Releasing stitched-down pleats on skirt

I am trying to do a quick-and-dirty last-minute skirt just so I can have
something a little brighter to wear to church tomorrow than my usual
drab colors, and I have this nice length of fabric and want to make a
skirt with stitched-down inverted pleats over my torso and them released
to make the skirt fuller around my legs and such. Well, I *think*
they're inverted pleats. What they will look like on the outside is a
double pleat with the two folds meeting, and stitching it down is going
to put a seamline on the outside. (Please pardon my lack of correct
terminology; it's been a hairy week -- or else this would have been done
Tuesday night -- and I am having massive brain fade)

Does anybody know offhand where the proper point is to release the
pleats -- at the level where my torso is no longer the widest point
around, or above or below that point -- so it looks the best? I have a
very pear-shaped torso that is cleverly disguised by a large bustline,
but I don't want any more bulk over my torso than I really need.

I really don't want to dig out all my books and start hunting, because
I'll get distracted and will never get this made, so if someone is more
coherent than I am and knows offhand, I'd be grateful for that information.

I did this very thing, but I did it from an elasticized waistband to a
pleated one. I placed the pleats to be released just a touch below the
widest point, maybe not even 1/4" and the pleats folded out. Maybe I
did the wrong thing, but I too have a pear shaped body and it looks
okay on me.

Melinda,

Release them where you would normally have the bottom end of a waist dart.
Does that help you? Do you have something in the closet made with waist
darts? Dig that out and use it as a ruler.

Good luck!

Sharon

--

--
---
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time and just annoys the
pig."



"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
I am trying to do a quick-and-dirty last-minute skirt just so I can have
something a little brighter to wear to church tomorrow than my usual
drab colors, and I have this nice length of fabric and want to make a
skirt with stitched-down inverted pleats over my torso and them released
to make the skirt fuller around my legs and such. Well, I *think*
they're inverted pleats. What they will look like on the outside is a
double pleat with the two folds meeting, and stitching it down is going
to put a seamline on the outside. (Please pardon my lack of correct
terminology; it's been a hairy week -- or else this would have been done
Tuesday night -- and I am having massive brain fade)

Does anybody know offhand where the proper point is to release the
pleats -- at the level where my torso is no longer the widest point
around, or above or below that point -- so it looks the best? I have a
very pear-shaped torso that is cleverly disguised by a large bustline,
but I don't want any more bulk over my torso than I really need.

I really don't want to dig out all my books and start hunting, because
I'll get distracted and will never get this made, so if someone is more
coherent than I am and knows offhand, I'd be grateful for that
information.

mamahays wrote:

Release them where you would normally have the bottom end of a waist dart.
Does that help you? Do you have something in the closet made with waist
darts? Dig that out and use it as a ruler.

I don't have anything with darts, and I have a four-cesarean stomach
that makes me look 6-7 months pregnant and I'm afraid of accentuating a
pregnant look. According to my pattern drafting software I supposedly
should only have about a 4-inch dart, but I want a slimmer look on my
torso. I am thinking of something like a pleats-below-a-yoke look --
hmmm, maybe I can go in my pattern drafting software and see how long it
makes the yoke and go from there.

And I did have some lovely Pendleton wool skirts I wore to school for
years as a child -- amazingly, they fit me for about 4 years and they
had stitched-down pleats to someplace below where a dart would be, and
that's the kind of look I'm trying to recreate.

Well, if I get desperate I will hang the stitched-down pleat thing and
do my regular thing (four pleats in front and in back), but I wanted
something a little different for a change.

Raye Ahn wrote:
I did this very thing, but I did it from an elasticized waistband to a
pleated one. I placed the pleats to be released just a touch below the
widest point, maybe not even 1/4" and the pleats folded out. Maybe I
did the wrong thing, but I too have a pear shaped body and it looks
okay on me.

I'll try basting them down that far and seeing what it looks like. Thanks.

McCall's pattern 8530, view C has partially stitched pleats in front and
back, two on each side. The pleats are stitched down 6 and 3/4 inches from
the waistband in a size 20 skirt. HTH,
Emily

CySew wrote:
McCall's pattern 8530, view C has partially stitched pleats in front and
back, two on each side. The pleats are stitched down 6 and 3/4 inches from
the waistband in a size 20 skirt. HTH,
Emily

Ooh, I never thought to go look at patterns online. This is the same
skirt body I have made for 10-15 years without a pattern. I'll go check
that one out. Thanks.

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply"
wrote in message ...


Does anybody know offhand where the proper point is to release the
pleats -- at the level where my torso is no longer the widest point
around, or above or below that point -- so it looks the best? I
have a very pear-shaped torso that is cleverly disguised by a large
bustline, but I don't want any more bulk over my torso than I really
need.

I really don't want to dig out all my books and start hunting,
because I'll get distracted and will never get this made, so if
someone is more coherent than I am and knows offhand, I'd be
grateful for that information.

Sounds a little like Simplicity 4596 or 4961. When I made skirts like
that in high school, I always sewed the pleats to just a smidge below
the fullest part of the hip/belly, so they would lie flat. That tends
to about 6-9 inches below the natural waist. If you end the stitching
higher, the pleats tend to gape open. I don't think that's the look
you're going for. ;-}

--
Beverly
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BEI Design wrote:

Sounds a little like Simplicity 4596 or 4961. When I made skirts like

YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH 4961 is exactly it. Thanks!!!!!

that in high school, I always sewed the pleats to just a smidge below
the fullest part of the hip/belly, so they would lie flat. That tends
to about 6-9 inches below the natural waist. If you end the stitching
higher, the pleats tend to gape open. I don't think that's the look
you're going for. ;-}

I knew I remembered something, but I have been too frazzled to figure it
all out. Unfortunately right now it's too late for me to get it done
because too many other things came up. Well, there's always next week.

Thanks bunches.

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply"
wrote in message ...
BEI Design wrote:

Sounds a little like Simplicity 4596 or 4961. When I made skirts
like

YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH 4961 is exactly it. Thanks!!!!!

My pleasure! ;-)

I knew I remembered something, but I have been too frazzled to
figure it all out. Unfortunately right now it's too late for me to
get it done because too many other things came up. Well, there's
always next week.

Thanks bunches.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get to it eventually.

--
Beverly
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