You know me, I love to weave on my 18″ rigid heddle loom. Sometimes I just warp up the loom with some leftover yarns, or lone skeins that were remnants from past projects. I try to avoid waste wherever I can.
For this project, I used odd skeins of bright coloured DK weight yarns from Unbelieva-wool and Skein Queen. I ran off a length of fabric until I ran out of yarn. There was enough there to make a skirt… so I did, sort of!
The fabric width was only 14”, so to make the skirt slightly longer, I used the remaining length, divided it into 4 equal widths and sewed them together lengthwise. That would give me a waistband as well as some length.

In an attempt to make the skirt look a bit more professional, I lined it using some polyester fabric from an old kimono-style dressing gown. It is a slippery sucker to work with on a sewing machine, but luckily I didn’t have to hem it!
Feeling ambitious and also inspired after watching The Great British Sewing Bee on BBC TV, I thought it would be a great idea to put in darts. This would give the skirt some shape and look less boxy. The fabric is quite thick, so I’m not sure it was such a good idea, but anyway I left it in. I also tried to insert a zip, but the fabric kept growing sideways and the more I ‘handled’ the fabric, the wider it seemed to get. So I ripped out the zip and inserted a crudely applied waistband elastic instead.

I wouldn’t call myself an experienced sewist because the stitching on this is laughable, but having said that, the skirt actually fits well and is very wearable!
I normally put my clothes through hell, so we’ll see how long this skirt lasts before I yank it on barbed wire, or Velcro, or something ridiculous like that! 😂


The Luxury of Hindsight…
If I were to make this again, I would:
- use a wool yarn with nylon content for extra strength (not essential, but nice to have).
- make the fabric wider, if possible (the full 18” width).
- use a lining fabric with less static electricity!
- make a waistband casement instead of sewing the elastic on directly onto the fabric.
- not bother with putting in darts! I mean, who cares?!
😊
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