Two new tube skirts

After I rediscovered my lovely and work friendly comfortable tube skirt I decided it must be time to make a new version. I have been living in my check version the last few weeks. Except when I have had to wash it anyway!

Like the check one both of these two tube skirts are from scraps left over from my other projects
 

 You often get a couple of largish pieces and don't know how to use them bcause there is not enough fabric to do a lot with. Mostly they become pocket linings but I am not currently planning on any trousers or coats so these left overs will be my newest tube skirt.

The starscape skirt I had only enough to cut the front. I thought when measuring my pattern piece against it that there was enough for both front and back and it was not until I had cut it I realised I could not get two halves of my skirt from the weird shaped piece of fabric I had. 

Unfortunately, I ran out of one of my cottons when doing the hem!!! I should know better by now and check before I start sewing. And its on the front! Still I decided to leave this because it marks this fabric if you unpick sewing so I will just have to live with this minor error. I suspect most people will never notice.  You can just about see it in the photo above.

When I came to cut the second pattern piece just did not fit so I opted to use some stretch black cotton jersey instead. It works quite well and gives me a different look. I used the front skirt piece from the New Look 6230 for both front and back of these skirts.

  

I am thinking maybe to make a top out of the off-cuts of both the starscape and black to match at some point. There is enough black for a front and back of a top and I think enough of the starscape for some sleeves - maybe a raglan T shirt?

 

Its worn here with my grey glitter sweatshirt.

The second skirt is the last sizeable piece of my steampunk/ art deco fabric and I already have a short dress and a top made from this which I think will hopefully work well to keep me warm this winter. With thick tights or leggings.

 

Worn here with my navy glitter sweatshirt.

 

And both skirts should help me transition through to autumn/fall with some comfort and ease.  

Its a strange thing to go back to tube skirts after all these years. They were the look of my youth. Partly due to them being cheap to buy if I am honest. 

Now they are back on the high street though I have rediscovered the simplicity and ease with which this style can be worn - dressy, sports wear, and casual depending on the fabric they are made from. And what they are worn with of course.

And a brilliant way to use up scraps. 

I am now thinking this look should be my go-to holiday look since we pretty much always go camping - well except for a very occassional trip abroad but they seem to happen about once in 5 years so we will be in the UK for holidays for the next few years I would think and these skirts are small to pack, crease very little, dry fast, and work with most basic clothing like T shirts and sweatshirts and will be very easy to throw a pair of combat trousers over to keep warm if the weather changes. Also they can be dressy enough for a dinner out. 

Perfect camping holiday gear!

I am now considering a sweatshirt version for winter but that depends if I have enough sweatshirt scraps to do this. So far I have not had time to go through my stash. 

Next time, as well, I will take the extra time to make a couple of button holes in the waistband and add a pull cord like my check skirt,  because the extra detail of the check skirt is a nice feature. I missed it out on these and just added some elastic which works fine, but I think with hindsight its worth the extra effort. Still something for the next version and I do not necessarily really want every short skirt exactly the same. 

Thanks for popping by my blog and see you again soon

Bracken

Check skirt

  

I made this last summer and took the photo then. Then it got far too cold for this look. I got the skirt out of storage though now its getting warmer again and that made me decide to blog about it. Its nice to wear at this time of year. This was really quick and made from left over fabric from my coat. Its really not very warm so has been in storage for the spring since last winter. The skirt is made from New Look 6230 -  the front skirt pattern piece only - cut twice. 

I made several similar skirts back in the spring of 2020 during the first Lockdown and love them all so this will be worn, but it does need the weather to change a bit because even with thick tights this lightweight fabric will be too cold. These photos were taken back in August 2020 and it was very hot then.

 It will make a very good summer skirt though and was possibly the best way to use the last decent sized scraps of this fabric before I throw the rest away - I am being ruthless now in my clearance because I have bags and bags of very small scraps which yes they could make a pair of knickers or something but I really do not have space to keep all of it and I generate similar sized pieces pretty much whenever I sew. I also bought some new pieces of fabric from Minerva and I want to make that into things so my scrap bags really must go.

  The waistband is just a scrap left over from something I made at some time - I am not sure what! Its ribbed stretch fabric

I added a buttonhole at the front to thread a pull cord through and put a toggle on this and voila! Sporty short skirt thats actually wearable in the office. Its shown here with my camo Noelle which I wear as underwear all the time and wore loads last summer with lightweight tops over it. Probably this get-up is not really very age appropriate but then I was just in the garden when the photo was taken and not going out anywhere in public. I reckon over the next few weeks I shall enjoy wearing this now the weather is getting a bit warmer.

 Stay safe now.

Bracken

Short tube skirt

This is another tube skirt made from just the front pattern piece of New Look 6230. I made this type of skirt several times before and prefer to a more formal pencil skirt which this pattern  is meant to make. It works for me.

The fabric used for this skirt is just a small piece left over from my green snakeskin dress and top - or dress depending how you look at that outfit. ts cotton lycra jersey so ideal for this kind of garment.

This is a great stash buster pattern as well, because its hard to find ways to use very small pieces of fabric other than making underwear and I think I should get at least one pair of knickers out of what I still have left anyway, and how many pairs of green snakeskin knickers do I really want to make?

This is a bit longer than the black velvet skirt made exactly the same way. I made a couple of other skirts as well back in spring time.




Other short skirts made from this pattern:

I suppose I could also wear the one shoulder top which makes up part of my dress with this as well but I have not tried that out as yet.

Thats actually down to how big the fabric piece left over is though. I reckon use it all because its less wasteful so this is actually possibly even wearable for work on the right day.

I am getting converted to these kind of tube skirts. This is really quite funny because if I did not make these myself I would not waste money on them but when they are a by-product, so to speak, of something else I have made I enjoy them very much.

 

This will also work for warmer days in Autumn or with tights and boots on colder days so I feel my winter wardrobe has started now too.

Take care, stay safe

Bracken