Today is the day that our skirt really starts to come together. It will even look like a functioning skirt! Let's dive right in 😊
With RST, sew your Front Skirt pieces together. Finish your seams. Skip this step if you cut your Front Skirt on the Fold as I did.
Finish the side seam of your Skirt Extension piece. This is the straight edge without any notches.
Attach your Skirt Extension pieces to both your Front and Back Skirt along the straight edge matching the triple notches.
If the Skirt Extension seams extend a bit past your skirt, that’s OK! This is just the seam allowance — it will be hidden once sewn into place and pressed.
Finish seams, then press towards the CF or CB. I personally like to press my Front Skirt Extension pieces towards the CF skirt...
... and my Back Skirt Extension pieces towards the side seams. I then clip off the little bits that poke out.
The reason I press the Front and Back Skirt Extension pieces in the opposite direction is so that when I pin the Front and Back Skirt pieces together, there is less bulk at that particular point. I'll show you what I mean in the next step!
With RST, attach your Front Skirt to your Back Skirt along the side seam edge. Sew your pieces together making sure to go around your pockets, and not through them!
See how my seam allowances at the Skirt Extension pieces are going in opposite directions? This reduces the potential amount of bulk from 6 layers of fabric down to three on either side of the seam!
Press your pockets towards the CF. Or, if you want your skirt to be reversible, press the seam just above your pockets open. That way, they can swing to either the front or back, depending on how you choose to wear your skirt!
The last thing we need to do with our skirt before moving on is to create some gathering stitches and actually gather the skirt.
Without backstitching, use a long straight stitch to sew 1/4” (0,6 cm) from the inside of one side seam edge all the way around to nearly meet itself. Sew a second line of long straight stitches 3/8” (1 cm) from that row of stitches. Be sure to leave a nice long thread tail on either end of your stitching.
Pull lightly on the bobbin threads from one side of your skirt to help gather it. Don’t worry too much about how gathered your skirt is — we will adjust those gathers once we come to the part where we put everything together!
Oh my gosh, you are nearly there - can you envision your finished skirt already? Tomorrow will bring you one step closer as you take on Part 5 - Attaching the Placket.