Two in One! Reversible Maxi Skirt and Butterick 6175

If you are like me, you love it when you can get double anything.  Double cash-back, double chocolate, double the fun!   Reversible clothes fit right into the double fun category.  This skirt is actually two skirts in one.  Side one is a beautiful silk chiffon tie-dye print.  Side two is a solid silk-cotton voile in a stunning royal blue.  Both fabrics are from Fabricmartfabrics.com

The pattern is for a bias cut skirt, Kwik Sew 3087.  It's now out of print, but you can find similar bias cut skirt patterns from all of the major pattern brands.  Why choose bias?  Garments cut on the bias are supposed to drape more gracefully than straight cut garments.  They do take more fabric than a straight cut skirt, but I think it's worth it.  Check out this similarly cut designer skirt on Net-a-Porter for $585!  You can make it, even out of silk, for a whole lot less!

The pattern is just one piece. To make it reversible, you just sew both skirts together at the waistband, and then make an elastic casing with the joining seam at the top.  You are supposed to hem both skirts at the same length, but I tried to make the solid side a tad longer.

The top that I'm wearing with the print skirt is from Butterick 6175.   I wanted to make a short top  out of cream linen that would just be a blank canvas for a long necklace.   I used View B with the bell sleeves.  There is a more tapered short sleeve if you don't like the bell look.

This is a super little pattern that may be a sleeper, but it will work with so many of my printed skirts, that I bet I will get a ton of use from it.  I lowered the neckline about 1-1/2", so that I could avoid having to make the button opening in the back.  I also used a bias strip to bind the neckline rather than have a facing.

Back to the bias skirt.  If you've never made a bias cut garment before, be aware that you need to let the garment hang for at least 24 hours before you hem it.  This is because the garment will grow unevenly, and you'll need to even it out before your final hem.  Here is a photo of what my skirt bottom looked like after 24 hours.  Even though the chiffon and the voile were cut the exact same length, the chiffon grew several inches longer!  To even it out, I walked a yardstick along the skirt, and marked the same level all around each layer.  Then I trimmed off any excess.  If you don't have a dress form, you can have another person do this while you are wearing it.

Hemming a bias cut chiffon is a recipe for frustration, so I decided to use my serger's rolled edge settings and finish each layer with a royal blue rolled edge.

I know that some people don't think maxi-skirts are terribly practical, but I find them extremely easy to wear.  How many skirts can you sit cross-legged with?  And who cares if you haven't shaved your legs in a while?  But, I also don't wear mine so long that they drag on the ground.  Two inches above the ground, and I won't worry about tripping over my skirt.  I won't be running any races in this, but then again, I'm not running races in anything!

So, I don't know which side I like best.  What do you think?  What's your favorite skirt length?

Happy Sewing!

Ann