Sewing a Skirt from the Pages of Vogue - literally!

Shawnelle Cherry
Apr 30
3 min read

Editorial Chic: A Skirt That Walked Out of a Magazine

It all started with a student who brought in a sewing pattern that immediately caught my eye. The bustier on the envelope was covered in a collage of bold, high-fashion editorial photos—exactly the kind of fabric art I’m obsessed with. I felt that jolt of creative energy that always means I’m about to start something fun.

What if I made a skirt from fashion magazine photos?

Cue me tearing through stacks of old fashion mags, looking for images that were bold, graphic, and full of attitude. I printed my favorites onto my go-to fabric photo paper—if you’ve never tried this, you’re missing out. It turns any photo into something you can stitch into your next masterpiece.

What fabric to use? I thought about denim at first, maybe layering it with a lighter fabric that had a denim look. I even considered dyeing a soft, lightweight linen using Rit’s “Denim” blue (it's a great tone). But then I found it (in my fabric stash!) - a gorgeous denim-colored cotton with metallic threads woven through. Just the right mix of edgy and luxe to ground my collage of glossy fashion images. I’ll use real denim for the yoke and fray the edges to enhance the denim characteristics. And use the interesting selvage edge on the metallic cotton. I also had an different fabric that was the same color as the metallic, it had a tighter weave and no metallic tread and paired perfectly. I will use that as a border band to bring out the selvage edge and tie it all together.

Next, to make the skirt base, using my Rosie pattern, of course. It’s my favorite square-circle-on-a-yoke design because it gives me a wide, seamless canvas to play on. No interruptions in the fabric mean the artwork can really flow.

I’m thinking of hacking the yoke too—breaking it into four panels: front, back, and sides to give it more structure without breaking up the flow too much.

Now onto the art of the skirt. I arranged the printed photos like a fashion mood board, playing with placement until it felt just right. It was hard to decide—do I cut around the models in interesting shapes, or keep them in neat blocks, almost like Polaroids? I even toyed with the idea of printing them inside faux-Polaroid frames. (Still noodling on how to pull that off cleanly in the printing process for my next projects.)

Once the layout clicked, I used a little fabric glue pen to hold each photo in place before stitching them down. Then onto the sewing machine to stitch them down. I used a narrow zigzag stitch with a blue/gray denim colored thread that blended well with all the photo borders.

To add a finishing touch, I love to add trim between the yoke and skirt to blend the two. I used the same trim I used on the hem band. It made a perfect piping between the yoke and the skirt.

This project is definitely a labor of love, but I already know it’s going to be one of those magical skirts that turns heads and tells a story.

I can't wait to wear it!