Illustrator – SewSiz

Kelly Ann Sizler Designs – Tulip Skirt

Tulip Skirt with Contrast Trim

This is the original design that inspired my Tweed Tulip Dress (after I saw the fabric at the FabScra p store in New York City).

I first envisioned this tulip skirt hem detail as a black skirt with white trim around the edge to emphasize the shape of the hem. I think this will be a perfect skirt to wear to office for Spring/Summer!

Since I’ve already done a similar sketch for the dress, I just used that one for the base in order to do a fully rendered sketch (see the full process in my YouTube video embedded in the post below).

SewSiz.com – Kelly Ann Sizler Designs – Tulip Skirt w/ Contrast Trim Final Fashion Sketch

I honestly don’t love how the sketch turned out, it looks a little flat to me and I would prefer to keep going with the marker layering to get more dimension. Here is the original sketch I did when I first thought of the idea of the tulip skirt. I think I did a much better job on this one. Notice how I’ve taken out the waistband in the end, this helps with quick fitting and alteration processes.

SewSiz.com – Kelly Ann Sizler – Tulip Skirt w/ Contrast Trim Original Fashion Sketch

I already had a good start for the pattern for the skirt, because I previously made the dress. So I just altered it so that it was finished off at the top with an attached facing that will be folded over elastic or better stability.

And then, of course, I made a mock up to make sure it looked right. You’d think it should be fine since I’ve already made in in the dress, but the fabric I’m using this time is a bit stiffer so I just want to make sure everything’s perfect with the added facing. After all, I put in all this effort into making something, I want to make sure it actually fits so that I’ll want to wear it 🙂

If items don’t fit right I’ve noticed that I never wear them, and that seems wasteful. See my post on the importance of fit.

SewSiz.com – Kelly Ann Sizler Designs – Tulip Skirt Mock-up

It was pretty much all good! Except it was just a little snug at the hip so I made those alterations to the pattern and got to cutting out the fabric.

I bought some already pre-cut donated black crepe fabric from the FabScrap store in the city (I can’t bring myself to buy new fabric anymore unless absolutely necessary). Current industry practices for the production of textiles and clothing is extremely wasteful and terribly harmful to the environment. I try to do my part by purchasing donated fabric as much as possible and making my own clothing that is easily altered and plan to wear for years to come.

Click the image below for more of my sustainability research.

The Best Sewing Process for Skirts/Bottoms

First, as always, finish all of the edges of each piece

Sewing Basics – Seam and Edge Finishes Post

SewSiz.com – Kelly Ann Sizler Designs – Tulip Skirt Sewing Process

Next, sew the front body seams

Then the back body seams

Next sew the zipper into the left side seam (when it’s flat) and finish the side seam

Sew the right side seam after the zipper is in the other side

Finish the top/waistband

Sew the hem last (and I added the contrast trim)

SewSiz.com – Kelly Ann Sizler Designs – Tulip Skirt w/ Contrast Trim

Below is a time lapse video of my design process from full rendered fashion figure, to pattern making and fittings, and lastly to final garment sewing!

The making of my Tulip Skirt w/ Contrast Trim – Sewsiz.com by Kelly Ann Sizler – YouTube

Fun Fact: The pattern making and sewing portions of this video are increased to speeds up to 50x faster than the original in order to make the video as short as possible.

All ready for Spring at the office!

Please leave any questions or comments below!

Kelly Ann Sizler Designs – Tweed Tulip Dress

Princess Seam Sweetheart Neck Tulip Hem Dress

This tulip hem design idea originally came to me in skirt form. But then I found this black, cream, and pink tweed fabric at the FabScra p store and I couldn’t resist making it into a dress version perfect for the office!

*Tweed fabric for my Tulip Dress project with cream, pink, and black threads from the FabScrap store.*

First I needed to get the initial idea out with a rough hand sketch.

*Hand drawn fashion figure sketch of my Tweed Tulip dress design, by Kelly Ann Sizler*

I’m not going to lie, I usually do this a bunch of times after the initial idea pops into my head. I’ll draw doodles and rough sketches while I’m on hold on the phone at work or just watching TV at home. It’s kind of like an itch you can’t scratch and I just need to get it figured out over and over until I know exactly what I want and how I’m going to make it. I like to walk around with small little sketch books fo this reason.

*One of my many fashion sketches of my Tulip dress, I used this one as a bookmark for a while, by Kelly Ann Sizler*

After the initial sketch, I drew a flat sketch in Adobe Illustrator. This is the type of sketch that I would do at my jobs in the industry to show buyers and send to factories overseas.

*Adobe Illustrator flat fashion sketches of my Tulip Dress Design with fabric rendered version, by Kelly Ann Sizler*

Once the idea and plan were finalized it was time to start working on the pattern. Making a new garment requires multiple sessions of pattern making and fittings. I already had a similar skirt pattern so I first got to work on making a basic bodice to go with the skirt.

After fitting the bodice I made some adjustments to the pattern and then made a new mock up of the full dress with the skirt. It wasn’t too bad but there were definitely still some fit adjustments to be made. It’s always fun to see the garment start coming together though! I also still needed to add the design details to the top, like the sweetheart neckline and to draft a sleeve pattern. I like to do this part after the bodice and armhole are fitted properly, since I didn’t have a sleeve pattern already made to fit myself.

After finishing this round of pattern adjustments I made up another full mock up to see how it looked and fit, so this is now mock up #3. Even yet, there were still a few more fit adjustments to the armhole, sleeve, and at the bottom of the back skirt. I was getting a little anxious to get to the final garment so I just made a half bodice mock up to make sure these alterations weren’t crazy looking on the top. I was pretty confident that the skirt adjustments would work out fine. I probably could’ve done more fittings but at a certain point you have to draw the line somewhere. Although, in reality, I wish I would’ve just done one more full mock up because I had to do a couple of fittings and adjustments on the final garment. Just something to keep in mind for the next project!

Below is a time lapse video of my design process from initial sketch, to flat sketch, to pattern making and fittings, to final garment sewing!

Fun Fact: The pattern making and sewing portions of this video are increased to speeds 100x faster than the original in order to make the video as short as possible. I didn’t even get all the sewing in because my phone stopped recording.

It’s definitely a process but at the end of the day (or weeks of days after work) the final product is worth it!

I wore the dress to work and as I was walking with a coworker at lunch a woman ran up to me exclaiming, “I love your dress!” I knew she wanted to know where to get it, that’s the main reason people compliment each other, but it was so exciting to be able to respond with “thank you, I made it.”

It made my day!

*The final result of my Tweed Tulip dress, by Kelly Ann Sizler*

*Happy with the result! Tweed Tulip Dress by Kelly Ann Sizler*

Please leave any questions or comments below!