A couple of months ago I came across a girls' skirt that was made of several different bright colored scraps of leather. I really loved it and stored in in my memory. When my local fabric store suddenly had leather scraps for sale I saw my chance and bought all sorts of leather, in different colors, small pieces and even smaller pieces, and started with the puzzle.
I decided to make vertical strips in different sizes, containing multiple leather pieces, also in various sizes.
I spread out all the pieces on a paper pattern piece, or actually two: a front and a back. Cutting and spreading all the pieces on the floor took me at least three nights, it was a lot of work.
After making this collage I sewed all the pieces together, at first I made the vertical strips, then I sewed those together.
At that stage I had two rather wobbly skirt pieces. Ironing leather isn't the best idea, so I ended up gluing all the seams down and rolling them with a wooden block to make them completely flat. I almost became a glue sniffer, after several nights of gluing and rolling and gluing...
After I finished the gluing I put my pattern pieces on top of the leather (made some adjustments like adding several strips to the sides) and cut around them. The pattern I ended up using was a pattern I created myself, from two existing patterns though unrecognizably transformed. It is an a-line skirt that is not too wide and has a rather straight hemline.
I then added the zipper to the center back - an exposed one, just because I think they are fun and it would add a nice touch to the skirt.
In my stash I only had enough satin bias in bright blue, so that is the one I used for my hem. I fixed it with tape and, again, glue.
Pictures of the inside
After sewing the side seams I added a lining to the skirt and then the job was done!
Front
Back
There were a lot of firsts:
- first time sewing leather (and using clips instead of pins)
- first time using my walking foot (I really don't know why I didn't try this one earlier)
- first time using more glue than thread
On me (in the sno-o-ow)
A bit closer
My daughter took pictures in the snow, the rest of the pictures I took inside, it was too cold and too dark. I made pictures with and without a flashlight, I hope it gives an idea of the beautiful bright colors of the skirt. I am rather proud of the result, so I couldn't resist showing you my latest project! |
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Pattern with more than 5 reviews!
Very impressive-hard to believe it's your first leather project. It looks super!
1/24/13 5:41 PM
Awesome! I love this skirt! Beautiful job!
1/24/13 7:33 PM
Love it!
1/24/13 8:06 PM
This is a wonderful one-of-a-kind skirt!
1/25/13 0:59 AM
It's beautiful. And your first (of many more) leather project. I love the idea. Great job!
1/25/13 9:54 AM
worth the effort!
1/25/13 1:16 PM
It's fantastic and it looks good on you!
2/5/13 5:55 AM