Babywearing and Skirts with Pockets

Babywearing. Wearing babies is much more than "just" wearing babies. There's community. There's discussion. There's learning. There's listening. There's creating. There are smiles. There are tears. And when you're wearing less often or not wearing at all, there's still this love for the textiles and the wearing community. We're not near the end of our wearing days yet (I mean, teenagers have meltdowns too and need to be worn right???) but one day/month/year it'll come (insert tears being soaked up by woven wraps). Well, it won't be the end, but maybe a break between another phase in life perhaps? Whatever it is, whenever it is, there will still be ways we "wear."

[Image of a smiling tan skin Asian woman with long dark brown hair styled in loose waves wearing a red plaid top tucked into a skirt she made, a gray and white large hounds tooth patterned elastic waist A-line skirt. Image is from smile through mid-shin. Hands in pockets, she's leaning against an off-white wall.]

Sooooooooo.... dry those tears. Over the weekend I made something I’m really excited about. 


Hint. It has pockets and it isn’t red.

[Image from the side, slightly above waist through knees of a tan skin woman wearing a red plaid top tucked into a skirt she made, a gray and white large hounds tooth patterned elastic waist A-line skirt. Hands are on the glorious deep pockets. Background is an off-white wall.]

I have made several of this style of skirt but not one from woven wrap material yet. Lots of sketches in my head for what it would look like. What the material would ruffle like at the waist. What the feel would be. What kind of density of weave the pocket should be. What did I want to rub my fingers on? It couldn't be too thick otherwise my non-industrial machine wouldn't be so happy and then I wouldn't be so happy....(plus it would make for a really thick waist band which was a no-go).

[Image of a tan skin bespectacled Asian woman with long dark brown hair styled in loose waves wearing a red plaid top tucked into a skirt she made, a gray and white large hounds tooth patterned elastic waist A-line skirt. She’s looking down at the pocket she has pulled out to show the fabric The skirt has deep side pockets made out of coral and silver painterly patterned fabric.]

I used Bijou Wear's Baskerville Shadow (low TENCEL® high cotton blend) for the skirt and Bijou Wear's Abstract Daybreak (Egyptian mercerized cotton and standard cotton) for the pockets. The skirt material couldn't be too stiff or need "breaking in" because well, I wanted to wear it like a skirt, not braid it or wear a 25 pound toddler in it. It had to withstand some friction without fuzzing because it would be sat on and this seemed to be the perfect design to go from babywearing to apparel. For the pocket, I wanted a dense material that keys wouldn't potentially poke through or snag so the Abstract line was pretty awesome for that - plus it's one of our favorites so that microtexture will forever live in my pocket.

P.S. - If you're looking for your favorite wrap in scrap form (and some you may not even be limited to wrap width in scrap which means even MORE possibilities!), ask the brand/company/business who makes it and you never know, they might have some fabric lying around waiting to be made into something fabulous!!

[Image of a smiling tan skin bespectacled Asian woman with long dark brown hair styled in loose waves wearing a red plaid top tucked into a skirt she made, a gray and white large hounds tooth patterned elastic waist A-line skirt. Bottom hem of skirt is right above the knees. She’s looking towards the bottom right corner out of frame and leaning against an off-white wall.]

Yup. It's pretty fabulous.

[Image of a tan skin woman wearing a red plaid top tucked into a skirt she made, a gray and white large hounds tooth patterned elastic waist A-line skirt. Hands are in pockets. Image is from just below the shoulders through the end of the pockets. Background is an off-white wall.]

Notes:

I serged all edges before sewing together so there isn't any fraying. If you don't have a serger, no problem, you can zigzag stitch the edges with a sewing machine.

Small pockets are like no pockets for me - no good. I make my pockets really big. That also allows for "oops the pocket sizes don't match up exactly so having a little more seam allowance is gonna be okay." I draw out my pockets pretty big so my whole hand fits in it comfortably.

For a ruffled elastic waist, when you make the casing for the elastic (1.5 inch or 2 inch wide elastic), leave a little room on top for a top stitch a little bit from the folded edge. Then measure how much you need for the width of the elastic before sewing in another straight stitch for the casing. Some like a straighter edge, I love the subtle ruffles! I also do a straight stitch through the mid-width of the elastic on top of the casing to keep it from twisting and to add to the ruffles.

[Image of a smiling tan skin bespectacled Asian woman with long dark brown hair styled in loose waves wearing a red plaid top tucked into a skirt she made, a gray and white large hounds tooth patterned elastic waist A-line skirt. Bottom hem of skirt is right above the knees. She’s looking downwards at an angle at her hands in the fabulous pockets and is leaning against an off-white wall.]

Inspired by: "TUTORIAL: EASY DIY ELASTIC WAIST A-LINE SKIRT W/ POCKETS"