Sewing Advice Please...

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My teenage daughter desperately wants this skirt. I told her there is no way anyone is spending $38 on that. She wants to use her own money, but her father (and I agree with him) believes $38 on that is still ridiculous.

So I suggested this pattern with a Hello Kitty! applique. You would have thought I suggested burlap as a feasible alternative. First she tried almost graciously to say "you, um, shouldn't have..." Then she said "can you make that skirt look punk?"

I cannot believe how old I am.

Anywho, she I think will give in, but if anyone can give advice on how to sew the skirt with "more punk" in it I would be much obliged. She wants to wear the skirt with this T-shirt (if they have it girl-cut of course).

8 Comments

This will be an opportunity for her to see how fabrics can make a pattern look totally different. I would make the skirt with the top part black and also shorten it a little, then do the bottom plaid as shown (whatever color she wants). Skip the buckles and frills and just put the hello kitty applique on it. Done.

I would make the skirt with the top part black and also shorten it a little, then do the bottom plaid as shown (whatever color she wants). Skip the buckles and frills and just put the hello kitty applique on it. Done.

That's exactly what I was thinking too. Just when I said the same thing, she sort of looked at me like I was imagining leprechauns out of nowhere. I guess she has to see it to believe it.

The pattern in $1.99 this week at Jo-Ann's, btw.

$38 for a dang min-skirt...grumble grumble

Dinka's suggestions sound perfect.

$1.99... what a relief. After I looked at it, I surfed around and looked at some of the patterns. I nearly fainted at the prices -- when did dress patterns start costing $16.00?

Back to topic. This could be a great learning experience for Miss Posey: she could go through various pictures, circle the articles of clothing that looked "punk", and figure out what they had in common.

And then she could sew the skirt herself, like a real fashionista!

(Seriously, when I was in college, there was a girl down the hall who was very into dressing well. She went to the trouble of bringing her sewing machine to college, and she used it.)

Is Miss Posey in 4-H?

Has dree every sewn herself? Is she familiar with the pattern designers' traditionally hideous taste in fabrics?

These are great suggestions. When I was a teen and my mom made a lot of my clothes, I had a hard time translating the picture on the pattern envelope to the fabric. After tackling a few sewing projects myself, I got better at it. I suspect your daughter will too, with some practice.

Not sure what she means by more punk, though. Is she captivated by the boots in the Hello Kitty photo?

Looks like something I would have worn as a teen. :) You can punk up just about anything (well, not anything really) with a pair of docs (no shorter than the 10 eye. But wait, you want to *save* money, so never mind!

I really do like that pattern you found, though. And I'll jump on the Dinka train on this one as well. Sounds good to me!

How much would the fabric cost?
I have often ended up buying premade rather than making clothes because the fabrics were so darned expensive! But I found that buying clothing at the Goodwill or Salvation Army, and then modifying it, was a satisfyingly punky thing for my kids to do.
All my kids sew. Even the boys.

Alicia,

Funny you should mention that because I am finding the plaid fabics to be exensive. I have to go check-out Jo-Ann's and see if there is anyting I can get with my 40% off coupon.

Also, going to Goodwill migh be a swell idea.

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