Zero-Waste Skirt

I’ve been reading a bit recently about zero-waste in creative processes.  Last week, Betz White was the guest blogger at Sew Mama Sew and wrote a great article on this subject (make sure you click on the related article links to read more about this topic including some amazing pattern layout skills).  I’ve also recently been a little obsessed with Alabama Chanin, a fashion design company based in (where else?) Alabama that creates fabulous garments with low environmental impact (I have another blog post in the works about this company) and who is working toward the zero-waste goal.

Last week a friend asked if I could help her with a sewing project.  She was planning to attend a traditional Nigerian wedding and wanted to use some fabric she brought back from her own trip to Africa to have a skirt made to wear to the event.  This project turned out to be my first zero-waste project, not by design but by necessity.

My friend envisioned a ruffled 3-tiered skirt, a popular style right now.  I was delighted with this plan as these skirts are particularly easy to sew.  The trick to the project was that I had only 2 yards of 48” wide cotton fabric to work with (and far less once the fabric had been pre-shrunk).  There are lots of tutorials on the internet about making these skirts (Google: ruffled tiered skirt) and the planning involves some mathematic skills.  In the end, I made the math conform to the amount of fabric I had available.  Here’s what I had left over:

I was very pleased with the final result.  The skirt flared gently to the hem but never looked overly full or bulky.  I particularly love the technique I used for the elastic waistband, and I've posted a tutorial for creating one yourself.  This is a factory technique used in ready-to-wear and makes a much nicer finish (I think) than elastic in a casing.

This final picture shows some lovely beaded bracelets that I received as a gift a few years ago.  The non-profit organization Bead for Life offers women in Uganda the chance to rise above poverty by creating sustainable creative opportunities.   Each bead is created from paper recycled from magazines (the color of the bead is the color of the paper used).  I think they are the perfect “green” accessory for my zero-waste skirt.