sewing skirts in Palm Springs

Palm Springs 1
A few weeks ago I headed off to the annual Girl’s trip with my sisters/cousins. Woohoo!
And the day I flew out, THIS fantastic fabric showed up in my mailbox.
YES.
Idle Wild Knits
So the only logical thing to do, was to pack up my sewing machine.
Truck it along to California….
Baby Lock sewing machine
….and in-between this:
Palm Springs 2
and this (thank you Rite Aid)
ice cream on MADE
….the plan was to wrangle the girls into sewing these:
Pencil Skirts!
Pencil Skirts by MADE
And they did it, and loved it!  The skirts looked so great.
And I’m totally in love with these Idle Wild knits.  Adorable.

Pencil Skirt video
I don’t know the exact release date, but Idle Wild knits are coming out soon.  They’re designed by the Pattern Anthology ladies, for Riley Blake Designs.   This is the 2nd time I’ve sewn with their knits and I really love the feel, stretch, and weight of the fabric.  It’s perfect for a stretchy Pencil Skirt…..which yes.  You see me sew these a lot.  But they’re just so easy, and so cute! Every time.

If you missed my How-to-sew-a-pencil-skirt-in-20-minutes video, you can watch it here:

And if you’ve ever wondered about traveling on a plane with your sewing machine (I did)….it’s super easy.   I ordered THIS sewing machine trolley (2 days before my trip.  Typical.  Thank you Amazon Prime!)  It was fantastic.  It’s like a small rolling suitcase/carryon.  I ordered a generic brand, and my Babylock fit in there perfectly.  I don’t know why I never bought one of these before?  It made it through TSA security without a flinch….which in a dorky way disappointed me.  Really?  That sewing machine looks normal to you on Xray??  You’re not just a little curious about it?
I guess there’s a slew of TSA-ers making quilts in their off-time?  Who knew?

So when I got to Palm Springs, I set up my machine in the kitchen and one night we all went crazy…cutting, sewing, and helping each other out.

It was so much fun to sew with my cousins!  Here are Lauren and Debbie, two cousins I don’t get to see very often.  I love these girls.  Lauren (on the left) sews a ton and was a little worker bee, helping everyone else before working on her own skirt.

Debbie (on the right) sews a ton too and has the cutest laugh.  She’s so fantastic to have around.

My cute sister-in-law Sara just moved to Texas this year, so it’s been fun hanging out more with her.  She’s more of a beginner when it comes to sewing with knits and she did an awesome job!  I love her skirt, in the floral print.
How to sew an easy Pencil Skirt
And this just made my day when Debbie and my other cousin Karis walked out wearing matching skirts.  “Is it too much?”
Haha.
Never!
And they headed off to go shopping in their Idle Wild skirts.  Love it.
How to make Pencil Skirts
All together, the group sewed 8 adult pencil skirts, and 1 teenage skirt.   It was the perfect mix of relaxation and project-making.

Thank you Riley Blake for the cute fabrics!
knit pencil skirts on MADE

  1. So cute Dana – what a fun girls activity!

  2. 3) Elisabeth M.

    How fun! Very cut fabric!

  3. I am loving it! Thanks for sharing

  4. 5) Julie Johnson

    I have a picture of an icecream cone that looks just like yours. We just got home from Palm Springs. Chocolate malted crunch and mint chocolate chip! Can’t beat Thrifty’s icecream. It is the best.

    • 6) Dana

      Ahhhh! Yes! It’s the best. And that’s my absolute favorite combo 🙂 Glad you got to enjoy too!

  5. What a FUN trip! I loved reading about it before but this post just put it over the top! I have a girlfriend trip coming up in a week… hmmm. Wondering if I need to jump on Amazon Prime and take my sewing machine along too! 🙂

    Loved this post. Or course. I love all your posts!

    – Dori –

  6. 8) Joanne

    Geometrical isnt my style but it became a wonderful skirt. Thanks for sharing Dana

  7. 9) Debbie Nelson

    Thanks so much Dana! I had such an awesome time. Thanks for the sweet post and your kind words! I love my skirt.

  8. 10) Mad

    Until you mentionned that Karis wasn’t you… I totally thought that was you. Crazy resemblance!

  9. What a fun weekend! I love to sew and wear knit pencil skirts. I probably have at least 5 of them. Great to know about the sewing machine travel bag. Thanks for the tip!

  10. 12) Els

    Oh wow. Love the floral skirt! Havent worn a skirt/dress for 35 years, but love this one. Oh my oh my. Have to go find someone with a sewing machine.

  11. I love it! I saw this fabric and wasn’t sure how they would look for ladies wear. Thanks for showing a few of the different fabrics on different body types. It makes it so much easier to visualize what it would look like on me. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some fabric to order 🙂

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