Fringed Skirt - DIY

I saw this in Lucky and was inspired to make my own over the weekend. Although the materials are supposed to leather and glass beads I used what I had, T-shirts sitting for disposal from the house.

Thankfully my hubby and I are of completely different sizes. His old t-shirts were just the right amount of fabric to make my fringe skirt.

I cut each one in half so that I would have room on the front and back. Also if you have ever worked with t-shirts before the best roll is when you cut them across horizontally in strips.  I divided it vertically first so that I can cut my pieces horizontally for the fringe.

I measured out and cut with a rotary cutter 1" wide stripes leaving 1" at the top for me to be able to sew it to the skirt base. This also keeps the fringe from stretching too far up and tearing itself apart.

After all the pieces are cut I stretch each individual strip to give it both length and let it roll itself into thinner strips.

You can see the difference here between stretched and unstretched fringe.

With all the fringe stretched I am ready to sew it onto my skirt base.
The skirt base I used was a simple pencil skirt with a high stretch on the horizontal.

I sewed the first top fringe color on first so that I could judge the placement of the others as I worked down. I attached it with a top stitch since that would easiest to work with.

Remember when you are sewing with stretch you want to use a stretch friendly stitch such as a zigzag stitch. This will allow the fabric to freely stretch with the fabric without breaking the stitch.

I lay out the second tier of fringe under the seam line about an inch and make it with chalk so I can see it while sewing.

Sewing the fringe onto a pre-made skirt can be tricky and you want to be careful when pinning things on stretch fabric because they will want to move.  I didn't do it here but I suggest using a walking foot when working with stretch. Otherwise the bottom feeder feet will put more tension on the bottom and stretch the fabric more then the top.

I followed the same steps with the third and last tier.

When you get this far it can get a little complicated so make sure to keep all the other fringe tiers out of the way of your sewing. A good tip is to pin them up or even pin another piece of fabric over them to keep them out of the way.

My finished skirt! I would show you a full photos but when I sew, let's just say it's not the most fashionable things I wear. I'll do an Outfit of the Day soon showing off my new skirt.