Make Thrift Buy Community Challenge- Scallops

One of my favourite sewing internet types out there is Annika of The Pineneedle Collective. She has a great Youtube channel and her Make Thrift Buy episodes are so inspiring. I’m part of the Community Challenge Group and this month we were challenged to make something inspired by this skirt from Urban Outfitters-

Link to original skirt

It’s pretty cute, no? I liked the scallops, the colour and the button fastening, so I wanted to try and make something pretty true to the original. The challenge encourages using recycled materials, and I already had a yellow Laura Ashley duvet cover in my stash which I had been waiting for a project for, so now was its day.

To make the pattern I followed this video by Q2HAN, having to re-stick various bits of scrap paper together as I made a fair few mistakes following it. In hindsight what I should have done is altered the individual pattern pieces, probably with a lining to create the large scallops on the original skirt. Buuutt, I didn’t have enough lining material lying around and I was on a roll so I didn’t want to go buy new materials. This skirt ended up being made entirely from stuff I already had, which makes it feel like a free skirt. Hey, free skirt! So what I ended up doing is at the stage of the video when it tells you to hem it, I roughly followed this tutorial for a scalloped edge by Colette. Basically, you, turn the hem right sides together, mark the scallops, sew along the lines, then cut the excess, press and turn. It’s a really easy way of getting scallops without cutting a separate facing or similar.

Another challenge in this project was making button holes for the first time. My sewing machine is a Frister and Rossmann Cub 7 and it was my Mum’s when she turned 18. It still works like a charm but it can be tricky to work out how to do non standard things. I found a manual online (we’re living in the future people) and did a LOT of practise button holes. Oh man, this stuff’s like magic! I’m itching to make button holes again now, they’re so satisfying.

Anyway, enough, babbling on, let’s see some photos of the finished result. As soon as I finished the (quite thematically summery) skirt, the weather was terrible for days, so these were taken in my apartment. It may be seasonally inappropriate, and the scallops may be way smaller than the original, but I think it looks pretty damn cute. Look how closely the scallops match up at the front completely by accident! Also how nice is this pattern? I’m so glad I rescued it from the charity shop.As a well done for reading this far, here’s a super awkward photo of me in my bathroom. I’ve learnt a lot from this make and I look forward to wearing it in the real, outside world soon.