A little bit over a year ago I had this idea to make a whole bunch of black skirts and embellish them in different ways. Black is so universal and such a good blank canvas for all my wackiness! I started with my rows of ric rac skirt but somehow never got around to making more. But now I have made this fabulous llama skirt, I am keen to try and turn my ideas in something wearable! This skirt was largely inspired by the iconic 50’s poodle skirt designed by Juli Lynn Charlot. Juli’s story, singer/actress turned designer, is quite interesting. The original poodle skirts (and the many other designs that followed) were made of felt and interestingly, weren’t washable. My sturdy cotton llama skirt is definitely designed with much wearing and machine washing in mind!
I’m really trying to shop my stash more, especially after all the expense of making my Queen Victoria costume. I’m pleased (and slightly amazed) to say I bought nothing for this project, everything was stuff I had on hand! The skirt was made from the same light weight cotton drill as the Queen Victoria underskirt. It was hemmed with the very last bit of whole roll of satin bias tape I bought ages ago, which has hemmed numerous skirts. Honestly, a roll of black bias and whole bunch of black 30cm (12”) zips are a must in my sewing room! I look for them when Spotlight sends out that spend $100 get $40 off coupon; boring but so useful when you are home sewing without a car! The llama is made of some scraps from other projects too. I gotta say, working with what you have really gets your creative juices flowing and feels pretty thrifty!
I started this project by making my usual half circle skirt in basic black. I made it exactly the same was as my tutorial but I now put my zippers in using this easy technique. Of course, you don’t have to make a whole new skirt, you could repurpose one you own or hit the op shop. If you are using fabric scraps for your llama like me, the only other thing you’ll is need Heat ‘n’ Bond or Vliesofix or a similar paper backed, iron-on, double-sided adhesive for bonding fabric. If you’re not sure, just ask in the craft or fabric store. You’ll need a piece at least as big as the applique but if you buy a pack you can be free to create appliqués at the drop of a hat.
I found a simple outline of a llama that I liked and resized it on A3 paper to make it bigger. As you’ll see I chose a tiny, poor quality image and made it big, so the print looks awful but I only needed for the outline, so no biggie. I also printed it with the image reversed, otherwise the final design will be backwards. I traced the image onto the paper side of the heat and bond and cut it out, leaving a decent border. I also roughed out some details of the llama, just so I could see what it might look like. I can’t draw for nuts, so I wanted to mess about before committing! Then I ironed the llama design (glue side to the wrong side fabric) onto a scrap of muslin I was using as the llama body. PS. I bought this muslin for making muslins (or toiles) when I first started sewing and then realised that it was way too expensive for that purpose.
I used some tiny embroidery scissors to cut out the llama, using the traced design on the paper side for reference. Then it was time for the saddle piece! I knew I was going to use some scraps of Mexican poncho fabric (left over from making my sister a table runner) as the base of the saddle. As I said, no artistic ability, so I sketched the saddle shape onto my printed llama, cut it out and used that as a pattern to trace onto some heat and bond. I ironed the heat and bond onto the wrong side of the poncho fabric, cut it out and hauled out some embellishments! I had no idea what would work and pinned and played around until I was happy. My poor Mum was getting text after text as I asked opinions! I thought this lace fringe trim (also used on the corset from Queen Victoria) would be perfect for the edge. The poncho frays terribly, so I ran a small zigzag around the curved edge and then repeated that zigzag to attach the fringe. I added some metallic rick rack (left over from my Christmas ornaments) along the top. All of this was sewn with the paper backing still on the saddle, so the glue didn’t get rubbed off while sewing.
Once I was happy with the saddle, I carefully removed the backing paper and ironed the saddle in place on the llamas back. I took it to the sewing machine and straight stitched around the curved edge, to attach it permanently. The top edge would be secured when the whole appliqué was sewn on. While I was there, I stitched on the llamas reins. Since I was really happy with the shapes I’d drawn on the paper backing, I stitched them on with the backing paper facing up, so I could thread trace them. I went over the stitches again from the right side to make them a little bolder. I used two strands of embroidery floss and a hand needle to sew on his little eye and eyelashes. I decided on a small cut out for the mouth, as the black fabric would show from the back. Plus I’d already cut the llama out and didn’t trust myself to embroider so close to the edge. In hindsight I should have done it earlier but I love how this solution came out. Probably nicer that my impatient embroidery.
I put the skirt on and tried to position the llama. I was working alone, so I left the backing paper backing on while I pinned him into place, that way he wasn’t so floppy. Do you know how funny it looks trying to pin something on yourself? It’s like a dog turning circle in search of his tail! Once I was happy with the position, I pinned the llama down in several spots. Removing a few pins at a time, I peeled away the backing bit by bit, keeping the other areas pinned. Finally, I ironed the whole appliqué onto the skirt. I really went in hard because it’s impossible to sew an applique that’s not well attached. There are so many appliqué stitches you could use to sew the llama with but I had an idea! Ages ago I made an anchor appliqué top and I used a straight stitch (well a straight stretch stitch) to attach it and over time the edges frayed softly, it would add the perfect fuzziness to my llama over time, so I went with a straight stitch. I stitched around the whole appliqué as neatly as I could, close to the edge. As a last flourish, I hand stitched on some plastic beads (from an op shop necklace, bought for making hairpins) to the halter and my beautiful llama was finished!
After many llama puns and jokes, I realised that I inadvertently made a traffic light with the colours of the beads on the halter. I hereby dub this the Stop The Drama Llama Skirt and I think you should know my Llamas name is Kevin. I can’t tell you how happy this llama skirt makes me! It’s everything I hoped it would be – a little reminiscent of a poodle skirt, the bright colours of Mexico and a little bit souvenir skirt. My llama came just as I envisioned, not too kiddy or cartoonish but sweet and stylized. I think my fabric choices have a lot to do with that effect. The whole thing makes me feel sunny and warm! What do you think? Do you love it? Would you wear it? Wanna see me make more interesting black skirts? Let me know! If you make your own llama skirt (with hopefully no drama) please tag me because I’d love to Kevin to have some friends xxx
Other Outfit Details:
Headpiece – Lina del Rose
Crossover Tee – thrifted
Bangles – Retrorespection
Earrings – eBay
Shoes – B.A.I.T Footwear
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