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.