Sequins & Stars: Final Thoughts & Tips

So the skirt is finished, as you may have noticed earlier this week! I wanted to wrap up my series of posts about making this skirt with some final thoughts and a few tips for any of you who want to make something similar in the future.

Firstly, the finishing. I didn't put a zipper in this skirt. Nope. I felt like the tulle was too fragile and also that I didn't have to..? A simple slit would work, its not like I would be wearing such a sheer skirt without anything underneath it, and with a circle skirt there was no problem with the slit lying smooth and closed. So once I decided I wasn't going to be putting in a zipper, I just needed to align the layers of tulle and attach the waistband. To do so I carefully laid everything out flat on the floor layer by layer with the embellished layer on the top. I pinned the layers together around the hole in the center of the giant circle (which was the waist of course). Then I basted around this area and removed the pins. Next I had to cut the aforementioned slit to allow me to get in and out of the skirt. Before I even reached for the scissors I pinned down two rows of pins along where I wanted the slit, and then based all the layers together along this thin rectangle area so that when I did cut the slit nothing would move around and all the layers would always remain aligned.

Above you can see the stitches running along the edge of the center back slit. These were put in before I cut the slit! Do this first if you decide to go this zipper-less route like me. I also put several extra stitches across the end of the slit (which is around 8-9" long) so that if the opening got tugged a bit getting the skirt off and on the tulle below wouldn't tear. Rugged clothing for adventure and activity, this skirt most certainly is not ;)

Then I finally cut the slit and attached the waistband I had cut out from spare black cotton sateen just like I would have done for any other skirt. I always add some twill tape in the seam attaching the skirt to the waistband so that it won't stretch out over time and I did the same for this skirt too. Sewing on a skirt hook was the final step and the skirt was finished! That's right, no hemming required, tulle doesn't fray.

I may have sneaked a heavily beaded death star, some sequin TIE fighters, and a sketchy x-wing onto this skirt. I couldn't help it!

So that's how I chose to finish a tulle skirt without having to put in a zipper. My other tips for making a project like this one include: Make sure to embroider in a comfortable position, don't wreck your back! I had the skirt on my drafting table, which is a bit higher than a usual table, and then sat in a chair next to the table so the fabric was at the perfect height to work on without hunching over the skirt and ending up in a lot of pain. Also make sure you have enough of the materials you'll need before you start. I ended up wanting more star shaped sequins and had to run to the craft shop to buy more which slowed me down. I'd recommend laying out your whole skirt and positioning the larger motifs or appliques all at once before filling in the background with sequins or embroidery. That way you can be sure things are evenly placed and nicely balanced. After the larger motifs are in place then go in sections, I focused on about 1/4 of the skirt at a time, when sequining/beading/embroidering so that you don't get overwhelmed by the scale of the task!

I am super pleased with how this skirt came out, but even more pleased that it is finished and I don't have to sequin anything else for a while now! I think I got the embroidery bug out of my system. Give me clean crisp cotton and easy finish-in-one-weekend projects for a while please. I've been working on a simple cotton dress this week and I am excited to hem it this weekend and wear it soon.

I hope all of your projects are going well, have a good weekend everyone!