I love skirts. Full skirts, pencil skirts, pleated skirts. I feel all girly and cute when I wear them, even sans makeup and jewelry. For me, they are as cool and comfortable as wearing shorts in the summer, and a bit more polished and, well, girly!
I am short on skirts right now, so I decided to correct that wardrobe problem with a few new additions. I have a stretch denim, traditional jeans skirt that I wear often, but I don’t love the lycra. So goal number one was to emulate the indigo denim jeans skirt in a non-stretch fabric. I bought some black “bull” denim, Butterick pattern 5649, and set to work on creating view C from the pattern. Â
I made a quick muslin to check the fit on the hip curve. I have a “high hip” – which basically means I go from a nice little curvy indentation at my waist to nearly my full hip circumference in the space of a couple of inches. Sweet. No matter what weight I have been, this body feature has plagued me. It’s all about bones, so no use whining – I just always need to fit my garments correctly in this area so that they look and feel right on my shape. Done!
After I transferred to changes to the flat pattern, I cut out The Bull. Boy, that fabric is HEAVY. No need for underlining or a slip with this baby. I also shortened the pockets (mostly because I skimped on the fabric purchase), but that was about it. This skirt went together in a breeze. Stitched up the fronts, inserted the fly zipper, and added pockets. Topstitched the pocket edge with a triple stitch. Done. Sewed a couple of darts in the back, stitched the center back seam, and attached front to back at sides. Added  waistband using the  AWESOME Judy Barlup technique with waistband stabilizer instead of interfacing. Fast, easy, and oh-so-RTW! Serged hem edge, turned once and topstitched. (This fabric is so heavy I thought a double turn on the hem would be too bulky, plus I wanted every half inch of  length. Remember the fabric skimping above?) Apply hook and eyes (OK – this step is not done yet). Â
This skirt fits me perfectly, is easy laundering care, and will go with my vast collection of black print tee shirts. Add sandals for summer, or tights and a sweater for winter. A wardrobe workhorse! I am thinking of adding some interesting belt loops and possibly a little subtle stenciling to increase the cute factor…..what do you think? Leave it plain and simple or spruce it up a bit?
Next up: view A in the same pattern in a lighter weight black twill.
Happy sewing!
Maris Olsen