Another Tiered Skirt

This is the second version of a skirt that I have nearly worn to pieces in the last two years.  The first one I made in 2022 is literally worn every week, sometimes twice a week.  It's a gem of a skirt, made from the one piece of thrifted fabric that has worked out for me.  The fabric is unique.  It was apparently made from a piece of lightweight white cotton that was tuck stitched in a diamond pattern, embroidered and over dyed blue.  Over dyed because there is some black printing that remained before the fabric was stitched and dyed.  Maybe it was flour sacking or something similar?  It is extremely boho and worked well for a simple boho tiered skirt.  

It is gratifying that these skirts are still in style.  Even though there are other simple elastic waist skirts in my wardrobe, there's certainly room for another tiered version.

For this version, there was 3 yards block printed cotton in green and white, purchased from Common Thread for $44.00.  At Taos Adobe Quilting, there was some heavier cotton that I used for the lining -- 2 yards for $18.  

Instructions for the first skirt, from my blog post about the project:

The first tier should be 1.5 times the waist measurement, the second 2 times the waist and the third 2.7 times the waist. Although these instructions are fairly consistent across various sources, the length of each tier was less consistent. 

My original post contained complaints about the amount of time spent gathering long lengths of fabric.    This time, I gathered the pieces on my serger.  To set up the serger for gathering, I followed instructions from various videos.  Basically, the differential feed controls the gathering.  Adjusting that, along with the stitch length and thread tension, will provide various levels of gathering.  Using scrap material, I found that I can easily gather a short length of fabric between 1.5 and 2 times.  In other words, a 20" length can be gathered to 15" or a 30" length can be gathered to 15" by adjusting the differential setting, with the stitch length at max and the tension just slightly tighter than the normal range.  Different brands of sergers have different numbers on their settings.  Mine is the most basic model of Janome.  Usually the dials are are set pretty low, with the tension around 3 for all four threads and the differential on 1.  I never change the stitch length, leaving it on 1.  For gathering, the stitch length is set to 4, the tension dials to 6 for the needles and 3 for the loopers.  I changed the differential between 1.5 and 2 to get the gathering for the samples.  

It was easy to adjust the length of the short pieces I was testing after they were gathered by stretching them out several inches longer, depending on the length of the thread tails.  This adjustment is possible on longer pieces but will be proportionally less forgiving.  I also found that the effect of re-serging an already gathered length on the same end gathered was less predictable.  If a piece is not close to the length I need, it might  be better to cut off the gathering before re-serging.

With the practice serging behind me, calculating the cuts was next.  That began with my waist, which was about 33".  Using the instructions above, adding an inch for seams, the first tier should have been 51" x 15", the second tier 67" x 10", and the third tier 90" x 12".  This would take about 2 yards of fabric.  (Actually since I wrote this, my waist is down to 31".  With that measurement, the first tier will only need to be 47", or 48" with a seam allowance of 1/2".  Possibly, depending on the fabric width, a single cut across the fabric would be enough for the first tier.  The second tier could then be 61" and the third tier 79".  1 1/2 yards is enough with those measurements.  That's notes for another tiered skirt, maybe for next summer.)

Cutting out the pieces challenged my measuring and math skills.  The print is in 8" x 8" blocks and the blocks are very obvious.  I cut along the blocks as printed and tried to match up the print on the seams as much as possible.  In the end, the top piece was a few inches too long and 2" too deep, measuring 56" x 17".  Then a decision to make that work by lengthening the middle piece failed to take into account that the bottom piece would have to be lengthened as a result.  However, once I realized that the gathering ratio is much smaller than I had thought, more like taking 30" to  20", I adjusted the serger accordingly and got by with just adding a few inches to the middle piece.  Another misstep was setting the serger up for gathering, not realizing that there will be seams to be finished.  

For the next time, the proper order is to cut and seam all pieces, serge the seams, then set the serger up for gathering.  The final settings on my serger for just gathering 1.25 to 1 are the differential at 1, stitch length at 4 and tension dials at 3 all the way across.   Of course, the loopers can be a little more or less depending on fabric.  I think the reason there is so much difference in the differential setting, other than miscalculating the amount of gathering needed is that this very light fabric gathers quickly and easily.  The bottom tier, on these settings, came out the perfect length, no adjustments of gathers needed.

The lining extends a few inches into the second tier, ending just above my knees.  The waist is definitely too big, resulting in more gathering there than I need.  However, the gathers will smooth down once it is washed and hung to dry.  To hasten that process, I am wearing this cute little skirt now and will wash it soon.