The Wand Skirt with Cuddle Suede

I'm excited to be a guest here at Shannon Fabrics today. I'm Polly and my home on the Internet is at Pieces by Polly. I love any kind of sewing and quilting, and I was so excited that Shannon Fabrics let me try out some for their wonderfully soft cuddle suede to make this fun Harry Potter inspired skirt.

Our family has been die-hard Harry Potter fans for years, with my 10-year-old daughter being the most enthusiastic. I made her a Hermione Skirt a couple years ago, but since she's growing taller by leaps and bounds it was time for a new one.

Besides needing to be a dark grey skirt reminiscent of the Hogwarts uniforms, I always think it's fun to add some fun twist to it. And since I was using a circle skirt design, I wanted it to be a bit like a poodle skirt...only Harry Potter style. So instead of a poodle, we've got a magic wand and instead of the leash wrapping around the skirt, we've got a sparkly magic spell.

Being a circle skirt, it is amazing for twirling in...and what girl doesn't love to twirl? One of the best things about using Cuddle Suede for this is that it comes 60 inches wide. That means that I could make a skirt for an older child from one width of fabric.

I'm sharing this skirt as part of the Happy Harry Potter Celebration that's put on my Marissa at Raegun Ramblings every year, so besides today's project, you'll want to check out all of the fun Harry Potter Themed DIY goodness.

Materials:To find shops that carry Cuddle Suede from Shannon Fabrics, check out the Shannon Fabrics Store Locator.

1 1/2 - 2 yards Cuddle Suede in Charcoal depending on size of skirt. Refer to instructions below.
1/8 yard or scraps of Cuddle Suede in Black
3 - 4 yards 1/8" Gold Braid from Decorative Trimmings
1 Package paper-backed fusible web, such as Heat'n Bond Lite.
3" Black Elastic - Enough to go around recipient's waist PLUS 1 inch.
Black Thread
Gold (Metallic or regular...I used regular) thread
Lots of pins
Black Thread
Sewing Machine
Scissors or Rotary Mat and Cutter
Serger (optional - You can totally do this with just a sewing machine.)
Large scrap paper or newsprint for making your circle pattern.
1 Printed copy of the wand template

Instructions:

Several years ago Dana from MADE put together a wonderful tutorial on how to make a basic circle, and rather than duplicate her efforts, I'm going to send you here to Dana's Circle Skirt Tutorial for the basic skirt.

Since the Cuddle Suede is 60 wide for most skirts for anyone up to an older child or smallish adult, you'll be able to cut it from one width of fabric. Keeping the original from when the fabric came off the bolt, you'll fold it in half across the length of the fabric and line the center of part of your pattern up with the double folded corner.

One you've got your basic skirt done, now comes the fun part...decorating it with the wand and magic spell.

You're going to start by tracing your wand design onto the papery side of your paper-backed fusible web and cut it out. You can use the wand template provided or have fun drawing your own.

Iron onto the BACK of your back Cuddle Suede. Be careful with your iron setting. Cuddle Suede is 100% Polyester, so you do NOT want it on the highest setting.

Cut the wand out.

Peel off the paper backing from your wand

Arrange onto your skirt.

Iron the wand onto the skirt. Be CAREFUL with the iron setting. DO NOT iron the tip of the wand. We want that to be LOOSE so we can tuck the end of our gold trim under it.

Pin your gold trim to your skirt with LOTS of pins. Have fun making several large swoops and swirls on your skirt. Tight curves don't work well, but largish loops work well if you take your time and use lots of pin.

I made one gold line swirl once and then go up to the waist. Then I made a second gold line branching off of it. If you make branches, just tuck the raw edge under the other piece of trim.

At least one length of trim should swirl and loop all the way around the skirt and end in the waistline.

Using a straight stitch, carefully sew along the edges of the trim. I sewed along the right side of the trim and then went back and sewed down the right side. I wanted to make sure that the trim doesn't curl up on itself in the wash.

Once your trim is sewed down, we're ready to sew around our wand. Tuck the end of the gold trim under the wand tip.

Then I used a tight zigzag stitch (sometimes called a satin stitch) with the stitch length almost set to zero. The idea is that as you do the zigzag stitching, it encases the raw edges of the want and you're left with a neat line of stitching.

Instead of back-stitching, leave your thread tails long. Then pull them through the back and tie a knot on the back.

Because Cuddle Suede does tend to fray a bit, I was left with a few fly-aways after I'd finished my stitching around the wand. Just use a small pair of scissors to trim them neatly away.