Making the Miette skirt sewing pattern? I'm going to show you how to choose your pattern size and cut the fabric. This pattern is so easy to fit to your measurements - hooray!
1) Choose your pattern size
Measure your waist – your natural waist is where you bend at the side. If you'd like the waistband to sit lower, take this measurement a little further down your hips.
Find your waist measurement on the "pattern size – body measurements" chart in the pattern instructions. There are eight sizes included in the pattern, roughly equivalent to UK 6 - 20. The flared A-line shape means the waist is the only measurement you need.
If a measurement is between sizes - for example if your waist is 33in - it's always safer to go with the larger one. The beauty of this skirt is that you can always pull the waist tie a little tighter if you need to!
Now that you know your pattern size, you know which lines to cut on the pattern – your size will be indicated by a particular style of dashed, dotted or full line and the size number.
2) Lay out your fabric and pattern
Wash, dry and press your fabric before cutting. Fold it in half lengthways, right sides together, selvedge to selvedge and smooth it down. Find out what I mean by "selvedge" and why we're doing this here!
Cut roughly around your pattern pieces with paper scissors. Lay your pattern pieces on your fabric. There's a cutting layout diagram included in the pattern instructions to help you lay out the pieces while using the minimum amount of fabric. If you're making size 7 or 8, or if your fabric is 115cm wide, you'll need to lay some of the fabric out flat, rather than folded in two - take a look at the diagrams in the instructions to see exactly where to place the pieces.
Align the long double-pointed grainline arrows so they are parallel with the selvedges. Pin the pattern in place. Read more about aligning the grainline.
3) Cut your fabric
Cut out your fabric with fabric scissors on the lines which correspond to your size. The pattern pieces tell you how many to cut of each – 2 x Front Skirt, 2 x Back Skirt, 6 x Waistband (3 of these could be contrast fabric), 4 x Waist Ties, and optionally 4 x Pockets (2 of these could be contrast fabric). Read more about cutting and marking fabric.
4) Add in the markings
Mark the notches (the little lines perpendicular to the cutting lines) with a short snip (less than 1cm). The notches will help you line up the pieces accurately when pinning them together.
Mark the dots on the waistband with chalk or washable pen. The way I do this is to stick pins in the dots, through the pattern and fabric pieces, then mark all layers of fabric at the points where the pins pass through them.
5) Cut out interfacing
Cut three pieces of interfacing to the waistband pattern. Read all about interfacing and what it's for.
Now we’re ready to start stitching! Thread your sewing machine and read up on basic sewing construction techniques if you need to. Then we can move on to the next step in the Miette sewalong...
