I have had this skirt in my mind for a long time! It was totally inspired by some vintage pattern envelopes I’d seen. I love the sort of holiday wear, Mexican fiesta, dance class kind of vibes a skirt like this gives off. And could there be anything more 50’s kitsch than ric rac? It’s like stacks of aqua pyrex bowls and holiday scarves and kittens on chocolate boxes! I feel like you can pair it with pretty much anything. Some interesting sandals and graphic tee for a day at the beach, a peasant top and some carved wooden heels for a summery look or ballet flats and a garden of hair flowers for a night of dancing. I needed to make this versatile skirt! Here’s some of my inspiration pics….
I ordered the ric rac for this project about a year ago but got distracted with other things. I put this skirt to the top of the queue but every time I tried to buy black fabric it was out of stock. Seriously, what is it with black? I find it so hard to get a quality bit of black fabric, both woven and stretch. I have no idea why they don’t have loads of black, it’s a very common garment sewing fabric choice! I also think there may have been some subconscious fear about sewing the ric rac on in neat, equidistant rows. I couldn’t really find a tutorial and the things I’d found didn’t really shed much light. I can’t be the only person who’s a bit nervous about that sort of thing, hence this tutorial!
Luckily, I found some misplaced black cotton twill (the same fabric I used in my 50’s cocktail dress) and I knew I was ready to make this. I started out with my standard half circle skirt. I know, what a surprise! I decided to make this skirt (and maybe definitely subsequent skirts) a bit longer than I normally do. I added about 3 inches in length, which brings the skirt to about 26 inches, a very standard retro, circle skirt length. If you want the whole tutorial for making a half circle skirt, I have a handy tutorial that shows you how to make the pattern and sew up the skirt. I am going to assume that you know that bit already but I am changing up the sewing order a bit.
I find that ric rac frays, so I wanted to sew it on before I sewed the back seam of the skirt, thusly trapping it at the seam. I cut out the skirt fabric and staystitched the waist to prevent it from stretching while I messed about. I don’t have a pic but I just stitched around the waist with a 6mm or ¼”from the raw edge. Don’t be tempted to skip this step! Circle skirts are cut on the bias and can very easily stretch out of shape with handling and there is a lot of handling!
I decided that I wanted my first red row of ric rac about 7.5cm or 3 inches from my hem. I always finish my curved skirts with a bias binding hem, so I only needed a 6mm or ¼ inch hem allowance. Since my fave ruler is 3 inches wide and I wasn’t worried about adding the tiny hem allowance, I just aligned my ruler with hem and made a chalk mark at the top of the ruler. I kept doing so about every 5cm or 2 inches. I then filled in the gaps by eye. This is the part of other tutorials where I felt lost, so here’s an in depth breakdown….
- Make sure that the mark you make properly corresponds to the measurement. It’s a curved thing and a straight ruler, there is only one part that is going to be correct.
- Make your marks short. It’s tempting to make them long but that can square off the shape, you are better free hand because…
- Your hand naturally makes curves as it draws. One way feels natural and easy, coming from the other direction will be weird and it will be hard to join the marks. Work with yourself!
- If you aren’t so confident, make your marks closer together.
- Make sure that every time you chalk a line, it meets at the side seam. Not just the raw edge but where your seam will be. This is important for a nice finish!!
- I recommend having a very generous sprinkling of cat fur as you work, if you can. Nothing is better for your sewing morale than knowing your new skirt comes pre furred and really takes the pressure off the cats.
There is no way I am pinning and then removing pins, for metres of trim! And since there is an inherent bias type stretch to ric rac, pinning could lead to disaster. When you sew ric rac flat in this way (as opposed to in a seam with half peeking out) you need to find the straight line. There is a line between the curves that allows you to sew just on the ric rac and not fall off. So rather than try to align my ric rac exactly on top of the chalk line, I chose to align it so the bottom bumps were against my chalk line. I worked out where to aim, so that my needle would hit the ‘straight line’ and started sewing! It’s one of those sew a bit, adjust a bit, sew a bit endeavours. It might sound tedious but each row of ric rac took about 8 mins to sew! Not bad at all.
With my first row on, I was ready to mark up the blue row. You might ask why I didn’t mark all the rows before I started stitching them down? The answer is twofold. One, chalk can disappear as the fabric gets rubbed and jostled and two, I wanted them to look as even as possible. I used the red row to mark the blue row and that means that any mistakes (in terms of sewing it perfectly to the line) would continue to the second row. Giving the effect of perfect equidistance. I stitched the blue down just as before.
I’m pretty sure you can guess what happens here… Yes the yellow goes on the same as before. Much ric rac many sew. Now that my skirt is at ric rac completion, I need to finish her off! Normally, I would add my waistband, do my side seam and zipper and hem. But my black zipper was at Mums and I was at home, so I rolled on to a satin bias binding hem (use what you have in the stash!) then waistband and side seam. See, you can just choose your own order because reasons. The very next day this dancing gal of a skirt got a zipper and had her waistband finished. Ready for twirling!
The finished skirt is even better than I imagined! I really think the ric rac makes the skirt super retro but it still maintains a sort of casual air. I can’t believe I was a hesitant about marking and sewing on ric rac, it really is very straightforward! I shall ric rac (or bias binding or pom pom or cute trim) all the things! I can see this skirt being a summer staple. It would be cute with so many tops. I love the longer length and I’m so glad I tried it. I think I will make all my skirts this length from now on. Even though I think this skirt is pretty versatile, I think I might have a go at a matching ruffle top. You know how much I love separates that can combine to look like one piece. Because mix and match is awesome when yeah it mixes but it actually matches too. I don’t really buy clothes, I make them and this mix match always seem the best bang for my buck.
I won’t lie, I have worn this almost everyday since I made it! You will be seeing it in a thousand photos. These ones are from a wine launch I went to with Mum. I love this skirt! I kind of lost my enthusiasm for sewing but I have a zillion skirts on my mind now! Isn’t it funny that one little make can turn your whole perspective around? I hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as I have loved wearing it! If you make a skirt like this or a have a great ric rac project, I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment or tag me on facebook or instagram xxxx
Other Outfit Details
Palm Springs House Brooch (Miss Golly Gosh)
Pink Champagne Brooch (Martinis & Slippers)
Iced Vovo Tote DIY (Tutorial here)
Shrug Top (Op Shop but you could DIY with this pattern)
Ballet Flats DIY (Tutorial here)
Carved Bangles (Retrorespection)
Smooth Bangles (Op Shop)
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