Daughters for His Glory

I hope you are all doing well today:-) And striving on strong and courageous in the truth of our great God.

Today, I was able to sew two skirts out of a piece of light weight denim that I found I had.

This is the method I find the most basic of all skirts to sew. It's also great as it is just a big rectangle so you don't waste fabric. And most importantly is biblical as it is long, loose/full and unadorned.

As godly women striving to dress biblically some times it might work best for you to sew your own skirts. I know they can be found in op shops/thrift stores over time and with patience but I share this option in case it can be of any use to anyone.

In today's world there is absolutely no reason to not dress biblical. I mean in a very few places in the world they might not have the choice of fabrics that we do. We in "the West" have more than enough choices for it to be easy to dress biblical. Most of us probably even have a sewing machine so we are blessed to not have to spend so much time on sewing as the women would have had to in the past and even today where they may not have the luxury of a sewing machine...or even money to afford much clothing. We are blessed to have plenty of options in the clothing area in order to clothe ourselves biblically and so we can simply obey God in this area.

So I will just share this little "tutorial" or whatever you want to call it, and what I did to make these skirts. It's not professional by any means and I could have missed something, but I am guessing most of you would know what I mean and have some sewing knowledge. I'll probably put the skirts I sewed on my shop to sell or keep one for myself, but perhaps it might be helpful to someone to share how to sew something simple...and biblical.

If you are making this for yourself, you really only need to start with the measurement of the length you need.

For my skirt, I wanted it to be ankle length which is 85cm/33inches. So I added 5cm/2inches for the waist and 3cm/1inch for the hem. So I cut it out at 93cm/36inches. Make sure your starting edge is straight.

You will need to buy enough fabric to cover this cut length twice. I recommend making 2 skirts at once as it makes the most use of the fabric and none or minimal will be "wasted". So in that case, you will need three times the cut length...plus perhaps add a bit extra to allow for "mistakes".

First fold the fabric right sides together.

And mark and cut the desired length plus allowances (mine was 93cm/36inches). Cut off the selvedge.

Set that piece aside. Now cut the second piece out of the main piece of fabric at the same length (mine was 93cm/36").

With this second piece cut out, I then cut along the folded edge as we do not need two full widths of fabric unless you want a very very full skirt. The other half of this will go towards your second skirt if that is what you are doing. If not it will be a "scrap" piece.

This is a wide fabric I had at 150cm/59" but this skirt should also work with the smaller widths available but it will just not be so full.

Now unfold and lay the first piece you cut out right side up and place the second piece on top so right sides are together.

Like this.

And pin or clip together the edge as pictured (if you want to...or just hold it as you sew).

Sew down that edge...in whatever method you can. I serged then stiched to the left.

So it looks like this...

Yeah, it's not matching colours but it's not going to be seen and they are both navy.

You don't have to do it that way but it's just how I want to do it for anything I sell...and I just use whatever equipment I have. A zig zag stitch to finish the edge on a sewing machine should be fine or even do French seams which actually are very easy and you only do straight stitching but all the seam is enclosed. I haven't done that on a skirt yet but on some pillowcases. I am all for using the most durable and yet easy method. And the good thing should be is that we don't care too much if our clothing isn't exactly right. It really isn't that important to get it "just right"...we just have to wear something.

So now match up the other edges right sides together...

and sew in the same manner.

It should now look like this, a large rectangle sewn into a circle.

Now you just need to add the casing and elastic and then hem it. You can do it however you want but I share how I did it, if you need any help, and based on the measurements I calculated earlier.

For the elastic casing. Fold the top down 1cm/half inch to the wrong side and press.

Then fold again about 3cm/1 " or allowing for however wide your elastic is (I used 2cm elastic) plus a little extra for the seam and room for it to move.

Stitch almost all the way around close to the inner edge

Stop a few cms back from where you started and leave a gap for the elastic to be inserted.

Now, if you are making this for yourself, just wrap some elastic around your waist to see how much you need. Make it a bit tighter than it seems you need as the weight of the skirt will pull it down later etc. If sewing for someone else, you'll need a waist measurement then take several cms/a couple inches off that measurement and cut the elastic.

Put safety pins on both ends of the elastic (one's for if you accidentally pull it in too far.) and thread it through the casing on the skirt.