[Smokering]

I fell in love with this skirt and want to make my own, but I don't think I could pull off the rainbow look and besides, I'm really into browns right now. So I want to make the skirt starting with cream at the top and fading down through beige and mocha to a really rich, deep dark chocolate brown at the bottom. Sounds pretty, no?

Trouble is, I'm having a hard time finding the right fabrics online. Most fat quarter bundles come in lots of complementary colours, so there'll be a few good browns but then a whole bunch of blues or reds to go with. I've tried Googling all sorts of permutations on "quilting fabric brown colour palette", "fat quarters beige tan mocha", you name it. To make matters more fun, I'd prefer it not be too expensive.

Any ideas? I don't want to spend forever buying separate bits half-yard by half-yard from random online stores; I'd rather get a bunch with a good range of browns to start me off, and then I can use those as a basis for supplementing from my local fabric stores (which I rarely get to because I don't have a car). So if you've seen any good brown-themed fat quarter packs or five-inch whatever-dessert-they-call-them packs around the internet recently, please let me know!

(And if you have any staggeringly good ideas on making the abovementioned skirt, that'd be super too. Should I line it somehow?)

 

[sabrinat]

Do you have a Jo-Ann's or Hancock or Hobby Lobby near you? I find my Jo-Ann's groups there fabric by colors and has a good selection.

 

[lightheart]

the coolest site ever for selection of fabric that I know of (I hope you have high speed since they have so many pictures)

http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/

 

[pixie-n-hertwoboys]

fabric.com earth tone fq

 

[Roxy2007]

it took her 5 months to do that so i am sure you will incur about the same amount of time with the fabric hunting.

i second the idea of going to an actual store, this probably will also save you on shipping since if i were to make this, i foresee myself collecting scraps from my existing fabric and pre cut them to build a precut stash for this particular project.

another way to do it is with strips of fabric instead of squares, that would save you a TON of time but you probably should invest in a ruffler/gathering foot for your sewing machine to do so. just giving you an idea, i made a 3 tiered twirly skirt for my dd, took me 5 days so for an adult, i'd say probably around 1- 2 months.

 

[Smokering]

Thanks people!

I clicked on your links and then on links from those links and then on yet more links and eventually found myself buying these:

Fat quarter bundle
Fat roll

Cheap they were not, but I used my Suite101 earnings which are kinda earmarked for man money, and I figure they'll give me a good selection of browns which I can use for a basis when I buy more fabrics from actual fabric shops. Plus, I can use those lovely pinks and blues in the fat roll to make something else, like a wee dress for the baby, and then I'll feel frugal for having used "free" fabric!

Plus I went to a fabric shop today to buy notions, and I picked up a pleasingly beige fat quarter that was on sale. Yay.

I can't wait until my fabrics arrive and I can get started! Of course, in the mean time I should, say, finish my 17 half-done important projects that require completion in order to keep the baby warm this winter...

OK, so if you were going to make this skirt, what would you do about the wrong side? I don't like the thought of all those raw edges tickling my legs and fraying and so on. I want to actually WEAR this skirt on a regular basis, which means washing it, which again, means raw edges aren't ideal. I don't have a serger. Do you think I should line it, and if so, how? Just make a circle skirt out of lining and attach it top and bottom? (Heh, "just" make a circle skirt; I've never made a circle skirt in my life, but never mind.) And do you know what the rainbow skirt lady meant by making the top with a drawstring? I don't want it to look too bunchy around the waist, but I like the idea of an adjustable waist so I could still wear the skirt during pregnancies (because knowing my luck and the speed at which I sew, I'll probably be pregnant before the darn thing's half-finished!) Not all the way up to nine months, obviously, but for a while. Soo, how would I make a drawstring waist?

ETA: Yeah, strips would be easier but I'm a sucker for punishment, and I really do like the patchwork look. What, pray tell, is a gathering foot?

 

[lightheart]

google french seam or felled seam or flat-felled seam it is a type of seam where the fabric is seamed then turned under so the raw edges are tucked inside that and another seam is sewed to close the raw edges up. Don't know how it would work with the ruffling but it can be done.

 

[pixie-n-hertwoboys]

I was going to suggest french seam also - google it there are a few well done tutorials if you don't know how to do it yet

a drawstring waist you say? well, I've done some where I make a enclosure like you would for an elastic waist but make button holes and stick whatever method of tying (ribbon, rope, etc) in the front.

that is some project to undertake! have fun!!

 

[Roxy2007]

i would line the skirt, french seams wont work very well with ruffles especially more so for what you are doing. but flat fell seam will work but tedious plus you have to make sure its not wonky on the right side of the skirt. i would probably line it with lining fabric or maybe even lightweight linen.

you can google drawstring waist tutorial. but i would probably also try and look for yoga pants waist, they are "maternity" friendly and probably will hold up the weight of the skirt better than drawstring or elastic waist as it is.

this is a gathering foot

 

[Magelet]

I love that skirt too. I've been thinking of making one myself. I wouldn't line it or use french seams, I'd just zigzag the seams really well. It seems to be effective in other things.... I don't know. I haven't got a serger, or I'd serge them. Zigzagging seems to be the next best thing.

I personally would not line a skirt like that, I don't think. If I did it would not be with an attached lining but with a free hanging lining. That is, I'd hem them both, not sew them together. Which is what you would have to do if you didn't want to finish the seams in some way, but I still would finish the seams, because it will make them more secure. Just because you don't see them unravveling doesn't mean they don't. Btw, it looks like at the very least, a 1.5 circle skirt, if you decided you did want to do an attached lining. (but do some good research into how to do that. it seems to me it would have the same problems as making an attached lining on say, a circle cloak.)

I think I will end up making some version of this skirt someday, but I think it will take me a very very long time to aquire the fabric for it. I like it as a rainbow, but I think it will also look beautiful (and a little more subdued, which is good sometimes) in shades of brown. lovely. thanks for the idea of doing it all in one color scheme.

 

[Smokering]

You know what? Smeg it, I'll borrow Mum's serger.

You're right, the thought of an attached lining makes me quail... almost as much as the thought of doing miles of flat-felled or French seams! This'll be a good opportunity for me to learn to serge, anyway.

I do kinda like the idea of a freehanging lining though, both for silkiness and for the extra froof factor (like this skirt needs extra froof, but hey). I thought I could put some nice dark chocolate brown lace at the bottom. But we'll see!

I went to a gorgeous money-sucking fabric shop yesterday and spent over $30 on about five fat quarters.

: Beautiful browns, though! And my ordered fabric shipped today. Being something of a dummy it only just occurred to me that I'll need a lot more of the darker brown fabrics than the light.

That's cool; I like dark browns, so they'll be fun to collect. This is gonna get expensive...