Holiday Insta-Outfit!

Hey, you know what's fun? Sewing. Especially when you can knock out a couple pieces, without needing a pattern, in just a couple short sewing sessions!

This little ensemble is made up of a gathered circle skirt in Black and Grey Jacquard from my fall collection, paired with this Simple Knit Top project in black matte jersey.

Let's talk about the skirt, shall we? I've been wanting to make a gathered circle skirt for a while. This is a circle skirt made to a waist circumference waaaaay bigger than your own, and then you gather the excess into a waistband. For those times when you just need MORE circle skirt.

I multiplied my waist circumference by 2.5 to get the pattern circumference (and then divided by two and made one pattern for both the front and the back).

The waistband is grosgrain ribbon, with long ties at the side zipper so you can make a bow.

To make the waistband, you need a lot of ribbon. I think I used about 6.5 yards. Half is used for the outer layer, and the other half is stitched to the inside to hide the seam allowances, so the two ribbons sandwich the skirt waistline. Leave long tails past the side zipper, and gather the skirt and pin it to the ribbon. The gathered circumference should now match your waist circumference.

I edge stitched the grosgrain to the skirt. 

Trimmed the seam allowance with my scissors on an angle (to get less of a blunt, bulky cut).

And then pinned and stitched the second ribbon to the inside, edge stitching all the way around.

I finished the bottom hem with the rolled hem feature on my serger. This looks especially nice if you use Wooly Nylon thread in the loopers to get a satin-y finish. That's all there is to it!

I'm wearing a chiffon petticoat for a little extra fullness.

I made one little design change to the Simple Knit Top project. I sewed gathers at the shoulders for a pretty drapey look.

Here's to holiday sewing!