I’ve been obsessed with brocade wrap skirts since I saw them on the Proenza Schouler AW12 runway, and recently I worked with Grazia UK to bring to life my favourite AW12 trend. This was possibly the most simple project I’ve done in a while, and I urge you to have try. You can definitely sew this one by hand if you want to (bonus!).
You need:
- 2 yards of brocade fabric
- Scissors
- Matching thread
- 2 or 3 press buttons
- A sewing machine (or hand sew)
How to:
1. The first thing to do is to wrap the fabric around your hips and work out how long you want the hem to be, marking that with a pin. Then cross the fabric over in front of you to work out how much fabric you need so that the it rosses over at the front without gaping when you walk. Mine was approximately 1.7 times my waist. Then cut to size, adding 2 inches for the hems all the way around.
2. Fold the edges of the skirt over all the way around the skirt, iron and then sew down. I used a zig zag stitch so I could cover the raw edges to reduce fraying. If you want, you can use hemming tape to do this if you don’t want to sew.
3. You should essentially have a long rectangular piece of fabric that folds across your front. Drop one side down to create the asymmetric hem.
4. If your skirt sticks out around the waist at the back, which it most probably will unless you have a very flat bottom, create some darts by sewing two angled V’s into the back to create a more form fitting shape. Use pins to work out the best shape before sewing the dart.
5. Wrap the skirt around you and work out where to put the snap buttons. You want one at the hip attaching one end anone at the front at the other end where the front edge overlaps. Wherever you have two pieces of fabric that overlap is a great place to put a snap button so the skirt is secure. Stitch the snap buttons on.
Such a simple skirt to make! And easily done with any semi-stiff fabric.
I wore this skirt on Day 1 of New York Fashion Week and quite a few people commented on it – proof that you don’t need to splash loads of cash in order to look great!
Make sure you grab a copy of Grazia this week to see my tutorial in the magazine.
Images: my own and Vogue.com
