Alison Willoughby, an innovative textile designer who made her mark in the fashion world as "skirtgirl" for her work on hand-constructed intricate skirts, gives a complete sewing rundown in this fabulous guidebook. Throughout its accessible chapters, this resource shows how to give a new lease on life to a favorite old skirt, transform thrift store finds into runway-worthy fashions with clever customizations, and how to make and decorate a skirt from scratch using the handy bound-in pattern template. With 49 fabulous skirt designs plus one sassy miniskirt, core techniques are illustrated with step-by-step photographs—from sewing fabric into seams, pleating, and ruching to screen printing and adding embellishments. Sewers of all levels—no previous knowledge necessary—learn how to manipulate fabric to create amazing effects such as ruffles, loops, and layers; produce unusual decorations using beads, buttons, badges, ribbons, and myriad found objects; and to create unique prints and patterns with pens, paints, and foil. Step-by-step instructions for making a wide range of skirts are included, plus instructions for numerous stitch techniques, construction and deconstruction, decorative stitches, and descriptions of various fabrics, fastenings, and finishings. Rounded off with a special section on inspiration exercises to get creativity flowing, this crafter's companion has all of the information a sewer needs to begin creating custom fashions.