OK, so flood of pics & info to follow...
I've been pretty anal about this project. I sat down & did all the math to make sure it would work & that I had enough fabric before I even started cutting. 10 tiers, 4"x4" squares. I didn't figure in seams into my equations, but am using 1/4". The bottom hem is over 215 feet! (690 squares) I used a 1.5x increase on each tier, but a 2x increase on the final one for extra ruffle.
Colour scheme is white-white-orange-yellow-green-teal-blue-purple-red-pink. I love pink - it had to have the largest representation.
I am a big girl, so opted for a very large waist to accommodate all sizes. I'm also tall, so on top of the 10 tiers, I'll be adding a 4" waistband with a belt that draws through it like a drawstring.
Total planning & organizing time was 1.5hrs
First day of cutting was 5hrs. Rotary cutters are KEY! I managed to get the first 8 tiers cut
Second day of cutting was another 5hrs.
I also managed to fit in 2.5hrs of sewing on day 2 (that got all the squares in the first 4 tiers pieced together)
4.5hrs of sewing got me through piecing the next 3 tiers.
Day 4 I only put in 2.5hrs of sewing, which was tier 8 (purple) pieced together.
I then took a 3-day break. But Friday came, and DS was at his grandmother's for the weekend. A lot of my friends would have gone out partying, but I went to BFF's & we worked away on this craziness. 3.5hrs each on Friday night. Another 9.5hrs each on Saturday with her twins running around.
Total 2-day, 2-woman labour was 27hrs, but we got the 9th tier pieced, & the 10th well on it's way. While she stitched, I serged. Unfortunately necessary to do both, as her 4th thread won't keep tension & breaks all the time
Sunday we did another 2.5hrs each, plus I sat for another 1/2hr later to finish piecing the pink. All serging is done on tiers 1-9, tiers 1-8 are attached & serged together. Tier 9 is awaiting attachment. Tier 10 is pieced, & partially serged, as well as hem in progress.
I think I will ruffle tier 10, attach to tier 9, and then attach them to the rest of the skirt.
Final stage will be the waistband, and if I'm feeling brave, adding pockets.
Total work time so far? 53.5hrs
Enough chit-chat! PICS!!!
Some favorite fabricsOrange:
Yellows:
Greens:
Teals:
Blue:
(for how many different fabrics there were, I wasn't a fan of a lot of them. I should have grabbed a pic of the funny Dutch-looking stuff with donkeys, though)
Purple:
I gave up on taking individual fabric pics, because there are too many favorites, but some of them are scraps from baby clothes my mom made me, a couple pieces of scrap from my nursery curtains when I was a baby, a sash that I made in 7th grade when we were studying africa...lots of cool stuff!
Here's what it looks like so far, sans red & pink:
All laid out on the floor:
Hanging from a hanger, folded in half twice:
For scale - that TV stands to my armpit, so the top of the stand that it is hanging from is mid-thigh on me:
