Alright, so I had this idea kicking around in my head for a while: a camouflage tennis skirt. Don’t ask me why, it just seemed like a cool thing to have, and honestly, the ones I saw online were either way too expensive or just not quite right. You know how it is, sometimes you just gotta make it yourself.
Getting Started – The Fabric Hunt
First things first, I needed fabric. I actually had this piece of camo print stuff tucked away in my stash for ages. Probably bought it on a whim years ago and forgot about it. It wasn’t exactly tennis skirt material, a bit on the heavier side, but I figured, “Eh, it’ll do.” It’s camo, it’s supposed to be rugged, right? I didn’t bother with a proper pattern. I’ve seen enough tennis skirts to get the gist. Just kinda eyeballed it based on an old skirt I had for general shape.
Cutting and Those Darn Pleats
So, I spread the fabric out on my dining table – which is my all-purpose crafting area, much to my family’s delight. Cutting the main pieces for the skirt part was easy enough. I went for a simple A-line shape to start, knowing the pleats would add the volume. Then came the pleats. Oh man, pleats. I have a love-hate relationship with them. They look great, but making them? Fiddly as all heck.
I decided on knife pleats. So, it was a lot of measuring, folding, pressing with the iron, pinning, and then re-measuring because I’d inevitably get one slightly off. My back was definitely feeling it after a while. I must have spent a good hour just getting those pleats somewhat even. They’re not perfect, let me tell you, but they’re good enough for a DIY job.
- Fold.
- Press.
- Pin.
- Swear a little.
- Repeat.
That was basically the cycle for the pleating part. I pinned them all down onto what would be the yoke or the top part of the skirt before even thinking about sewing.
Sewing It Together
Once the pleats were pinned into submission, I took it to my trusty old sewing machine. She’s not fancy, but she gets the job done. I basted the pleats in place first, just to make sure they wouldn’t shift around too much when I attached the waistband. That was a good move, definitely saved me some headaches.
Then I constructed the waistband. Just a straight band, nothing too complicated. I interfaced it to give it a bit more structure, because the camo fabric, while sturdy, was also a bit floppy for a waistband on its own. Attaching the waistband to the pleated skirt piece was a bit of a wrestle. You’re trying to ease in all that pleated bulk into a flat band. Lots of pins. Lots of pins. And slow, careful stitching.
I stitched the main seam of the skirt to make it a circle, or well, a skirt shape. I left an opening for a zipper. A side zipper seemed like the most straightforward option. Putting in zippers is another one of those tasks I don’t exactly jump for joy over, but it’s a necessary evil.
The Finishing Touches (or lack thereof)
After the zipper was in – and surprisingly, it went in without too much of a fight this time – it was time for the hem. I kept it simple. Just turned it up twice and stitched it down. By this point, I was kind of over it and just wanted to see the finished thing. I thought about adding those little built-in shorts you often find in tennis skirts, but honestly, I couldn’t be bothered. That felt like a whole other project, and my enthusiasm was waning.
So, there it is. My camouflage tennis skirt. It’s definitely unique. The pleats are a little uneven if you look too closely, and the stitching isn’t professional-grade by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s wearable. It fits. And it’s camo. I wore it out to run some errands, and it felt pretty cool. Someone actually asked me where I got it, which was a nice little ego boost. “Made it myself,” I said, trying to sound casual, like it was no big deal.
It was a bit of a faff, not gonna lie, especially those pleats. But that’s the thing with making your own stuff, right? It’s rarely perfect, but it’s yours. And I saved myself some cash, probably. Plus, it kept me busy for a weekend when the weather was rubbish. Now, what to make next…