past said it was going to be a cold day, and it most certainly was. It snowed the day before, so I knew right away that the skirts I was going to make for Beauty Bug and myself to wear to church had to keep us warm. I knew immediately which fabric I was going to use. While in Hancock Fabrics, I found this awesome red wool blend. It wasn't too thick or too thin, and it was soft to the touch. I originally purchased it to wear for our red, white, and blue Sunday but decided against it and I'm glad I saved it for a later (and much colder) date. I decided to make us pleated high low maxi skirts. Mine skirt has a very slight high low hem. I was channeling the hem on this skirt:

I decided to pleat the skirts. I cut the fabric 2x our waist measurements and proceeded to box pleat the skirts. Somehow, they ended up looking like a version of inverted pleats on the finished product. I have no idea how this occurred because I don't know how to do inverted pleats. Well, I guess I do now. lol

I added a 3 inch waistband to the skirts and a zipper in the back of the skirts. I didn't have anymore invisible zippers so I used this as an opportunity to learn to insert other types of zippers. I do, however, believe an invisible zipper would have been the better choice. I need a lot more practice with zippers, I am not afraid to admit it. lol They make me anxious. The waist band is not interfaced. I didn't interface it because the wool was pretty sturdy. The waistband is doubled, so I originally cut a 6 inch band of fabric that was the length of our waist measurements plus 5/8 of and inch for seam allowance to add the zipper. I then folded that 6 inch band in half to get the 3 inch waist band.

I debated back and forth between adding a bow to the skirt or just leaving it as is. Then it clicked, why not have both?! I decided to make the bow detachable. I didn't want there to be any signs that there even was a bow when we wore the skirts without the bow, because you know we're going to wear these again ;) so I made the bows attachable by pins. Just pin it on, and then take it off whenever you want to.

The tops we wore were self drafted and make from this cute black and white 4 way stretch knit fabric. Didn't take long to make those. Beauty Bug was excited about this skirt since she saw me pull out the beautiful red wool fabric from the bolts of my fabric collection. The following pictures will show you just how much she loved this skirt. It's so heart warming to see your hard work being appreciated, especially since the receiver of you long hours of hard work is only 2 years old. lol At one point she got so excited, that she jumped on my legs and said thank you mommy, and flung us back into the wall. Yes my lovely niece got pictures of that, so I had to share them because they're funny. lol I couldn't forget my son. He was looking super sharp as well, going right along with the color theme of the day. I hope you enjoy these pictures. Until next post, see you later Beauty Bugs! :)