Hawaiian Applique skirt with HeatnBond Soft Stretch

Welcome to another Fashion Friday! Each week we will be bringing you fashion projects featuring our HeatnBond® products! We'll be offering everything from daily wear to kids and much more! This week.. Designer Erin Schlosser has a must make skirt featuring our Heatnbond® Soft Stretch!! Ready to make your own Hawaiian Applique knit skirt? This project will take you no more than 1 1/2 hours from start to finish and is perfect for a day at the beach or around town!

Hawaiian Applique skirt with HeatnBond Soft Stretch

Hawaiian Skirt Materials Needed:

-2/3 yard knit fabric for main part of skirt (I used this gorgeous navy from Girl Charlee. I also always pre-wash my knits.) -ONE 18" square of knit fabric for accent Hawaiian design (Pre-wash this too, then cut the 18" square.) -18" square of HeatnBond® Soft Stretch Lite -1 package HeatnBond® Soft Stretch Lite Hem Tape -(add link to svg here) Printed hawaiian design (Hawaiian design based off of a shape from this amazing font: Hawaiian font.) -1 yard 1" wide elastic -coordinating thread (I used the Aurifil color 1231 for the applique portion.)

Tips on Sewing with Knits: -Use a ball point needle. These are designed specifically for knits and will help have a better finished project. -Don't have a serger? It's ok! Most sewing machines have several stitches made for sewing with knits. I usually use a lightning stitch for knit garment construction and a zig zag if I'm attaching elastic. Check your machine manufacturer's website or machine manual to see what stitches you have for sewing!

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Hawaiian Applique Skirt Tutorial:

Step 1 - Cut skirt front & back: To determine what size rectangle pieces to cut for your skirt do the following: Measure your hips. Subtract 2 1/2" to this measurement, then divide by half. This will be the rectangle width. (For example, if I measured my hips at 38" I would: 38" - 2 1/2" = 35.5". Then divide this measurement by half: 35.5" / 2 = 17 3/4". My rectangle width would be 17 3/4".) Now measure from your hips to your knees. Add 5" to this measurement. This will be your rectangle length. Fold your main fabric right sides together and cut out your rectangle from the measurements above. Now measure from the top edges in 1" on either side. Make a mark on the top edge. Measure down each side from the top 5". Make another mark. Connect the 1" top mark to the side 5" mark and cut this. This will be a slight sliver of fabric that will make the hip area fit a little better! Set aside. Step 2 - Prepare Applique Take your 18" square of HeatnBond® Soft Stretch Lite and fold in half, and half again so you have the center marked both vertically and horizontally. Unfold. Take your pattern piece and place it into one quadrant. Trace. Move the piece to the next quadrant and rotate, trace again. Continue this process until you've finished the full pattern. Iron this onto the wrong side of the accent fabric. Not sure which is the wrong side of your knit? Many knits will curl to the wrong side as shown in the photo below. After ironing, cut out on the traced lines and peel the fabric backing away. Step 3 - Sew Skirt sides and Applique With the right sides together, stitch a 1/2" seam down the RIGHT SIDE only. Open the skirt and press the seams flat. Iron the applique to the skirt front. The design will overlap the side seam about 3" to offset the design slightly. Use a straight stitch on the machine and applique this down by stitching approximately 1/8" in from the edges. Step 4 - Finish Skirt After the applique is finished, place the right sides back together and sew the other side using a 1/2" seam. Now place the elastic on the top edge and stitch the top edge with a zig-zag stitch. As your are stitching stretch the elastic a bit. Don't stretch the knit, just the elastic. When you get to the end of the elastic, overlap it slightly and stitch to hold in place. Fold this under, and under again fully enclosing the elastic. Stitch along the elastic one more time, stretching slightly as you sew, to finish up the top waistband. Step 5 - Hem Skirt At this point I like to try the skirt on to check the length. If it's good, we'll continue to hem. If it's long, just cut it accordingly, leaving about 7/8" for a folded hem. With the wrong side of the skirt out, fold the edge up about 7/8"-1". Slide the iron on HeatnBond® Soft Stretch hem tape inside this fold and iron in place. You're finished!