The Calla Lily is the perfect breezy summery skirt. My only problems with it are that the wrapped front makes me nervous while chasing kids and that my thighs tend to get sweaty fast in the summer. Luckily, mashing the Calla Lily Skirt with the Activewear ‘Get Moving’ Fitted Bottoms shorts solves both problems!
I used the bike short length, which is one of 5 length lines included on the leggings pattern. The resulting skort is perfect for preventing chafing for those of us who have little-to-no thigh gap. The shorts addition also helps prevent any unexpected “wardrobe malfunctions” due to toddlers or wind! You could even mash the skirt with legging length Get Moving Bottoms to wear during colder weather. I took a few photos along the way of making my skort to show you all how this skirt/shorts mash-up is really easy.
I first cut out the shorts legs, skirt, and skirt waistband. I assembled my shorts (with no waistband) and hemmed the legs and bottom edge of the skirt. I then laid the skirt out wrong side up and pinned the center back seam of the shorts to center of the skirt’s waistline.
Next, take the skirt “points” and wrap the waistline around the top of the shorts. I had to slightly stretch the skirt waist to fit the top of the shorts while using the correct amount of overlap listed in the Calla Lily pattern. This results in the shorts being wrapped inside, with the wrong side of the skirt touching the right side of the shorts.
Finally, sew the short edges of the waistband and attach it by following the Calla Lily pattern instructions. When sewing on the waistband, the skirt will be sandwiched between the shorts and waistband. When the waistband is flipped up into place, the shorts are hidden inside the skirt!
I made this mash-up with the Calla Lily Skirt‘s longer back length and it feels dressier to me because of the slinky rayon blend fabric. I think I’ll be making another with the shorter back length in a cotton knit for easier everyday wear.
Happy Sewing!! ~ Joelle
3 Responses
Penny Reveile
Looks wonderful and great for this Texas summer. Too bad I don’t have a serger…
kymy
Penny most of the testers just used their regular sewing machine ;). While you can use a serger it is not needed.
Joelle
You definitely don’t NEED a serger to sew this or any EYMM pattern. I often just use a stretch stitch on my sewing machine. The skirt hem is the only part of this skirt I used my serger on was the lettuce-edge rolled-hem, but it could easily be left as a raw edge or sew a traditional hem by folding over and sewing. 😉