Border print on full skirt?

Cute pattern, but it won't show off your border print to best advantage.

A couple ways to do that:

--cut the skirt as one large panel, and pleat or gather to the waist. (No pattern needed.)

--cut the skirt as one large panel, remove gussets from waist area to reduce bulk. Stitch those closed, then gather less fabric to bodice waist. (No pattern needed; might want to do a muslin first.)

--cut the skirt in tiers, a la broomstick or gypsy style, with the border forming the lowest tier.

If you have more border, you could do something interesting with the bodice, or with a sundress topper. (You could use a digital camera and photo edit software to get an accurate look at these ideas.)

HTH

--Karen D.

Thanks for the suggestions, Karen! I was looking at Simplicity 4703 (View F), which is a skirt that's cut from two panels (one front and one back) and pleated (smallish pleats, sewn down partway) at the top. I was thinking of trying to fit that to the bodice from the other pattern. I hadn't thought of just gathering it to fit...thanks for the idea!

The border is quite large (~10"), black printed on white with some pink and silver embroidery (the fabric is otherwise white with well-spaced black print - a bit of an east indian feel to it, though quite large scale), so I probably won't use any border on the bodice.

Dear G,

There's also a way to use your border print with the existing pattern, Measure the part of the skirt hem that is not straight. Cut the fabric above the border to this measurement, but do not cut the part that is straight., and include a seam allowance. Shape the skirt above the border, using the pattern as a guide. Then sew the border in place. The only place the border print will be cut is the portion curving. I hope this is clearer than mud. It's a technique that is used for lace when it's to go around a corner or rounded edge, but would work for a border, too. It takes more fabric to do this, because you have to cut past the size of the pattern piece.

Teri

Yer welcome! Nice thing about gathering is: you can see how it will look, and change your mind if needed.

It might look nice to include topstitching or piping or something else in black, pink, and/or silver on the top. (Or not.)

HTH

--Karen D.