A few months ago both Lisa from Sew Over It and Helen from Stitch My Style made lovely garments using beautiful parrot print fabric. Both were different and both very bold prints. Helen made a great shift dress while Lisa made a circle skirt.
Parrot Print Fabric
While I did love Lisa’s and Hellen’s makes the chances of me getting around to using such a fun quirky print was slim to none. Since I get all my fabric second hand I never thought I’d come across a parrot print fabric. I mean really what are the odds, it’s not a common print.
Just when the idea left my head , out thrifting about a month or two ago, I visited a place I hadn’t been before. I wasn’t expecting to really find anything in the shop and only popped in for a peek, but wouldn’t you know it they had about 2-½ yards of a cotton turquoise parrot print.
It was fate! I was destined to make a parrot garment but what to make?
Novelty Gathered Skirt
Originally I really liked the idea of making a circle skirt but alas, I didn’t really have enough for that. So instead I decided to go with a gathered dirndl style skirt.
Making the skirt was easy enough. I used a similar method to making this skirt as I did my Luck Gathered Skirt way back when. This time, however, I went for a traditional waistband instead of an elastic one.
I measured out a rectangle the size of my waist plus one inch for the closure overlap and ⅝ inch side seams. I made the width of the waistband twice the size as the final band, since it would be folded, and was sure to add the ⅝ inch seam allowance.
The final skirt included a side lapped zipper and vintage button in a matching color.
Final Thoughts
This skirt was kind of a pain, because I measured the waistband wrong and it was too big. So I had to redo it. It’s still about an inch loose and I don’t know how I did that.
Since I won’t get much wear out of this skirt until spring or summer, I figure I’ll just wait till then and fix the waistband at that point.
Otherwise ,the skirt is perfect and the gathers came out great. I also really like the length and flow of the skirt.
I ended up with about ¾ of a yard left over and think I might try to make a summer bra top to go with this skirt. That way it can be a sort of beachy play-suit.
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