The 13th Birthday Outfit

The Skirt - Part Three

This is the last post for the skirt, and since the outfit is finished, I'll show you the whole thing tomorrow.  The only thing that the skirt needed was a hem and decorative buttons.  Because of the pleats and underlays, the hem takes a little more work, but isn't hard.

First, the hem needs to be pressed up all the way around to whatever depth you want it. For this thick twill, I've decided just to serge the edge and press up once.  If this was a thinner fabric, I might have turned under the top edge or turned the hem twice.  The thing to remember here is that you will have to clip the seam allowances of the skirt and pleat underlay so that the pleats will lie flat and the hem will not be super thick.  Clipping the seam allowances lets the seam allowances in the hem area to be pressed open and flat, eliminating some bulk.  This gets rid of potentially 6 or 8 thickness of fabric that will have to be stitched over to make a hem.  Please note that the seam allowances should be turned in towards the pleat underlay, *not* like as in the photo below!

The other thing that needs to be done once the hem is stitched in place is to go back to all the pleats, fold them and stitch along the folded edge on the inside when the seam is.  This helps to keep the pleats folded nicely.

Lastly, the skirt needed the decorative buttons and a good pressing.  I took the extra time to press the pleats with vinegar.  That's right, a pressing cloth soaked in good old white vinegar.  It does smell a bit, but only during pressing, and the pleats stay nice and crisp even through several washings.  I learned this trick a long time ago in high school from my mother who said that they used to do that with skirts back in the 50's.  Still works fine today!

I'll show you the whole outfit tomorrow, minus an accessory or two!

Parting Shot:  Mt. Madison.  Mt. Madison was one of the peaks we visited yesterday.  Here's my son at the summit with Mt. Washington behind him.