My Janome 2212 sewing machine arrived today, and I could not let it stay in its box for too long.

Last weekend I tried this gorgeous black and white color blocked maxi dress with a sort of knitted bodice at Forever 21 in San Francisco (Buy @ and photo from here):

Anyway, I loved the idea of a long white skirt one could wear with multiple tops. The Forever 21 skirt is made of airy chiffon, and I made this one out of this really flowy and soft tulle-like fabric. I know I know, fall is coming and all that. It's kinda hard to believe, though, with nearly a hundred degrees out here. I'm not giving up on summer yet!

How to:

You can make a skirt like this according to the directions in this post if you want to do it as a crumpled version; you just need a longer piece of fabric than in the instruction. If you want to do a semi-pleated version like this one, this is how:

Get: Lining fabric, skirt fabric and waistband. 
Take an inch extra for seams in all directions justin case.

The lining should be quite short (over the knees) or then you need to make the lining in an A-shape (let it go wider and wider towards the hem from both sides). The lining should be the widest part of your hip times 1.1  wide (plus seam-extras).

You need approx your hip times 2 - 2.5 inches of fabric for the width of your skirt TIMES TWO (only one if you only want one layer).
Make it as long or short as you want.

Try the elastic band around you to see what length you need for your waistband. I recommend a quite wide one (I had 2 inches) since it needs to hold up a lot of fabric.

Sew the sides of the lining together to make a "loop".

Sew the ends of the waistband together, too.

Cut the skirt fabric's length in half, so you get to skirtpieces. Sew the ends together, too, in the same way you did with the lining, so you create two "loops".
 Put one of the skirt loops inside the other (seams inwards in both), Fold/pleat the two loops of fabric around the lining with pins (seams inwards).

Make sure the fabric is spread out evenly on the lining. 

Then sew together approx 1/2 inch from the edge:



Then pin on the waistband just covering the seam on the fabrics. Pin at 8-10 places, try to get them as evenly as possible (the waistband will be a lot smaller so you have to check that there's the same amount of "hem" on each portion of the waistband). Have the seam of the waistband facing inwards, too. Then sew with a stretchy stitch, as close to the nether edge of the waistband as you can. Stretch the waistband out until as wide as the fabric:

PS: I think I spotted something similar skirt-wise at American Apparel.

PPS: Yes we have a yellow room. And a brown one. And a pink one. And that's not all folks! But we'll hopefully be painting soon.

Let me know if I can describe something better!