sensational

49 skirts Alison Willoughby

Creative Embellishment Ideas For One-of-a-kind Designs

10 skirtmaking

Inspiration

Choosing a source for your inspiration is very subjective. Whatever you choose, it 1 There are plenty of decorative
fabrics available. Most shops will allow
has to be something that you love, not a secondary image—for example an image you to buy small amounts,
out of a magazine or someone else’s work—but something that is your own work. or to take swatches away with you.
You need to make it your own—it should be your image, your photograph, your
2 An artist’s studio is a fascinating
video, or your drawing. If the image is your own firsthand inspiration, then you will place. A repository for found objects,
have a strong base—something to look back to, and rely upon later in the design inspirational photographs and images,
process. sketches, and swatches, as well as
work in progress.

If you are stuck for inspiration, try this technique: enlarge a favorite image or photograph. 3 Fabrics can be found in all sorts of
Increasing an image’s dimensions not only creates a larger area to look at, but the details that places, as well as traditional
were tiny become larger and more abstracted. Take the photo and put it on a large piece of paper dressmaking sources. Markets can
often offer unexpected finds for
so there is space to look at it, and nothing else is distracting the eye. First, look at the whole instance, and Indian sari shops have
image and do a color study of it, mixing with paint the exact colors to match the photograph. beautifully colored lightweight silks.
Secondly, use a viewfinder (a piece of paper with a rectangle or square cut into the middle of
4 Stores that cater to particular
it) to do a color study of a favorite area in the photograph. Examine the exact colors again—how
disciplines may yield great finds. This
many different reds are there in the world? Tomato red, fire engine red, rust red, apple red, radish particular shop is in London’s Soho,
red, terra-cotta red, traffic-light red, rouge red… By focusing in on a smaller area, you will find it and supplies theatrical costumiers as
easier to mix the colors you need. well as the local burlesque shows.

5 Thrift stores and antique markets

Shape and texture can be explored in much the same way. Looking at the minute details is are a treasure trove of inspirational
crucial for this way of working. Study the detail, make a drawing of it, change the scale of it, and finds, from costume jewelry, to
artificial fruits.
make a sketch from it, or on it. These marks can be transferred, quite literally, straight onto a
textile, whether this is by drawing and painting straight onto the fabric, or screen printing and 6 Work that is nearing completion can
embroidering straight onto fabric. Texture can be represented by a certain quality of fabric—for be hung in your workspace while you
decide what finishing touches it may
example, PVC is good to represent a shiny painted surface, and mohair is good to represent a
require.
fluffy cloud, or a dog’s hairy coat.

Choosing fabric
The type of material that you choose for your skirts will be integral to the final
result and its success, or otherwise. Thick, heavyweight canvas fabrics, like
cotton twill or denim, will be tough and wear well. However, too many layers of
weighty material will be challenging to wear. Conversely, expecting lightweight
silky fabrics to support a complicated ruffle, or embellishments would be
foolhardy. Balance a sturdy layer, with a finer lining, or match your ambitions
to the fabric you have in hand.
62 the collection
Tie Silks
Men’s ties provide such a wide selection of patterned, colored, and textured
fabric. When using all these ties, you get a variation of fabric, color, and
shape because you only have a small amount of each fabric.
1. Pick apart the seams on the ties you
are going to use and iron flat, making
sure the diamond template fits onto
each piece of fabric.
2. Lay ties onto leftover pieces of fabric
from the skirt base. Sew through both
layers down the center of the tie silks.
Place the diamond template so that
both the top and bottom points are
directly on the sewn line, and draw
around it. Draw out twenty diamonds
and cut them out—you can do more if
you need them.
3. When all the diamonds are cut out,
take your tailor’s chalk and mark a
dot on the skirt where you would like
to see the first cluster of diamonds.
Take a diamond, and with the silk
facing upward, place the top point
Materials & Equipment
➜ Secondhand skirt, or about
2 yd (2 m) fabric for skirt
base—use the pattern
provided
on the dot of tailor’s chalk. Start at ➜ Leftover pieces of fabric from
the bottom point and, following the the skirt base
already sewn line, use running stitch ➜ Old ties
to sew down the middle and hold ➜ Buttons
the diamond in place. When you get
➜ Large diamond template F
to the end, leave the needle in the
➜ Card for template
fabric, take another diamond and
place it next to the first diamond.
Sew up and back along the diamond,
so that you finish at the join of both
diamonds. see also
Deconstruction, pages 12–13
4. Work a whole diamond cluster in this Cutting and stitching layered
way, using six diamonds for each shapes, page 49
diamond cluster. Repeat these steps
for the rest of the skirt. If you think
you need more diamond clusters,
tip
mark more dots with the tailor’s chalk.
Take into consideration the base
Finish the center of each cluster with a
fabric of the skirt when selecting
button.
the color and pattern of ties. Here
we chose black and red.
GALLERY OF PROJECTS

Inverted Rainbow

Plume Around and Around

 Willesclen's Flowers

Buttons Tapestry
 sensational
49 skirts
Create runway-worthy fashion! contents
Make head-turning, show-stopping skirts using simple
sewing and embellishment techniques with 49 Sensational FOREWORD
Skirts. Transform thrift store finds into runway-worthy
fashions with clever customizations or make and decorate SKIRTMAKING
a skirt from scratch using the handy bound-in pattern INSPIRATION
template—no previous sewing knowledge necessary! DECONSTRUCTION
Author Alison Willoughby, an innovative textile designer CONSTRUCTION
known as “skirtgirl” for her work on hand-constructed DECORATIONS
intricate skirts, offers up forty-nine fabulous skirt designs, PAPER PATTERNS
plus one sassy mini skirt, in this innovative sewing and MAKING UP
customizing book. FASTENINGS
FINISHING
Inside crafters will find:
●  ore techniques illustrated with step-by-step photo-
C THE COLLECTION
graphs, from sewing fabric into seams, pleating and LOOPS & TAGS
ruching to screen printing and adding embellish- LAYERING
ments. USING FOUND OBJECTS
● Instructions on manipulating fabric to create fabulous MARK MAKING
effects such as ruffles, loops and layers; how to deco- CUTTING & STICKING
rate your skirt using beads, buttons, badges, ribbons, RUFFLES & RUNCHING
and myriad found objects; how to create unique prints
and patterns with pens, paints, and foil. GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Also included is a special section by the author on inspiration INDEX

exercises to get your creativity flowing. 49 Sensational
Skirts has all of the information an aspiring skirt maker
needs to get started creating custom fashions.

Alison Willoughby works almost exclusively with the skirt.

Its large flat surface is the ideal canvas for the application of
layered and manipulated fabric. Alison has been running her own
business in London since graduating from The Royal College of
Art, with an MA in Constructed Textiles Mixed Media. She has
exhibited, sold, and lectured internationally. Paperbound, 71⁄2 x 9 3⁄4 , 128 pages
700 photographs
© April 2008 Interweave Press LLC is distributed to the book trade in the U.S. ISBN 978-1-59668-061-6
and Canada by I ndependent P ublishers G roup, in the U.K. and Europe by Search
$24.95 US/$29.95 CAN
Press, in New Zealand by David Bateman Ltd., and in Australia by Keith Ainsworth
P ty Ltd. Interweave Press LLC is also the publisher of 14 craft magazines including April 2008
Fiberarts, Piecework, Quilting Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, and Interweave Knits.