Want a quick afternoon project? Grab some knit fabric you have on hand, a skirt from your closet and get ready to DIY!
Sewing with KNITS tips:
1. Insert a jersey / ballpoint needle into your sewing machine. The needle normally says “65/9”. Ballpoint needles are used for sewing knits. They have
a rounded tip that allows the needle to pass between the fabric threads by separating them. If you use a regular pointed needle it will cause your knit to curl,have skipped stitches or even cause fabric damage. The ballpoint needle will solve that!
2 Always backstitch at the beginning and ending of your stitches.
3. Remove pins as you sew.
4. There is no need to serge – the knit does not fray!
5. Switch your machine to a slant-stitch. It is stitch #3 on my machine. It looks like a crooked (slanted) zig-zag stitch. This allows your fabric to stretch once it’s sewn (or else the thread will pop when it’s stretched - I promise it is not your hips! It is from using a straight stitch - use a slant stitch and it works perfectly!).
6. Increase your stitch length and width.
DIY Knit Pencil Skirt with foldover waistband
TUTORIAL
1. Gather material: jersey ballpoint needle, knit fabric, scissors, fabric chalk, sewing machine, thread, a skirt from your closet that fits.
2. Fold your skirt in half and lay it on the fold of your fabric. *If your skirt has stripes, make sure the stripes line up when you fold your fabric in half.
3. Trace around your skirt straight across the top (we will add a knit waistband later), down the side of the skirt (5/8 of an inch away from the skirt edge for your seam allowance) and across the bottom of the skirt (at least one inch below the skirt's hem so you can hem it). You can always take away fabric and make the skirt shorter when you hem it, but it is harder to add more fabric if it is too short. **I added about 7 inches since I was tracing a short pencil skirt.
4. Repeat to make a front and a back.
5. Lay skirt pieces right sides together and pin down both sides.
6. Sew along both pinned edges, remove pins as you sew and trim threads.
7. Cut out a piece of fabric for your waistband. Measure your waist and subtract 3 inches. (Ex: My waist is 28-3 inches = 25 inches. Cut out a piece of fabric that is 8 inches tall x ______ inches wide. (I will cut out a piece that is 8 inches tall x 25 inches wide).
8. Lay your waistband piece right sides together, pin and sew up the short side. Now it forms a loop.
9. Make the top of your waistband meet the bottom of the waistband by folding it in half. Now it is 4 inches tall. The wrong sides will touch and the right side of the fabric will face you.
10. Turn the waistband around so the raw edges are facing up and the folded edges are below it. Turn your skirt RIGHT SIDE OUT. Lay your skirt INSIDE the waistband. Match the raw edges. Make sure the side seams of your waistband match up to the side seams of your skirt. Pin all around the waistband.
11. Sew on your waistband. Remove pins as you sew and trim threads. Flip waistband up. You did it!
12. Try it on, mark your hem. Turn it inside out and hem it to your desired length. Go wear it!!
Love it? Pin it!
Love it? Pin it!