Read the thread about leg shaving and couldn't help but notice all the mentions of long skirts. Since this is my way to travel, would like to know if y'all make your skirts, if so, do you make your own patterns, or do you buy ready made patterns? I'm an older homesteader, 64 to be exact, and find it difficult to find patterns or ready made skirts that I feel I would be comfortable wearing. I'm not a great seamstress, so simple would be the best bet. Can y'all help me out?

-- Clare Baldwin (clare_baldwin@hotmail.com), November 04, 2000

Answers

Clare, I haven't made any in a few years but this is the easiest way, measure your waist, double the figure for a semi full skirt, triple it for a full skirt, divide the total number by 2, cut two pieces of material however many inches you need after you divided by two, put right sides together sew side seams together, at the top where waist will be turn under 1/8 inch and iron down, trim seam allowance at the top about 2-3 inches, then turn under however many inches your want your waist band to be or size elastic you have, iron then sew all the way around forming a caseing leaving an opening for elastic, pull piece of elastic around your waist, like you would a measureing tape or you could measure your waist and then cut the elastic, cut the elastic, run it through the caseing, sew elastic ends together, let it go into opening, sew opening up, then hem bottom of skirt the desired length. Thats the simplest way I know, I just looked at patterns yesterday and couldn't even find one for just a plain full skirt with an elastic waist. I forgot the recipe for a broomstick skirt, I think you dip them in a mixture of powdered starch and water, tie them around a broomstick wet, let them dry, and you have a broomstick skirt. Maybe someone who really knows will give us the correct recipe for this, Please someone?

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 04, 2000.

Probably the simplest is the way our ancestresses made their skirts (they called them petticoats back in the seventeen hundreds, though). Figure out how long, in inches, you want your skirt to be. Add about three inches for the hem and the seam allowance at the waist band. Buy a piece of material double that measurement, plus about six more inches for the waist band. Cut off the waist band material. Now cut what's left in half (across, not length-wise). Whoops, back up a minute here -- you may need to straighten your material before you start cutting it (do you know how to do this? Because I'm not sure I can explain in writing!! I only know that fabric, as cut from the bolt, is sometimes stretched out of square so to speak, and needs to be pulled back into square). Okay, now you have a strip for your waistband, and two skirt pieces. Put the skirt pieces right sides together. Decide which raw edge is the hem, and pin the selvedge edges together, stopping about eight inches from the waistband edge. Sew the selvedge edges, again stopping about eight inches from the waistband edge. Turn under the remainder of the selvedge edges, to the top of your skirt, and hand-stitch them in place. Now, you need to know your waist measurement. Taking the waistband material you set aside, trim the length to about three inches more than your waist measurement. Cut the piece in two lengthwise (you should now have two strips about three inches wide by your waist measurement-plus-three-inches long). Narrow-hem the short ends of each waistband section. Right sides together, pin each waistband section to one of the sections of your skirt. You can gather or pleat as you prefer -- I like pleats as they lay flatter. Just be sure to get them even as you go. Gathering will give you more of a dirndl look. (If you are slender, it will look well. If not, I suggest the pleats!) Sew the waistband sections to the skirt sections. Now turn the long raw edge of each waistband section under, fold the waistband section around the top edge of the skirt, and sew by hand. Try the skirt on, overlapping the front waistband over the back one, and mark locations for either hooks (I don't recommend them, though, as mine tangled in the wash and got pulled out of shape), or for buttons and button holes. Our great-great- great-great grandmothers usually used drawstrings, which is why the ends of the waistband sections are left open -- they gathered the waistband as well as the skirt, and thus were able to adjust the fit to accomodate pregnancies and other changes in size. Wise women!! Anyway, at this point, you will only need to mark and sew the hem -- it helps to have someone else mark and pin this while you have the skirt on. Now, I know this leaves a bit of a gap at the sides if you bend wrong -- in the olden days, ladies wore a linen or cotton shift under their outer garments, and pockets, and an apron, and a short- gown (the skirt of the short-gown actually covers the gaps in the sides of the petticoat quite nicely). So you might want to put another button or two down the sides to keep it closed. I wear mine as part of a reenactment costume -- it is surprising how comfortable an outfit it is, except I need to find something other than plastic to stiffen the stays, as the cut ends poked through the material and poked me, too!! I may someday wear historical costume for everyday use, except that long skirts are awkward for farm work (in my opinion -- I know Little Bit does just fine with her skirts). Anyway, hope you get some good out of all this -- maybe a good laugh, if nothing else!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 04, 2000.

How do you do steps in long skirts? I always step on the hem (coz my arms are always full!), so I just wear pants.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 04, 2000.

I'm afraid that I don't have much time or inclination to sew. My alternative is thrift store shopping, ST Vinnies, Goodwill,Salvation Army and local resale stores. Long skirts aren't very popular and are usually cheaper than the cost of material

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), November 04, 2000.

I just made a wonderful skirt without a pattern yesterday. It is very easy and I hope this helps. Simply buy enough fabric that when held to your waist doubled and folded under three inches under the fabric will hang two inches below your desired hem line. 45" material would be fine for a thinner person. A heavier person might be more comfortable with 60" wide material. Cut through both thicknesses 31/2 inches from the selvedge th\e full length of the material. This will give you more than enoug\h fabric for you waist band and will also trime off the selvedge. fold the remaining fabric in half leng\thwise (g\iving you four th\icknesses). Cut the fabric at the half way mark. Th\is will give you two pices the same size. Take one of those pieces and cut it along the factory fold. This will be the back of your skirt.

Now sew the two back pieces together lengthwise with right sides together, stopping 8 inches from the end of the fabric. The open part will be for your purchased 7 inch zipper. Apply the zipper according to the package directions. Zip up the back of the skirt and sew the side seams to the front of the skirt with right sides together. Now you have a skirt that an elephant would fit into, so it must be gathered to the waist band.

Take the waist band and measure it to your waist with no clothing interfering. Overlap the edges 2 inches and make it comfortablely snug. Not too loose though because otherwise it will for ever be driving you nuts. Cut the band to your determined length. Now put two lines of gathering stitches along the edge of the skirt. Gather the skirt to the length of the band minus 4 inches. Center the skirt on the band and sew right sides together. This will leave two inches of band on either side of the skirt. Make sure that you unzip the skirt for this process. Fold the waist band backwards and sew the two ends together, first along the end then toward the skirt and inch or so without catching the skirt in the band. Flip the band back toward the inside of the skirt turning the ends inside out. This will give you two waist band ends and an edge to turn under on the inside of the skirt. Hem this edge under on the inside of the skirt. Add a button or clasp to the waist band for fit and hem your skirt. your skirt is now finished. I recommend you do this the first time with inexpensive fabric to work out the kinks. Thicker fabric makes a better skirt than thinner. Good Luck! Write me if you need help.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), November 04, 2000.

Hey, ladies, we ought to have a fashion show!! ;-)

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 05, 2000.

Cindy's Way. Because I'm dyslexic and probably have other learning disabilities and hyper, I do most things my own way. People have tried to teach me to sew, it just doesn't work. So, I figure it out sooner or later on my own. Often times backwards and lot of mental picturing til I get it right.

To make a long denim skirt, I lay an old one (or something similar, maybe a pattern for something) out on the material. Cut around it leaving extra inches all the way round. Sew side seam-right sides together. Turn over some at the top, sew and put elastic through, hem it, Thereyou have it a denim skirt that I made Very comfy looks good and I did it.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), November 05, 2000.

Clare, if you have a JoAnn's or other fabric store near you, give them a visit & look thru the pattern books (if you have a friend or family member who sews perhaps they'd be able to help you with patterns) for the ones that are Easy to Sew, etc., write the pattern numbers down & wait for a terrific sale, usually around $1.99 or 50% off. JoAnn's has these sales quite often, get on their mailing list, you'll then have time to schedule your purchase. I've saved alot of $$ by doing this. I haven't bought any in quite some time since I found the ones that I really like & are easy for me to make. Have fun!

-- Phyllis (almostafarm@yahoo.com), November 05, 2000.

Dear Ones:

You all are going to laugh at me. I went to Wal-Mart this summer and paid twenty dollars for jumpers and wore tee shirts with them. Twenty dollars is a lot of money, but by the time I buy a pattern, material and cut it out, get tired of fooling with it, put it back in the bag and find it a year later still unfinished - I come out cheaper with the Wal-Mart solution.

Wanda

-- Wanda King (wanda7@edge.net), November 05, 2000.

Navigating stairs in skirt with arms full: with each step, swing leg outward so it wraps around the skirt material then step up:)

-- Epona (crystalepona@yahoo.com), November 06, 2000.

Another way to go up the steps: before filling arms, take the hem of your skirt and tuck it in your waistband:)

-- Epona (crystalepona@yahoo.com), November 06, 2000.

Wanda,

I won't laugh at you - I did the same this summer. Had one jumper for town, one for around the house and had a past one (old, old) for outside. I like jumpers best, especially in the winter when you can ad leggings or long underwear underneath or simply wool pantyhose and loafer style shoes for going to town or church (when boots aren't needed).

-- Terry (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 06, 2000.

I love long skirts in the winter because you get the warming effect of layering. Yes i wear my leggings with my skirts in winter. Layering is the best way to keep warm. As for farm work. For some jobs I have been known for throwing on my one pair of jeans, but gardening is wonderful in a long skirt as I have a built in sack for all those vegis. I am also on a quest to bring back the apron as a fashion statement. Any body out there into aprons?

little bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@calinet.com), November 06, 2000.

Little Bit, I like aprons too - almost always have one on in the house and they are great to have on when gardening too. A friends daughter made me two very nice ones. They are fairly long, have a loop to go over the neck and tie in the back. Looking through patterns a few weeks ago I noticed quite a few for different styles of aprons - we must not be the only ones into aprons. I know my interest is only a rediscovery of what my Grandma already knew. I plan on making a really pretty one, sort of victorian style for holiday use (or when I just want to feel a little prettier).

-- Terry (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 07, 2000.

Goodness, I thought I was the only one left who still wore aprons. When I was learning to cook, my mother's instructions always began with "First you put on your apron..."

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), November 08, 2000.

The Amish style apron is very usefull for the garden , lots of room for stuff .It also keeps you cleaner .Make them out of dark colors so they don't show the dirt .

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), November 08, 2000.

Aprons here too! After all, where would we put our stuff? where would we wipe the flour off our hands?

-- Phyllis (almostafarm@yahoo.com), November 09, 2000.

The thrift store keeps me in long skirts. Never paid over $10, usually under $5.

To go up stairs, kick your knee up a little higher each step. By the time the skirt falls back down, your foot's already on the step.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), November 10, 2000.

I make skirts using 45" fabric. I buy double the length I want the skirt plus 2" for a waistband. My skirts are 34" long so I cut the pieces 36" long and sew up the sides. The selvedges make a nice finished seam. Then I hem the bottom. For the waist(since I'm a fluffy size)I cut a strip 3" wide. Sew the ends together to make a large circle and sew one side of the band right sides together to the skirt top. Press under 5/8" of the unstitched side and then press the band in half. Sew thepressed edge over the skirt top to make a casing. Leave a place to insert the elastic. Then run elastic through the waistband and make it as snug as you want. Making the top this way keeps the gathers from bunching up. And as for aprons......My daughter calls me the "apron queen" My favorite wraps around and covers even the back of my dress. I only wear dresses and it keeps my clothes clean even while mucking out the goat barn. I learned fast that aprons with strings in the milking shed was an open invite for the critters to untie. The pattern was a fancy Daisy kingdom thing but I made mine out of denim. Blessings Peggy

-- Peggy Carr (wclpc@cookeville.com), November 11, 2000.

Long skirts and aprons here too!! I love long skirts and wear them to work all the time. My kids keep telling me I look like a granny but who cares, not to mention the fact that I am really a grandmother. My dad has a saying, "If people don't like the way I look they don't have to look at me", and I couldn't agree with him more. I too have gotten some very simple patterns from JoAnn's especially when they are on sale for $.99. I was looking for a Halloween costume pattern, my daughter wanted to be an M&M and the price of the pattern astounded me ($8.95). It was on sale but they didn't have it, so I just bought some material, batting and paint and traced the garbage can lid from the outside can (clean of course) on newspaper and there I had my pattern and made two little ones very happy with their costumes. Sorry, I was rambling.

-- Donna Marie Taylor (crazywife6@hotmail.com), November 11, 2000.

I just got the latest flyer from JoAnn Fabrics, with a 50% off coupon, plus Butterick patterns for 99 cents!! I haven't done much sewing lately, but I'm going to take advantage of this sale, splurge a little, and make myself a skirt and apron. This is one of the reasons I love this forum so much - we all encourage and support each other. I love to sew, but I don't know anyone else (personally) who does. Thanks for all the ideas!

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), November 11, 2000.

Gals--can't believe all the wonderful suggestions you have. Here in E. Central IA I haven't heard of a Jo Anns, sure sounds like it would be "centsable" to shop there tho'. Yes, I'm an apron person too. It's been years since I made any of those. Y'all have me thinking tho'. I used to make them without a pattern, guess I'll just have to make a stab at it and see if I remember how. Thanks so much to all of you. For me, St Vincents and such is pretty far away, 50 some miles, needless to say, I don't go to the big city very often. Hit garage sales and yard sales when possible but they aren't really very frequent. It's so good to know I'm not the only "old granny" outhere.

-- Clare Baldwin (clare_baldwin@hotmail.com), November 11, 2000.

Ladies, I have to thank for the great ideas about making the skirts. I got inspired and thought I'd try my luck at making one and I have to tell you it was really easy and it didn't turn out to bad. I made mine out of a blue and green plaid flannel material which I prewashed. I then determined the length, cut the material, sewed the sides, turned over the top for an elastic band, hemmed and inserted the elastic, all together it took about 45 minutes or less.. I had a phone call during that time. Ha! A flannel skirt sure feels good up here in Northern Michigan.. I hope others will get inspired to try, believe me it is really easy and fun.... I think it can also become addicting because I am already planning to make another. =)

-- Kathleen Kruger (dkruger@torchlake.com), November 14, 2000.

Does anyone have instructions or pattern for Amish Aprons? Thanks, Heidi S~

-- HEIDI (MYOVEBIRD@AOL.COM), November 28, 2001.

Does anyone have instructions or pattern for Amish Aprons?They sound like just what I need for the garden! Thanks, Heidi

-- HEIDI S~ (MYDOVEBIRD@AOL.COM), November 28, 2001.

There is a website where you can order amish clothing patterns. Its at www.modestpatterns.com. Just click on friends patterns. The other patterns are good too. Blessings Peggy

-- peggy (peggyan2@msn.com), November 28, 2001.

Aprons with pockets are very popular here (NE Wash). I'm finally using them as I have ruined too many nice clothes. When I'm mucking aroung in the duck pen I often just hike my skirt up to keep it out of the mud if I've forgotten to tuck the hem up in the waistband. With my hairy legs & thrift shop finds, I'm a real fashion statement!

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), November 28, 2001.

I like the broomstick skirts myself for traveling, because you can just twist them into a ball and pack them up. I am not sure where you can get them any more except maybe like a Pier 1 Imports, or somewhere like that. Unfortunately, they seem to have gone out of style, or are very seasonal, since I haven't been able to find them. One or two of these in navy or black and you're set.

You can make them, but you are looking at a lot of fabric because 1) you're using thin fabric and 2) you are scrunching it up. Sewing is not difficult, it just takes time to set the wrinkles.

If anyone is interested, I can post directions.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), November 28, 2001.

How do you set the wrinkles in the broomstick skirts?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 01, 2002.

Sorry to get back to this so late!

You wet the skirt, fold accordion style (like 1" pleats), twist the skirt as tight as you can 'til it twists back upon itself (an extra person is a big help here), wrap with string into a ball, and nuke it for a while in the microwave (about 10 minutes at a time, then let cool off, and do it again), or dry on highest heat that's okay for the fabric in your dryer with some towels to muffle the noise (takes like 3 hours doing it this way). The heat sets the creases.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), May 03, 2002.