Thanks to some Amazon gift cards I received at Christmas I was able to purchase a new sewing machine this year. Since it’s been awhile since I’ve sewn, I set out to find some simple projects to get us acquainted. The first stop on my project search was Pinterest, where I immediately find a ton of projects—including a 15-minute, start-to-finish “Super Simple Skirt“!
15-minutes to make a skirt? This was a project I had to try!
The instructions were simple and the required materials were pretty minimal:
- fabric
- 1″ elastic
- sewing machine
- pins, scissors
- tape measure
- iron
- ironing board
I picked up some great comic book fabric and 1-inch black elastic at my local fabric store and headed home for my first attempt.
Before starting, I made sure to read through the instructions several times on my phone. (FYI: I don’t include this time in my final calculations at the end of the post.)
First things first: I sat down to lay out my fabric. Then…Oh hang on. My son needs me. (Okay, now he has his snack and I can get back to work.)
As I smooth out my fabric…hang on…the dog needs to go outside.
Whew. Back in and…where did I leave off again?? Ohh that’s right. Smoothing out my fabric and measuring it out. (“Brandon! Stop driving your car on my project!”)
A minute later and yippee! First cut accomplished!
At this point I pick up my fabric and wrap it around my waist for a quick eyeball measurement. Looks good! Time to line up the edges and sew what I’ve got into a tube.
Before I can do this, however, my mom needs something–so hang on. Then…darn it! The dog needs me again. (I’m getting him a litter box.) Okay. I’m back now, sitting down, and ready to sew up this skirt!
Moments later, the first part of my skirt is completed. Only three more major steps to go.
I grab for the pins. (“Brandon! I said to stop driving your plasma car inside the house!“) As I start to pin up the hem I look over at the clock and realize that it’s actually time to get something on the stove for dinner…
Waffles and cold cereal served, I go back to pinning up my hem. I’ve stuck my son on Disney Infinity so I can have a few minutes to get this step completed (desperate times call for desperate measures) and a minute or so later, my first hem is pinned up. Yippee, again!
I sit down to the sewing machine and get the first hem done. Wait. My brother is at the door and I’m in the middle of my first hem. I yell for my son to answer the door and let him in. I can’t remember what he wants (I think it had something to do with watching his dog…), but I am determined to get this skirt done, so I keep on sewing and manage to finish the hem by the time he leaves. Yay!!!
Now on to the hard part…prep for and sew in the elastic. The instructions say to finish the top, but I don’t know how to do that so I hem it a small bit instead. I manage to pin up the top and (miracle of miracles) sew it with few interruptions. As it turns out, my method works and I am able to use the hem to line up the elastic on my skirt.
I finally figure out how to attach the elastic (apparently there is more than one way to do this) and sit down to get it done.
As you can tell by the video above, it takes two hands to do this part, so of course, mid-step, my phone rings. It’s my husband. (Okay, I’ll take his call.) While talking to him on speaker and sewing at the same time, I manage to complete this final part of my skirt. Woo-hoo!!!
Time…
60 minutes!!
Whuh…what happened to 15 minutes???
Ohh wait…that’s right. One, I’m not a professional seamstress with the speedster abilities of The Flash. Two, I have a family and a life that need my attention every time I want to sit down and do something.
Upshot: If you’re a seasoned seamstress who doesn’t actually have to look at the directions to sew a skirt, you could possibly complete this project in 15 minutes. However, if you’re a mother with anything that has two or more legs running around your house, chances are this will take more than 15 minutes to complete.
That makes this PinBusted!
Even though this pin is busted, it’s still a great and easy way to make a skirt. Just know before you sit down to work, your time will be different from what’s specified in the instructions.
EDIT: I’d like to note that I subsequently made a second attempt at the 15-minute skirt. While my first effort was done home alone with my 8-year-old son, my mother, and her dog, the second skirt project was embarked upon while my husband was home to help out with son and dog care. The time difference between the two projects was still only 10-15 minutes. So, even with someone helping at the house, it still took at least 30 minutes complete this project.
