Sew Along

simplicity skirt 2226 sew along – day 5

Welcome back for day 5 of the sew along, you can catch up onย day 1,ย day 2,ย day 3, day 4ย anytime as well.ย 


Today’s our last work day. ย We’ll be finishing the waistband and hemming! ย 

Finish waistband:

Sew the remaining waistband facing pieces together just like you did the other waistband pieces. This time though you’ll want to finish the bottom curved edge of the waistband. ย Use a pinking shears, zig zag stitch, overlock stitch, or I even did a tiny rolled hem on my original skirt. ย There really isn’t a wrong way, do what feels right for you. ย 


* A reader pointed out that I was using a 3/8″ seam allowance on these pieces and she’s correct. ย It’s my way of adjusting for a little bit larger fit, so it’s somewhere between a size 6 and 8. ย I wasn’t going to mention it, but on this pattern at least, you can make adjustment like that to the waistband and it doesn’t affect how the skirt attaches since it’s gathered. ย Hopefully that makes a little bit of sense. ย Okay, moving along…



Pin the waistband facing top edge to the top edge of the waistband on the skirt, making sure to align side seam of waistband with that of the waistband facing. ย The facing will extend past the back of the skirt on each side, that’s normal. ย Simplicity says to move the carriers (belt loops) out of the way so you can topstitch them later, but I chose to sew them into the seam. ย You don’t have to, it’s just the way I wanted to make it easier. ย So if you want to sew them into the seam, just sandwich them in between the waistband and waistband facing and pin them in place. ย Sew.



Next we’ll understitch the waistband facing so it doesn’t end up rolling to the outside of the skirt when you’re wearing it. ย Press the seam allowance up towards the facing and sew close to the seam. ย 



Press the waistband facing to the inside of the skirt. ย Tuck in the back edges that are along the zipper so that there are no raw edges. You can finish them in by hand sewing like step 29 in the pattern, but I’m lazy and sewed them down with my machine, I just stitched along the stitch lines that were there from sewing in the zipper.



On the outside of the skirt stitch close to the waistband seam. ย That’s it for the waistband unless you chose to leave the belt loops out of the way, if so you’ll topstitch them in place now. You can also sew in the hook/eye, I skipped sewing mine in, but it’s up to you!



Hemming:



Okay, so if you’re ready to finish them hem, I would suggest trying the skirt on to see if you still like the length of the skirt. ย You’ll press the bottom edge to the WRONG side by 1/4″ then turn and press again and stitch close to the inner fold, just like in step 34. ย You can use a pretty long stitch length if you want.



I wanted to try something new for me, so I did a blind hem on both my skirts. ย It’s a little different, but a nice finish. You can follow the directions in your sewing machine’s manual, or there’s a great tutorial here. ย 



You’re finished! ย Thanks for sewing along with me. ย If you want there’s already a Simplicity Patterns flickr group for you to add your photos to. ย I might also do a linky party possibly this weekend, but maybe next just so everyone has time to finish up. ย How does that sound? Let me know if you’d be interested in that.

39 thoughts on “simplicity skirt 2226 sew along – day 5

  1. Laura says:

    So THAT is what that funny stitch on my machine is for! Haha, thanks for the ‘tute.

  2. aksherry says:

    Your skirt turned out cute! and I love your boots. I really, really need to get myself a pair.

  3. Your skirt turned out so beautiful Anna!! And it goes so perfectly with all those autumn leaves!

  4. Mommy of 3 says:

    I love the skirt and sweater! Where did you get that lovely sweater? I will need to make a skirt for myself.

  5. Anna says:

    thanks you guys! ๐Ÿ™‚ the sweater is from old navy. yay for that!

  6. Rebecca says:

    Oh, I love this skirt! Garment sewing still scares me to death, but if I ever get brave enough to try and make myself something again I’ll have to try this out.

  7. Emily says:

    Love your outfit and these pictures! I wasn’t able to sew along this week but hopefully after I finish Christmas presents. ๐Ÿ™‚ Love the look of the blind hem and your detailed pictures/descriptions.

  8. Crystal says:

    Love your skirt! I’m a day behind, I almost gave up last night–my materials thick and gathering was ridiculous, my threads kept breaking… in the end I hand stitched a line with embroidery thread and did it that way! Hoping to finish up this afternoon ๐Ÿ™‚ Now to go sew the zipper…

  9. Cola says:

    The skirt looks amazing! …and I LOVE the fall pictures!

  10. Kerry says:

    Looks great and it has been an excellent sew-a-long, handy link for the blind hemming too!

  11. tusen says:

    Your skirt looks lovely and you look great in it.
    I’ve just finished mine and I’m quite happy with it, although next time I will sew it one size smaller.
    Thank you so much for this sew-a-long, I’ve learnt so much and had fun, too. And I hope it’s not the only time I’ve sewn a garment.

  12. Janelle says:

    I really liked the first one, but I think I LOVE the orange one! I couldn’t “sew along” this time, but I have this one bookmarked for later. great job!

  13. Nova says:

    so cute Anna! thanks for the blind hem link ๐Ÿ™‚
    x

  14. Fab says:

    almost finish mine a linky party would be great, thanks for the sew along I hope you do another in the future. It was fun.

  15. Kristie says:

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  16. Kristie says:

    Two skirts done. As soon as it stops raining long enough to go outside, I’ll get a few pictures for the Flikr group. Thanks for providing the motivation and advice to make it happen. I’m sort of addicted now. I bought a great burnt orange shot cotton for a holiday skirt today. I’m up for any future sew alongs. Thanks!

  17. Jamie says:

    Your skirt turned out awesome, love the color, I think a linky party would be great! I just finished mine today

  18. Krista says:

    Thanks so much for the sew along! I’m so glad I took part! Can’t wait to wear my skirt to work on Monday. Oh and your skirt is adorable. It matches the 241 tote I made! ๐Ÿ™‚

  19. LT says:

    Thanks so much for the sew-a-long. Sadly, my waistband wasn’t the right size (should have done a trial as you suggested first), so I need to reaquire some fabric and then “make it work”. Thanks again!

  20. Christina says:

    love this skirt. Once I fix my sewing machine, I’ll have to try it. Thanks for the tutorial!

  21. aw man, I wanted to make this so bad but didn’t have any time this week. Maybe soon! I have fabric and everything. Did you get highlights? Your hair looks great!

  22. Clover says:

    I Love the skirt fabric. I think of HR as fabric for kids clothes but duh what a perfect fall skirt. I wish I could have done a sew along you should do another one in January after Christmas but before Boy week.

  23. kristin says:

    anna, it looks awesome. i didn’t get to the store to get the pattern so i missed the sewalong, but i fully intend to catch up once i make it there! i need this skirt in my wardrobe, and your tips for sewing “adult” clothes are so helpful. thanks for your hard work on this! ๐Ÿ™‚

  24. Gochoun says:

    This skirt is so cute on you, and you styled it very well too.
    I have *almost* finished mine, will try the blind hem as well. Thanks for organizing this, it was fun and a great way to stop postponing this project.

  25. Delia says:

    Anna…you are so pretty! Love the skirt and your fabric choices are always spot on. These tutorials are so informative. I am so glad you have them on your blog so I can refer back to them if I need to!

  26. Lizzet says:

    Great! Thank you for all your help, photos, detail step by step instructions and time. I have really gained confidence doing this skirt, I am planing to do a second one already! I would love to post my link as soon as I finish it but just give me a few days to finish the skirt ๐Ÿ˜‰

  27. Lydia says:

    You look HOT! ๐Ÿ™‚ Love the skirt, photos and you, as always!
    Nice work. Great to see you all this weekend. We love you all.

  28. you in the fall leaves and boots and adorable skirt and your gorgeous hair…[sigh]…i could almost be convinced that that skirt would be cute on me. i’ll ponder this after the new year. i MUST finish some old projects that are piling up.

  29. MaryAnnB says:

    Love your skirt, the fabric is so fun! I am behind as my back went out and sitting at the sewing machine is quite painful right now… hope to be ‘back’ to sewing in a day or two. I did cut another skirt in a beautiful deep red/brown print I purchased years ago to make a feathered star quilt… thanks again for the sew-along and all the great tips!

  30. **nicke... says:

    very cute anna! i am so far behind! i haven’t even started with day one yet! i suck!

  31. Marina says:

    Thanks so much for all the work you put into the tute Anna. Your photos are so much better than the dreary black and white pattern instructions!

    I’ve finished my skirt (which I love after a couple of fixes!) and in the next few days will get some snaps taken to blog and add to your link party.

  32. amye says:

    thank you so much for hosting the sew along! i am an instant gratification type, so any bumps in the road typically cause me to set a project aside. so, when the skirt was WAY too big (even though i made a test waistband – i should have accounted for the drop it would make after the top band seam allowance factored in) i normally would have called it quits right there. BUT, since i was doing the sew along i didn’t quit and i redid the whole back. so happy i did! thanks for the inspiration and for your time and energy. xoxo

  33. Love the skirts that you made so much that I made my own, which can be found here http://busyquiltingmama.blogspot.com. The directions were amazing and I love the outcome!

  34. Cindi says:

    Yippee just finished my skirt! Loving it but did realize i gained a few pound over the last few months ๐Ÿ™ and my material is a bit see through t! My daughter recons I can still wear it to the beach hahaha!

    Thank you so much for the excellent instructions!Will post pic’s soon!

  35. Thanks so much for creating this tutorial! You helped me finish my skirt so much faster and with less frustrated swearing : )

  36. Anonymous says:

    Thanks so much for this tutorial! Like the previous comment, it saved me lots of frustration and I got my skirt done by my deadline!! How about a video tutorial too?

    Thanks again,
    Sara

  37. Shannon says:

    Thanks to your wonderful tutorial I finished my skirt!!! yeehaw I love it! See it on my blog

    http://shanniloves.blogspot.com/2012/05/polka-dot-skirtsimplicity-2226.html

  38. Susan Maliff says:

    I’m a few years behind, but I came across this sew along after purchasing this pattern recently. This was my first time sewing (ever) and I found your instructions to be spot on. Since I had never sewn before, I didn’t attempt the french seams because I didn’t really understand what they were. After completing the skirt, I used fabric scraps to try a french seam on ….perfection. I will definitely make another with the French seams. I am certain that I could not have sewn this without your instruction. So glad I found this. Thank you ¡

  39. Claire says:

    I just wanted you to know that even though you did this Years ago! I just made one of these and your sew along was Soooooo helpful! I prevented me messing up so many times! (I don’t usually see with patterns I usually just wing it!) I still don’t entirely get how they make the zip but I just put it in the regular way! Thanks so much!!

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