How to Sew a Tube Dress - the ILA Roots Dawta Dress

Blessed Love every I!

I finally made something that you can wear out  for a date night with your KingMan or to a special occasion, the first dress I ever made for myself was in this style, especially because I hate sleeves - in the tropics you need to be cool! But because I personally don't really wear tubes anymore without a jacket or scarf as I matured in the livity, I stopped making them, so this is the first Roots Dawta Dress Ive made in a lonnngg time. Im pretty pleased with how it came out. I styled it without a shoulder covering so you could see it properly, but do check the tutorials on how to make the Ises wrap and the Shrug so that you can be appropriately covered if going to a formal Rastafari gathering.

This dress can also double as a skirt, but because of the inside zigzag stitching, doing that is up to you since it will show through - your thread would have to be an exact match and the top part probably in black for you to pull it off properly.  or I can recommend making two side seams for the jersey top instead of one seam at the back, and then sewing the elastic into the seams one time at the halfway mark. that way you wont have any zigzag stitches to hide.

Happy sewing Sistren!

Sis Ila

How to Sew a Maxi Skirt with Pockets Tutorial

Blessed Love

 I wanted to make an all denim skirt for a while, but out of actual jeans. Then I bought some stretch denim for another project and decided last minute to do the maxi skirt tutorial using that. Then I found a great pocket tutorial here and yay I get to do a maxi in denim with pockets!

Use whatever fabric you want really - it can be afrikan print because this particular tutorial is not really for knit fabrics, it doesn't matter and the tutorial is just the standard for making a maxi - just sew straight down if you don't want pockets.

How to make a maxi skirt with pockets
or the Homemade denim skirt

Materials:

1 ½ inch elastic

Stretch Denim or other Fabric

Pocket fabric

Thread

Yard rule

Chalk

Scissors

Pins

Sewing machine

iron

1. Determine your skirt height with a measuring tape, then add 4 inches.

2. Cut off the excess height of material.

3. Take your hip or buttocks measurement, divide by 2 and add 2 inches. This is the width of the skirt. Mine is 19.

4. Fold fabric in half: Divide this figure by 2 again and mark it out from the fold, which was 9.5 inches.





5.  The fold is on the right. Use the rule and chalk to make a triangle coming down on both sides> be sure not to put too much of a slant because this will give problems in making a smooth elastic casing and hemline. Pin the fabric together and cutout the skirt panels.

 

 

 6. Cut out your pockets:

Fold pocket fabric twice so you will cut out 4 pieces at once. Put your hand down on the fabric and draw a half-heart shape around it. Pin and cut out the heart shape, make sure to cut a straight line along the fold to make the pieces 4 separate ones. The fold is the straight side where the pocket is joined to the skirt, so cut well.

7. Zigzag all the edges of skirt and pockets.


8. With right side of one skirt panel facing up, on both sides mark 6 inches down from the top of the skirt. Get one of the four pocket pieces and carefully line it up along the edge of the skirt panel, edge to edge. The pocket will be on the inside of the skirt. Do the other side and repeat for the next skirt panel also.

Tip: In order to make sure the pockets line up, use the first panel, pin it at the bottom of the second panel at the very top, lining up edges. Then pin the pockets for the secon panelfrom there.

9. Make what I’ve been told is called a “bead stitch” which is very close, but not too close, to the edge of the skirt, joining the pocket to skirt. Just set your stitch width to be close to the right side of the presser foot. Do this for all the pockets.

10. Press out those 4 seams, making the pockets now stick outside the skirt.

11. Place and pin the skirt panels together, right sides together. Pin the pockets also.

 

 

 12. Now mark in the ½ inch seam lines – if you need to, at the sides of the skirt – including the pockets.

 

13. Sew the seam lines. It will be one continuous seam with a bit of turning and lifting the presser foot to enter and leave the pocket area. It is not one line down but around the pocket.

In order to sew up the left side, I started at the bottom and came up with no problem.

 
14. Iron out the side seams.

15. Next make the elastic casing – turn the top over about 2 inches, and sew using a straight stitch. Leave a gap, and then insert the elastic with a safety pin into that gap.

 Zigzag the edges of the elastic, fix inside the casing and seal up that space in the waist band seam.

16. Make your hemline by pressing in two ½ or ¼ inch folds, pin and sew in place.
I left my hem raw because I only added 3 inches to my length and I wanted my skirt long. I want it to fray too.
(If you don’t have a wide belt you might need to make a tie)

Finished!
Now you have a DIY homemade denim skirt if you used denim like I did.

So I tried styling the skirt with all the different products I make through ila designs - the bracelets, necklace, earrings, belts, crochet bags, the Royal Tee shirt and of course the maxi (which I usually make in afro colours)

 pockets!

Here's one of my latest bags which coordinates with many pieces in my 2012 Goddess Collection
~ The Dawta Bag ~

I hope the Sistren who sew and will attempt to make their pockets and/or maxi skirts ~ using Sweet Verbena's great method of course ~ will soon forward some pictures to either my facebook or my email so I can post it up.

 ~ Ila