# Looking for a seamstress



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I'm desperate to have a couple of mid-length wrap skirts made for myself. I have tried to teach myself to use my machine and it is simply not something I can figure out how to do. I don't know if it's the whole "math" part of sewing that stumps me or if I'm just not one to sew/walk/run a straight line but I'm tired of trying. (I'm also not one to quit but I have so many other things to do than feel guilty because I can't figure out how to use this machine and I don't have time to sit and sew by hand.)

I think what I want must be super simple - I don't have a pattern but I could get one. I really just want a double sided wrap skirt that I can flip around when it gets dirty (not looking to generate more laundry). Something sturdy I can wear in the barn/garden and long enough to cover but not dragging the ground. I'm thinking something from the 70's like this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/75035621...?ref=related-6 but longer with less expensive materials !!! 

Anyone interested?


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wrap-Skirt-to-Fit-Any-Size

It's not the sewing, its the math!

Reversible? Do you really want the dirty side to reverse to the inside?

The style you linked to looks like a simple A line, for a length just below, or at the knee length. I'm trying to picture how that style will look longer - say mid calf? Will it hang well, or just flare out awkwardly? 

The "pattern" linked above should sew up reversible pretty easy. Denim would be too heavy, I think. Decent fabric that will hold up is going to be in the $8.00 per yard and up range. If you found some quality sheets, all cotton, that might work, too.

ETA: http://www.sewmamasew.com/2007/05/wrap-skirt-pattern-draft-tutorial/ 

This one shows a bit longer length, and some nice "drape" to the look.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Oh my gosh ! In my pursuit I've already come across BOTH of those links! And yes- the first one sent me over the edge. For. Get. It. I am a huge math failure. My brain shuts off. I just can't do it. 

I don't care about being dirty on the inside.  Like today - I was in the barn, shorts on, t-shirt. Finished chores, came back in after milking, moving hay buckets in the mud (we've had so much rain), I changed clothes and started in the kitchen. A few hours go by and I have to go back out. It's raining again, need to check on goats, possibly bring them in, fill water buckets, hay buckets, gather eggs ... but this is all while my dough is rising. So I change again, back into yucky clothes to go out, then back inside to change AGAIN. I am so sick of changing clothes all day long! It would be so much faster to whip my skirt inside out and get on with it! Then I thought maybe an apron but who wants to wear an apron that covers your entire body. And I would need it - when I carry hay it gets all over me and I can't really dust it off all the way - so I change clothes again. Such a pain. 

What I really, really, really want is this: http://www.sewastraightline.com/2010/03/domesticated-skirt.html

I've gone so far as to buy the fabric (for two skirts!), cut it out for one, bought a $12 bias tape maker then scrapped that idea and just bought bias tape that matched but I can't figure out how to do it. I'm a "show me" kinda girl, not a "read and follow directions" kind and about 3x a week Paisley will come upstairs and look toward the mess that I started and say, "So I guess the sewing didn't work out very well, huh?" 

I like the one in the pattern (the longer one that does drape well) but it seems a bit too dressy to milk goats in. The one from the link above seems just right for wiping dirty fingers and noses with!


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Hmmm, but a wrap skirt doesn't cover the whole body either, so you'd still have to dust the chaff off the upper body? Or would you just change your shirt and flip the skirt?

I like the idea of an outside apron that could be hung on a nail just outside the kitchen door.

I agree, the tutorial on that link you posted isn't incredibly helpful.  I want to see the big picture, then the details.

So when you say mid length you mean about knee length?


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

An outside apron makes sense....because I would have to still change my shirt. For whatever reason that isn't as maddening as changing everything! 

Knee length works better for me. I was hoping it would be loose enough to still straddle a stool at the milk stand.


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

Did you find a seamstress?

I am working on trying to get another cosplay costume made and finding someone who can look at a picture and go "hum, yep I can make that" is maddeningly frustrating. So how does one go about finding a seamstress that can make dresses and costumes?

I have tried one on Etsy and she can't handle the job, so am working with another company and just sent the pics and a request for quote. I never thought it would be this hard to find someone 

I don't have the patience for sewing. I crochet instead. I hate math and I would rather stay unbiased on the bias issues..lol.

If you find someone, let me know. If the company I am trying now can't make a jacket and skirt, then I am going to have to buy something already made which is not exactly what I want to do.

Sorry I hijacked and held your thread for ransom


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

If there is a college nearby that has a drama department, or a nearby theatre group, call the head and ask who does their sewing. You may be able to find someone that way.

Mon


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

Angie? She could do it easily, or maybe she knows someone, Sidepasser. The wrap skirt would be very easy to make, but I'd find someone local. Shipping would make a simple skirt too expensive.

Ask at your local fabric store. Most of the ladies at our Hancock's sew and an independent store might be even better if you have one.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I found someone on CL who said they would make it for $20 a skirt. I figure if she will let me watch it might be worth it. My mother has been sewing since she was 7 - and she doesn't have "time" to teach me. (Translation - "I'm too busy selling houses to stop and pretend I'm old enough to be a grandmother and you don't pay nearly enough.") :hair

I wonder .... if a homeschool group would have a young lady who might be able to sew my skirt - or that costume you are speaking of. I know the Duggar girls can sew; surely to heavens there is someone around who has the skills or wants the practice and could use the money! Maybe putting and ad on CL would work?


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

Just popping in - I am going to see if this company on Etsy can do it, if not, then I can go over to UAH and see if their drama department has a seamstress. I figured it would be a 300-400 dollar job including the fabric. 

Costuming is expensive so I like to recycle when I can and not wear the same one to cosplay two years in a row...

got to run, break over..hope you find someone to sew that skirt!


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## Molly Mckee (Jul 8, 2006)

SvenskaFlicka does costuming for a living. You might pm her as well sidepasser.


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