I just crossed an item off my weaving bucket list! Make a ‘cello skirt from handwoven fabric. A ‘cello skirt must be long, and full, and pretty. And if I can wear boots with it, so much the better. A favorite tiered skirt that I made a couple years ago from commercial fabric became the pattern for designing the handwoven fabric for a new skirt. This project included weaving a printed design by stamping the warp on the loom before it was woven. (To see this project develop, check out Related Posts in the sidebar.)
I needed five lengthwise tiers, so I planned it out so that each tier would have a different stamped pattern. This is light blue 8/2 cotton in plain weave, with a dense sett of 30 epi, making a medium-weight fabric. I softened the fabric as much as possible by washing and drying it on hot settings. By strategically placing selvedges at the top and at the bottom of the skirt, I was able to minimize thickness at the waist, and eliminate the need for a hem at the bottom. The finished tiered skirt is long, and full, and has a subtle pretty printed pattern that mildly resembles ikat. And this skirt is made for wearing with boots!
May your heart be enriched with thankfulness.
Happy Thanks Giving,
Karen
It has been so much fun to follow this from beginning to finish, great job! And I’ll stash the waist band trick for sure….
Thank you, Pia, I appreciate that! It makes me smile to know you had fun with this, too.
Karen
Karen,
This is fantastic. I loved seeing the whole process of this skirt. It looks great.
Kate
This came out beautifully. I loved following along. And it does look great with boots.
It turned out incredible! I’m so glad we all got to see the finished skirt after watching you weave the fabric.
Ooh, pretty! Nice haircut too. I noticed a very special blanket on the back of your chair, it looks splendid in situ.
Kate, Helene, Cindie, and Joanna,
Thank you for the sweet comments. It is fantastic to have friends along on this fun weaving journey!
Happy weaving,
Karen
Thank you so much for sharing. So very pretty and so inspiring.
What a kind thing to say, Loyanne. Thank you so much!
Karen
Your skirt is beautiful and you wear it with pride. It must feel great to put it on knowing that you made it from start to finish. I enjoyed watching every step. Thank you.
Carolyn, Thank you! Yes, it’s a great feeling to have a skirt to wear that I made from scratch. I’m so glad you’ve been following along!
Karen
I’ve been following this project, too, Karen, and have to say I wasn’t sure where you were going with this one. However…..WOW! I love it! Great job!
Hi Marcia, I’m so happy to hear you like the results! It is a lot of fun to wear this skirt!
Karen
Love, Love, Love your blog. Such an inspiration both spiritually and artistically. Thanks for sharing.
BTW – wasn’t it hard to take the scissors to your finished fabric?
Rebecca, you have really touched me with your sweet comment.
It didn’t seem hard to cut the fabric this time, since I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it from the very start. All the while I was weaving the fabric I was anticipating the sewing to come. I must say, though, that I did measure at least three times, and carefully chalked the lines, before making the first cut.
Yours truly,
Karen
Hi Karen,
I love your skirt, you did a great job! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Liberty
Hi Liberty, Thank you so much! We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you did, too.
Karen
I love your skirt. Sooooo beautiful!
Helga, That’s wonderful for you to say so! Thanks!
Karen