I’ve been color obsessing this Spring. Anything in pink or chartreuse  has been calling out to me like an adorable little puppy telling me to buy it.

Clothing Details: Skirt – Made by Me || Tank Top – H&M || Shoes – Express (similar – similar) || Purse – Rebecca Minkoff || Bracelets – H&M (similar) || Earrings – Vintage

I’d been obsessing over some beautiful pieces on the web (see inspiration below) and decided it was time to make myself a great statement piece that could be dressed up with some heels or made casual with a plain tee.

   

Chartreuse is a surprisingly easy color to wear for people with pink undertones in their skin. Even paler people (like me!) can rock this Spring trend. When paired with a white top, or even a light pink or blue, this color becomes softer and fresh! I decided to go with a simple box pleat skirt shape to let the color do the talking. This skirt is a lot of fun and an easy project with the use of an iron. The hardest part will be finding the right fabric! (Chartreuse is not the most popular in fabric stores, so it seems.) I found mind at Jo-Ann’s.

Chartreuse Pleated Skirt Tutorial

Supplies:

1 yard Chartreuse Fabric – non stretch cotton or polyester
Thread to match
Invisible Zipper to match
Pins
Iron
Sewing Machine – with invisible zipper foot

1. Take your fabric and fold it in half so you have 1/2 yard along the seam. Cut from the folded edge to the other side about 7″ from the edge of the fabric. You now have a skirt piece and a waistband piece.

2. Use the skirt piece to create box pleats. To do this for my skirt, I followed the box pleat pattern shown below. The first pleat is about 2″ (1 1/2″ for a half box pleat with a 1/2″ for the zipper later on) and then there are small 1/2″ overlaps with a 1/2″ gap between them, followed by a 3″ box pleat. The 1/2″ overlaps with 1/2″ gap between them and 3″ box pleats are repeated until you reach the end of the fabric. As you go, pin the pleats down. Carefully iron down the pleats at the top of the skirt, taking pins out as you need to to keep the pleats in place.

3. Sew a straight stitch about 1/4″ from the edge of the fabric through your pleats to keep them in place.

4. Use the waist piece and fold it in half length wise. Iron the waist piece in half and then sew a straight stitch along the open edge about a 1/4″ from the edge of the fabric.

5. Pin the waist piece to the skirt with the waist on top of the outside of the skit and the sewn lines matching up. Sew another straight stitch about a 1/2″ from the edge of the fabric. Then sew a zig zag stitch next to this on the side closest to the edge of the fabric to strengthen the seam.

6. Wrap the skirt around you and cut away any extra fabric so that there is about a 1/2″ of fabric left on both sides of the skirt. From here, watch this tutorial for attaching a hidden zipper. I found watching videos was the easiest way to learn how to attach a hidden zipper. They look scary but I promise they’re a breeze with an invisible zipper foot!

7. Hem the bottom of the skirt by cutting it to the desired length plus about 1″. Iron the hem up about a 1/4″ and sew a straight stitch, and then iron that up about a 1/2″ and sew another straight stitch.