“Every now and then your wardrobe needs an injection of something, new, trendy and fun. That was the thought when we spied the pencil skirts shown in the large graphic prints and florals in the June 2009 issue of Lucky Magazine. These skirts provide a great way to update a classic…so with that photo spread and a little conversation…we were ready to create our own versions. Following are our individual interpretations of an updated yet classic pencil skirt.”
The Challenge: Create a pencil skirt that works on our own body and use a bold print.
Participants are Carolyn, Diary of a Sewing Fanatic; Me, LindsayT, Lindsay T Sews (Again); and Marji Fiber Arts Afloat. (Marji proposed the challenge after reading Carolyn’s post of May 9 and asked a few fellow sewists she emails and talks to regularly if they wanted to participate.)
For me, the challenge is in just making a skirt. I never really made them and seemed to skip to far more complicated garments years ago. So I am generally uncomfortable with my skirt fitting and construction issues (discussed below) for skirts.
The skirt:
Pattern used: ‘vintage’ BWOF from June 2002, #104 (6-2002-104)
Construction details:
I have loved this skirt since it first ran seven years ago. I’ve said before that I don’t make a lot of skirts. Mainly because I don’t have tops to go with them and the vicious cycle of no separates continues. I also don’t make a lot of skirts ‘cuz I think a lot of what I see is b-o-r-i-n-g. So, when I make a skirt, I do it for the details.
On this one, it was the side button placket. First, it provides visual interest and second, it prevents me from having to work with a slit which I still have not mastered. It also appears that I need to learn the ‘my skirt hikes up in the back’ adjustment due to my swayback and my Jamaican caboose. A syndrome I see all over the streets of Baltimore.
I will be looking for some different buttons though. These blend in a bit too much. If I were making this same skirt again, I would have worked the buttonholes in a different color than white.
Because the skirt is white, I chose to underline with white cotton batiste and line it with a tan Bemberg Rayon — rendering it Princess Diana proof. And, I’ve finally got a handle on the blind hem function of my Kenmore!
Here’s the back (All my RTW tops look like this H&M one with pooling at my waist). My version has a CB seam so I could take a horizontal tuck for my swayback.
Skirts also sit higher on my front than on my back (another swayback issue) — which causes some not pretty pulling across the front.
** In the photo above, there are two less buttons. I took photos Monday morning, wore the skirt to work and decided to add two more buttons after I got home. I wore the skirt to work on Monday and have compliments from the first three women I saw. A success I say! But, I really need to master some basic skills for skirts. I never like making them because of lining and fit. I want to be like my girl Trena with her 50+.
** Pay no attention to the junkyard grass in the background. I was going to mow this weekend, but cut my hand slicing that baguette I just *had* to have on Sunday and I was too cheap to submit to the THIRTY DOLLAR extortion the kid across the street wanted to mow my 20 sq ft of grass. That, and I hate yardwork.
It’s remarkable how different a dress looks if you just change up the fabric.
