Everywhere I look I see little outfits with a co-ordinating top and bottom, and I love it. They are really cute and give different take on summer dresses. Here I have made a matching crop top and a pleated skirt inspired by this trend.
What you will need:
- A pattern for a pleated skirt (I used Butterick B5929)
- A pattern for a box top with sleeves (I used Butterick 5948)
- A lightweight fabric (the amount will be specified on the pattern)
- A 7″ zip
- 2m of trim for the bottom of the crop top
- 1m of bias binding in matching colour
- A small amount of ribbon
- A matching button
First, cut out all of the pattern pieces to your size and place them on the fabric. You can mark on all of the little symbols on the pattern pieces on your fabric using tailors chalk or pins. I don’t, simply because I can never be bothered, but also because this is time consuming. These two garments aren’t extremely hard, so all you need to keep in mind are the grain line (only if there is a distinct pattern on your fabric) and the notches that will help you match up the pieces.
I started with the skirt as I thought this would take the longest. Logically, I sewed all of the pieces together with a simple straight stitch, matching all of the notches up. I left the back pieces where the zip will be going open, giving me a really long piece of fabric. At this point, I overlocked the seams, but a zig zag stitch works just as well to prevent fraying.
Instead of focussing on where the pattern says the pleats should go, I decided that the length of the pleats should be 4″, with a fold of an 1″ and be right next to each other. I chose 4″ because this gives a nice big box pleat and it’s also an even, easy number to work with.
Pleats:
To make the pleats, I first found the centre of the skirt. To do this, simply fold it all in half, then mark the middle with a pin. Lay the fabric flat and measure where the first pleat would go. As I wanted a 4″ pleat, I measured 2″ on either side of the centre pin and marked them with a pin. This way the first pleat is in the centre of the skirt.
Measure an inch away from pin “1” and mark with a pin. Similarly, measure an inch to the right of pin “2” and mark with a pin. Overall, when measured from furthest pin to pin, it should span 6″. Fold the furthest pin on the left underneath pin “1” and secure with pins. On the right, fold the furthest pin underneath pin “2” and secure with pins. And now we have our first pleat!
To continue all the way round the skirt you have to measure an inch away from the pleat, mark with a pin. From this pin, measure another 1″ and mark with a pin. Now, fold the 1st pin underneath the second and secure with pins. From this fold, measure 4″, mark with a pin, measure another 1″ and mark with a pin. Fold the last pin underneath the 3rd pin and secure with pins. Keep going until you reach the end of the fabric.
When you have done this, Sew down the pleats with a medium length stitch, just to secure them. Then iron to set your pleats.
Waistband:
Cut a strip of fabric double to height that you want your waistband to be. I wanted mine 3″ high so i cut a strip that was 6″ high. Don’t worry about the length of it yet, as long as its either the same length as the skirt or a bit bigger, you can trim it later. Iron and sew it in half, making sure that the right side is on the outside, any seams can be hidden inside the skirt.
Then, pin the seam on the waist band to the outside top of the skirt section and sew. Now, when you fold the waist band up, you now have a waistband with no seams showing on the outside.
Wrap the fabric around you, pin where it fits so that the waist band is tight, then trim, leaving a couple of inches spare.
Zip:
As this is a normal zip, we have to put a fold over the top of it to conceal it, or else you would be able to see it. To do this, sew one side of the zip to the skirt back at the top, as close to the teeth as you can. Then on the other side, fold about half an inch of fabric over and secure this fold and the zip to the fabric. Then, close up the back of the skirt using a simple straight stitch. Stitch the excess fabric over the zip down.
Hem:
Measure from your waist to the length that you want the skirt to come. Then, using this measurement, measure from the bottom the of the waistband the length and mark with pins. Cut to this length.
Finish the hem with a rolled hem. Fold the hem over once and sew. Then fold it over again and sew this new fold.
Top:
This is a lot easier than the skirt. After cutting out the pieces, sew the two back pieces together (leaving about 3″ at the top open), then the shoulders and sides of the front and back together. Finish the seams with a zig zag stitch or an overlocker. Insert the sleeve by first folding the piece in half and sewing the straight section together. Then, line this seam up with the side seam and sew around the shoulder. Finish this seam.
Finish all the raw edges with a zig zag stitch or overlocker. Fold over the edges of the sleeves and hem of the top once and sew down. For the neck line, use bias binding and cut little triangles out of the seam to ensure that the neckline sits flat.
Secure the fabric at the top of the back with a stitch line and make a ribbon loop. Do this by cutting a length of ribbon, long enough to fit your button through it. Fold it in half and secure with a couple of stitches. Sew this to the top of the back. Across from the ribbon, sew on your button, make sure you use plenty of stitches to stop it coming loose.
Line up the trim with the hem of the top and sew through the trim onto the top with a matching thread. When you get to end of the top, simply trim the excess trim and using a very close zig zag stitch, sew up the two ends of the trim to avoid it fraying.
What a Treasure 