Doodlecore Embroidery Skirts: Specifications & Constraints

For my main project, I’m sewing a skirt and embroidering a doodlecore, water-inspired design onto it. If I have time, I’ll finish a second skirt that’s inspired by lantern festivals.

Top 5 Specifications:

1. The skirt fits and is wearable/washable.
2. The skirt twirls/flows nicely.
3. The sewing looks nice (and mostly clean). There aren’t any big problems with the skirt.
4. The embroidery looks clean and is secure. There aren’t any empty patches, and it doesn’t unnaturally stretch the fabric.
5. It matched the intended aesthetic: doodlecore.

Because this is a project that I’ve spent/plan on spending a lot of time and money on, I want it to be something that I’ll use in my daily life. Hence, I want it to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing while matching my personal aesthetic.

I’ve split my timeline into two parts: sewing and embroidery. In the sewing part, I focused on the functional aspect of my project, attempting to create a solid minimalistic base while minimal noticeable mistakes. There was some attention to form because I ripped and resewed some of the seams along the waistband and bottom hem to secure and hide external mistakes. Thus, most of the mistakes are internal (and are hopefully strong enough) while the exterior looks clean from a distance.

(2) Doodlecore water design sketched on skirt.For the embroidery part, I’m prioritizing the form over the function (I think). I designed my project with the plan of embroidering a skirt. Although embroidery probably isn’t the best method for attaching the design (which I recently learned), I’m still going through with it. Since I used stretchy fabric for the base skirt, I’ve been researching and practicing additional methods to prevent the embroidery from unnaturally stretching the fabric.

Top 5 Constraints:

1. Time: Embroidery takes a while and I’ve decided to do a large design. I don’t know if I can finish it.
2. Skill: I have little to no experience sewing and embroidering clothing.
3. Money: Fabric can be expensive, and I need to test ideas before putting them into practice. This requires additional money.
4. Supplies: I have somewhat limited/irregular access to supplies.
5. Design: The original embroidery design is pretty large. I’m not sure how suitable/viable it would be to recreate.

I’ve never sewn clothes before, so I decided on a relatively easy beginner-friendly project: circle skirts. Because it was simple, I sewed the base with minimal trouble (and some minor mistakes). Additionally, I used double-sided bias tape for the hemming (because I couldn’t trust myself). The lines aren’t perfect, and there are some subtle mistakes because I don’t have much experience with sewing machines.

In addition to a skirt, I wanted to include a petticoat/underskirt. I bought tulle fabric, intending to sew my own. I found it very confusing and extremely tedious after failing two separate attempts. Hence, I gave up and bought one because it wasn’t worth the headache and time.

Additionally, I’m considering redesigning the water pattern by splitting it into multiple parts. I’m using stretchy fabric, which (according to the internet) is not good for embroidering (I decided on this fabric because it was soft to touch). I’ll need to use stabilizers and multiple hoops to embroider the originally large design. Thus, I’m considering splitting the large design into smaller sections to save time.

After starting the embroidery, I can very confidently say that my greatest constraint will probably be time. I’m also running out of embroidery floss.