Hanbok-inspired skirt
I made a hanbok last weekend. Originally I had wanted to hand-sew the full hanbok, but I realized it wasn't bringing me any extra happiness, so I machine-sewed it.
This weekend I decided I actually did want to hand-sew something, and I wanted something hanbok-like I could wear in public a bit easier, so I took a 1.5 yard piece of fabric, and turned it into a chima-inspired skirt:
The pattern I used is exactly the same one as the Folkwear 141 pattern, but obviously much shorter, and without the shoulder straps.
I made the skirt from my 1.5 yard cut of 44-inch wide fabric. The waistband and ties are made from remnants of a sheet I used to back a quilt.
For the 1.5 yard piece -- I cut it in half so I had two 22 x 54 inch pieces of fabric. I cut one of those in half to get two 22 x 27 inch pieces, and cut five inches off the other to get a 22 x 49 inch piece.
Those three pieces were seamed together (longest piece in the middle), hemmed, and then pleated along the top. The pleats took quite some time. There was one pleat per inch, or almost 100 pleats across the top of the skirt. Getting them even and nice-looking was by far the most challenging part of this.
After things were pleated to perfection (not perfection, actually -- more like "okay, I can live with this"), I stitched the waistband on. Attached the ties, slip-stitched the waistband down to the inside of the skirt, and then it was done!
"Wait a second!", you may be thinking. "Didn't you just make a rectangle? You didn't seam up the back at all!"
Well, you would be correct if you were thinking this.
Here's what my skirt/mini chima looks like off a person (yes, that's my shower curtain I'm using as a backdrop -- don't worry about it).
Chimas are large rectangle-like pieces of fabric, where the left side wraps all the way around to the right side, and vice versa. The ties meet in the front, and are... tied in place. The amount of fabric used creates a large amount of volume.
I really like how it turned out, and how re-sizeable it is. I can tie it tighter or looser, depending on how high I want to wear it (or my current weight, ha!).
I did want to add pockets, but I didn't want to put them in at non-seams. The way the panels go on, the seams are actually somewhat on the back. I did do some math to get the seams to be more pocket-placement friendly, but didn't have enough fabric to cut panels of the right sizes. I would have needed an extra half yard to get the seams in the right place.
This weekend I decided I actually did want to hand-sew something, and I wanted something hanbok-like I could wear in public a bit easier, so I took a 1.5 yard piece of fabric, and turned it into a chima-inspired skirt:
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| Tied with an otkorum! |
The pattern I used is exactly the same one as the Folkwear 141 pattern, but obviously much shorter, and without the shoulder straps.
I made the skirt from my 1.5 yard cut of 44-inch wide fabric. The waistband and ties are made from remnants of a sheet I used to back a quilt.
For the 1.5 yard piece -- I cut it in half so I had two 22 x 54 inch pieces of fabric. I cut one of those in half to get two 22 x 27 inch pieces, and cut five inches off the other to get a 22 x 49 inch piece.
Those three pieces were seamed together (longest piece in the middle), hemmed, and then pleated along the top. The pleats took quite some time. There was one pleat per inch, or almost 100 pleats across the top of the skirt. Getting them even and nice-looking was by far the most challenging part of this.
After things were pleated to perfection (not perfection, actually -- more like "okay, I can live with this"), I stitched the waistband on. Attached the ties, slip-stitched the waistband down to the inside of the skirt, and then it was done!
"Wait a second!", you may be thinking. "Didn't you just make a rectangle? You didn't seam up the back at all!"
Well, you would be correct if you were thinking this.
Here's what my skirt/mini chima looks like off a person (yes, that's my shower curtain I'm using as a backdrop -- don't worry about it).
I really like how it turned out, and how re-sizeable it is. I can tie it tighter or looser, depending on how high I want to wear it (or my current weight, ha!).
I did want to add pockets, but I didn't want to put them in at non-seams. The way the panels go on, the seams are actually somewhat on the back. I did do some math to get the seams to be more pocket-placement friendly, but didn't have enough fabric to cut panels of the right sizes. I would have needed an extra half yard to get the seams in the right place.
Knot bag, present for Mom!
Continuing the theme of hand-sewing: I made a knot bag for my mom's birthday present. They're bags with two handles -- one is longer than the other, and can be threaded through the shorter one to close the bag and form a "knot".
(Pattern from Indigobirddesign on Etsy).
My mom gave me a lot of quilting fabric a while ago. She had a huge box full of fabric that she wasn't using, and knew I'd be interested! And she also mentioned, quite a while ago, that she liked knot bags.
I asked her what her favorite color was, to which she replied "blue teal is a good default. What am I getting?". She was definitely on to me...
There were a couple fabrics in the box that were blue or teal-ish, that also happened to go together. I decided to add a couple pockets to the bag out of the scraps from cutting the bag pieces from the fabric.
I hand sewed the bag, and finished the edges with palestrina stitch. The palestrina edging took the longest amount of time. But I wanted something sturdy and reversible, since the bag is also reversible.
But overall, it was a very quick project! Finished it over the weekend, working at a dedicated but leisurely place. It's all wrapped up and ready for gifting now!
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| The completed knot bag. |
My mom gave me a lot of quilting fabric a while ago. She had a huge box full of fabric that she wasn't using, and knew I'd be interested! And she also mentioned, quite a while ago, that she liked knot bags.
I asked her what her favorite color was, to which she replied "blue teal is a good default. What am I getting?". She was definitely on to me...
There were a couple fabrics in the box that were blue or teal-ish, that also happened to go together. I decided to add a couple pockets to the bag out of the scraps from cutting the bag pieces from the fabric.
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| The "inside" of the bag. |
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| The "outside" of the bag. |
I hand sewed the bag, and finished the edges with palestrina stitch. The palestrina edging took the longest amount of time. But I wanted something sturdy and reversible, since the bag is also reversible.
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| Detail of the palestrina edging. |
"A warm hug": also known as "hand quilting takes forever"
My parent's Christmas present was quite a time sink.
I've always enjoyed making things -- I started knitting during elementary school, crochet shortly after. Sewing and embroidery followed soon after, and other creative explorations into woodworking, origami, and weaving.
Lately I've found I really enjoy hand-sewing... things. Like clothing, bags, or quilts.
I decided, in early November 2019, that I wanted to make a quilt for my parents for Christmas. And I did some quick math and decided that I could possibly, probably, hand quilt it in time for Christmas.
So I did.
It was really fun! I used two layer cakes (Regency Sussex), and a pattern called "Landlocked Sea Lovers" by Moda Bake Shop (.pdf download).
Washing, ironing, and pairing the color blocks took about a day. Cutting and constructing the final blocks took another day. Creating the quilt top took maybe a couple of hours. Making the quilt sandwich neatly (something I still struggle with) took about an hour, since I safety-pinned everything.
But the quilting... each square took about 10-20 minutes to quilt. I did get faster as time went on. I quilted squares, rotated 45 degrees so they're more visible on the fabric.
I tried to learn how to use a thimble, but never could get the hang of it. I quilted much faster and much more consistently without a thimble.
I quilted at home, quilted in my hotel room while I traveled for work, and then quilted at home some more. I quilted during lunch breaks at work, during some meetings (shh, don't tell the managers!), during hangouts with friends...
I finished quilting on December 20th. Slightly behind schedule.
I started on the binding the next day -- machine sewed it to the front, and then carefully hand-stitched it to the back.
Hand-binding is my favorite part of quilting, I think. Piecing is fun, but I get bored of it after a while. Hand-quilting is satisfying, but I wouldn't call it fun, plus it's difficult to see your overall progress. But hand-binding is repetitive enough to let your mind wander, and quick enough to see results quickly.
I finished the entire quilt on the 22nd. I washed it that night, and let it hang to dry. It was dry on the evening of the 23rd, which was great, because it needed to be wrapped and driven to my parent's place for Christmas!
They enjoyed it, and my dad was especially impressed by the time I had put into it.
After I left for home, my mom sent me a picture of Jackie the dog enjoying the quilt:
I think I need at least a couple more months to recover from the hand-quilting marathon. But I definitely want to do another one in the future!
I've always enjoyed making things -- I started knitting during elementary school, crochet shortly after. Sewing and embroidery followed soon after, and other creative explorations into woodworking, origami, and weaving.
Lately I've found I really enjoy hand-sewing... things. Like clothing, bags, or quilts.
I decided, in early November 2019, that I wanted to make a quilt for my parents for Christmas. And I did some quick math and decided that I could possibly, probably, hand quilt it in time for Christmas.
So I did.
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| Finished quilt! |
Washing, ironing, and pairing the color blocks took about a day. Cutting and constructing the final blocks took another day. Creating the quilt top took maybe a couple of hours. Making the quilt sandwich neatly (something I still struggle with) took about an hour, since I safety-pinned everything.
But the quilting... each square took about 10-20 minutes to quilt. I did get faster as time went on. I quilted squares, rotated 45 degrees so they're more visible on the fabric.
 |
| Quilting in process. |
I quilted at home, quilted in my hotel room while I traveled for work, and then quilted at home some more. I quilted during lunch breaks at work, during some meetings (shh, don't tell the managers!), during hangouts with friends...
I finished quilting on December 20th. Slightly behind schedule.
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| Done quilting -- now on to the binding! |
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| Hand-binding |
I finished the entire quilt on the 22nd. I washed it that night, and let it hang to dry. It was dry on the evening of the 23rd, which was great, because it needed to be wrapped and driven to my parent's place for Christmas!
They enjoyed it, and my dad was especially impressed by the time I had put into it.
After I left for home, my mom sent me a picture of Jackie the dog enjoying the quilt:
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| Jackie the dog |