Belle Layered Skirt

I know, I've been posting a lot of skirts lately. Well, here's another one! This is the complicated skirt I mentioned in my other posts. It really wasn't all that complicated, but with the trims and double layers, it was more involved than the other patterns I used. I also find that no matter how simple a pattern might be, I usually manage to make a million mistakes the first time I make something from it.

For this skirt, I used the Belle Layered Skirt tutorial, sized up to an 8. I was a little worried about how it would turn out because of that, and I did think that I probably should have followed the tutorial exactly and made a smaller one first for Max before attempting to make a bigger one. The tutorial was very easy to follow though, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

I found the fabric (except for the one I used for the ruffle) in the bargain section at a local fabric store, and immediately thought of Lissie. I wasn't planning on making anything specific with it when I bought it, but fortunately happened to get enough for this skirt.

The outer skirt is made from Melissa White's Misaki Lotus and Berries in dusty pink, and the underskirt is Annette Tatum's Fall House Bloom in ochre. I can't remember the names of the fabrics I used for the binding and the ruffle, but I think the purple one is from the Memoirs of a Geisha line. You've probably already figured this out, but I love mixing and matching different lines of fabric.

Lissie had a little trouble standing still for pictures, so I had her sit. It didn't really help. Here she is flapping her arms like a chicken.

She already had a shirt that matched, so that was nice!

When I was cutting the skirt pieces, I accidentally cut the outer skirt an inch shorter than I was supposed to. Instead of making the underskirt shorter, I just left it. Now that I've seen the skirt on Lissie, I think it could have been a little shorter. At least this way it will fit longer, and I don't think the difference is very noticeable.

I definitely want to use this tutorial again to make a skirt for Max. I love how this one turned out, but I don't know if I'd use it again for Lissie, just because of the awkwardness of working with so much fabric. Maybe in a lighter weight fabric though? I used quilt weight cottons for this one, which definitely adds bulk. Gathering the skirt and sewing a separate waistband would help cut down on the bulk too. But then I'd have to gather, so I probably won't try that.