Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Fork in the Road: Which Way???

Last week as I was watching the Today show, Savannah Guthrie was wearing the cutest skirt. I should've taken a picture of the TV, but I didn't. It was a red/white striped, fitted, knee-length skirt, which she wore with a white button-down tucked into it. Super cute.
Fast forward to this morning, when I went out on a limb and sent her a tweet, asked her who made the skirt. She quickly replied that it came from J Crew! (Yes, I know it probably wasn't actually Savannah Guthrie that wrote me back, but it's still pretty cool!)


It's the No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Deck Stripe, and it's $90. As I was watching the show, I started searched for fabric in a red stripe like this, but I kept finding knits, not wovens. I bought a yard of this medium weight knit in my favorite shade of red from Mood ($8/yd, not a big loss if my plan fails).


Now, here's my question:
Should I mess with an underlining or fusible to "stiffen" up this knit, so I can make a more structured and fitted skirt, with darts and a zipper...

Or, should I just make a nice and easy elasticized mini that would wear more casually?

I'm on a red/white kick lately, can you tell???

10 comments:

prttynpnk said...

You know, both would be good. One for dressier and one to casual up with fun sneakers and such?

Amanda S. said...

You could use some iron on knit interfacing. It would beef it up a bit but still retain some stretch.

Bunny said...

I'm with Amanda. Use a tricot fusible before cutting. Block fuse it first then cut.

LinB said...

Make the knit as a knit with elastic waist. Wear it comfortably while you shop for a striped woven that will make you happier as a more-constructed garment.

Gail said...

I'm a recent convert to underlining. I would use silk organza under a knit - it make it perform like a woven. The only downside is that your skirt will not be as forgiving as a stretch skirt.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Nice easy elasticized mini...

Marybeth said...

Hi, Kristine... I found these woven fabrics at Harts Fabric... Maybe one of these would work for you?

Good luck!

http://www.hartsfabric.com/organic-foxy-hollow-stripe-red-67920.html

http://www.hartsfabric.com/pimatext-basics-striped-fabric60629.html

http://www.hartsfabric.com/striped-silk-chiffon-fabric61791.html

Unknown said...

Thank you, everyone! In addition to Marybeth's find, I found a woven on fabric.com that would work. I'll report back on this project soon!

Sally said...

elasticized mini!!

Lisa Laree said...

I'm and advocate of not fighting the fabric. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but in this case, make the elasticized knit friendly skirt...it'll be quick, you and the fabric will both be happy and you can keep up the search for the perfect woven.