The Peggy skirt sew-along #2

Welcome back sew-alongers, today we will be applying lightweight fusible interfacing to our waistbands,pocket fuse pattern pieces and also stitching up the cute Peggy pocket design. It is going to be a little bit of longer post,  so if you need to tackle it in two  parts feel free to do so.

Just to recap you should have your fancy fabric cut out, all pattern info marked and be ready to start. Here is the first sew-along post if you need  a refresher or are just joining in.

 So let's get started.


Apply lightweight fusible interfacing

First prep job we need to complete before we get into the good stuff is to apply some lightweight fusible interfacing to some of the Peggy skirt pattern pieces. Apply interfacing helps to add some structure and support to the area you are applying it to, especially the pocket design and each of the waistband variations.  I recommend using fusible interfacing for the Peggy skirt, but during this sew-along i actually had ran out and i will using sew in interfacing, still lightweight, still the same, just stitched in.

Following the manufacturer's instructions for your lightweight fusible interfacing, apply the interfacing to the wrong side of both of the pocket fuse pattern pieces and to the waistband design that you have chosen View A, View B or View C.

* Please note interfacing applies to all 3 waistband variations, sorry i didn't photograph the View A waistband, but the same process applies to it.

Front skirt tucks

The Peggy skirt has  two cute and simple front tucks that are really easy to create and  have maximum effect, and compliment the pocket design.

On the wrong side of the fabric, create both the skirt waistline tucks on the front skirt by folding the fabric together along the marked lines. Pin them in place.

Now a tuck is a little different then a dart, as it won't be stitched to a bottom end point, it is basically just left open, you could say.

So with this in mind, stitch along your pinned tuck lines, starting from the top ( at the waistline edge)  to the bottom of the tuck.

So you now have awesome tucks, give them a good press, pressing  them towards the skirt centre front.


Back skirt darts

Creating the back skirt darts is really quite similar if not the same in creating the skirt front tucks, probably the only difference is the bottom end of the dart that i mentioned before. The dart will be stitched to a bottom point.

So again on the wrong side of the fabric, create both the skirt waistline tucks on the back skirt by folding the fabric together along the marked lines. Pin them in place.

Stitch both your darts in place and again give them a good press and press them towards the skirt centre back seam.


Set your skirt pieces aside for the time being and grab your pocket fuse pattern pieces that should be nicely fused with lightweight interfacing ( or like me stitched in interfacing, oops.)

Skirt Pockets 

First up finish the raw edges of your pocket fuse pieces in any way you desire, i chose to finish them with my pinking shears because they wont be seen at all once the skirt is finished, but use whatever method you prefer.


Hopefully you didn't put your skirt pieces too far away because you need the front skirt now, so go grab it! :)


On the inside  of the front skirt , pin both of your pocket fuse pieces to the skirt pocket edge, matching the interfacing side of the pocket fuse pieces with the wrong side of the skirt fabric, like the picture below. 

Baste stitch this place along the top edge, following the pocket shape.

Once your done, below is what you should have on both of the skirt front pocket edges.

Now on the right side of the front skirt, with right sides together, pin both of your pocket facing pieces to the skirt pocket edge.Stitch in place and as you stitch you will be also stitching the skirt pocket edge and the pocket fuse piece that you have just attached,kind of like a sandwich. 

Stitch slowly and pivot your machine needle at the pocket edge point.

Stitch slowly and pivot your machine needle at the pocket edge point.




Trim the seam and clip both the pocket seam allowances where the pocket edge curves, but be extra careful while doing this that you don't snip through the stitching!

Also clip into the pocket corner point.

Turn both of your pocket facings to the inside of the front skirt ( and create a Batman ear!)  and give them a really good press with a warm iron.  I recommend pressing on both the wrong and right side of the pocket edge it can be a little fiddly and sometimes doesn't want to stay flat!

*This next step is  optional but i do recommend it, to keep those pocket edge flat and also it simply looks good.


Once you have you pocket edge nicely pressed, you can top stitch on the right side of the skirt pocket edge roughly 1/2'' from the pocket edge, simply following the shape of the pocket edge. Stitch slowly so you get a nice even top stitch. If you want to be wild, you could top stitch in a contrasting thread and something different.

OK we are on the home run with our pockets, lets attached the final pocket piece the pocket bags ( where you can stick your hands). 

On the inside of the front skirt, pin both of you pocket bag pieces to the pocket facings, right sides together.

Pin you pocket bags to the pocket facings only, not to the skirt.





Now stitch both the  pocket bags and pocket facings together.

Trim and finish the raw edges of your newly created awesome pockets! I simply used my pinking shears to finish off the pocket edges.

One last step in our Peggy pocket creation and really the one step that goes into the creation of the 'gape' detail of the pocket.

On the inside of the skirt at the waistline edge, ease both of your pockets towards the skirt centre front, so that the pocket and the waistline edge meet together. You will notice as you do this that on the right side of the skirt the pocket will 'gape' away from the skirt, creating the cute Peggy pocket detail.

Pin in place.

Once you have your pockets in place and the gape detail is working, then baste both of the pockets in place at this meeting point at the waistline edge.

Phew that was a big post! Tomorrow won't be so big, but we will be stitching up our side seams, centre back seam and also inserting a lapped zipper. So if you haven't inserted a lapped zipper i recommend just having a look at this tutorial so you have a bit of an idea of what we will be covering, but don't fear lapped zippers that are super easy!


I would really love to see how you  gals go throughout the sew-along! So please don’t hesitate to post your links to the  Facebook page, tweet me and Instagram your progress @bluegingerdoll using the hashtag #thepeggyskirtsewalong. I have  also created a Flickr group  where you can upload your Peggy skirts ( progress or completed) i  will then  be rounding up all of your lovely Peggy skirts  after the sew - along here on the blog!
I'm also around, so if you want to ask me a questions directly feel free to email me at: abby@bluegingerdoll.com and i'll try my best to help you out!!


See ya then!

Abby
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