Tutorials | Rosie's Whimsy

a little scrappy storage box

i made a little storage box to put my needles in ….

little scrappy storage box

would you like to make one, too?

you can make this any size you’d like. i wanted to make a tiny one with some fabric scraps just big enough to put some extra needle packs, some chalk, and my little screw driver into and place beside my sewing machines.

for this size, you will need

5″x10″ outside material
5″x10″ lining material
and 4.5″x9.5 heavy fusible interfacing (use 1 piece of a craft weight type or double/triple up on a lighter weight seamstress type)

adhere interfacing onto the back of your outside material
cut the material in half so you end up with 2 5′x5′ squares of each of the lining and the outside material
next cut out 2 squares at the bottom of each square. i used 1.25″ as my measurement

place right sides of lining blocks together and then the outside blocks together – lining up the open squares at the bottom
sew the sides and bottom along the straight edges of the outside blocks
sew the sides of the lining blocks and just 1/2″ in on each side of the bottom straight edge (leaving an opening to turn the box, later)

open the box made by your seams and match the side seam to the bottom seam
sew across the end

turn the box made from your outside material right side out. leave the lining with the right side inside.
slide the outside box into the lining box … lining up the side seams and the edges
stitch the two boxes together at the top
gently nudge, pull, jerk the outside box through the opening in the lining till it looks like the bottom right picture

with seam allowance tucked inside close bottom seam of the lining with a topstitch close to the edge
now, you can tuck the lining down into your little storage box

you can let a little of the lining peek out the top and use it “tall” or fold over the top to make a decorative band for a shorter box

and your done! now fill it up

little scrappy storage box

rosie's whimsy circle skirt tutorial

this is what we are making today!

circle skirt with yoga style knit waistband

are you ready? here we go….

this is what you need:
a/ a square of material – depends on the length of skirt you desire … see step 1

suitable fabrics: quilting cottons, home dec cotton, light to mid weight woven, jean, or cotton sateen material. the ability to drape nicely is important. **always wash and dry your material before you start**

b/ 1/3 yard of rib knit material ( I use cotton with 5 to 10% lycra)

first comes the cutting:
1/ size of square: this depends on the length of skirt you desire …. measure from your belly button to the length you desire and add approximately 2 inches … then double that to get the total for your square … for this demonstration, I used a 58″ square (1 5/8 yards of 58″ embroidered denim).

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial step 1

2/ fold material in half and then again length wise … this will give you one corner with 4 loose corners … the corner diagonally across from it will be all folds …. the folded corner is where we will begin cutting.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial step 2

3/ lay your folded material with the folded corner closest to you … with a ruler and a marking tool of your choice ( I use tailor’s chalk) … make a mark in an arc pattern from the corner (according to the size chart).

small – misses 4/6 – waist cut – 4 3/4″
medium – misses 8/10 – waist cut – 5 1/4″
large – misses 12/14 – waist cut – 5 3/4″

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial step 3

4/ the next cut is made measuring from your waist cut … I used a yardstick and carefully moved the same length (in my case 23″) around the arc of the waist cut marking another larger arc for your hem cut … if you have started with a square, you will be basically be going from side corner to side corner marking a quarter circle.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial step 4

5/ with you quarter skirt laying flat, mark each fold with a pin … making 4 equally measured marks … front, back, and both sides.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial waistband cut

5/ now for the waistband … I use a 10″ vertical length of material … make sure your fabric stretch is in the width of the material … then cut the width of band according to the size chart.

small – size 4-6 – cut band 10″x24.5″
medium – size 8-10 – cut band 10″x26.5″
large – size 12-14 – cut band 10″x 28.5″

now for the sewing:

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial waistband

1/ fold your waistband in half, right sides together, short sides together … make a seam 3/8″ seam widening to 3/4″ at halfway mark and then taper back out again to 3/8″ … this, again, makes an arc or curve (makes a nice fit along the middle of the back) … trim off excess to 1/4″ (sewing a second row of stitching is personally what I do here for added strength)

2/ fold band, wrong sides together and pin seams together … laying the tube flat with the fold along one side, place a pin at the fold … now lay the tube with seam across from that first pin … pin each of the 2 new folds… this gives you 4 equally measured quadrants.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial waistband 2

3/ with skirt inside out and the band inside, pin waistband to skirt aligning each quadrant of the skirt to the corresponding quadrant of the band **note – there is no front or back to this skirt until you place the seam of the band onto your skirt … then, that is the back of your skirt**

4/ after pinning, sew a 3/8″ seam stretching your knit band to fit as you go ( if you are not comfortable with that, stretch and pin before you start)

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial waistband 3

5/ serge or zigzag your raw edges and turn the skirt right side out.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial waistband 4

6/ next top stitch the top of the skirt 1/4″ below the waistband seam with the seam folded down underneath under your stitching area.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial hem

7/ serge or zigzag the raw edge of your hem … fold over 1/2″ and machine stitch your hem close the edge of your zigzag or serged edge … if you are using a lightweight cotton, you can make a rolled hem if you prefer.

rosies whimsy skirt tutorial the big finish