Thursday, March 18, 2010

BWOF 1/2007 #111 Plaid Pencil Skirt

I love a good pencil skirt pattern, and no matter how many of them Burda puts in their magazine, I just keep tracing them. I have pencils with applied bands, pencils with strange piecing on the sides, plain pencils, pencils with walking pleats, pencils with pockets. You name it, I've got a pencil for that purpose.

This particular skirt, 1/2007 #111, is one of my favorites. I've made it once before, in black, and I've worn it to the point where I'm ready to make another one.

But this time, I used a special fabric that I've been holding onto since PR Weekend 2006. It's a wool/lycra blend (extremely minimal stretch), gray and black plaid with just a tiny turquoise metallic thread running through it. I got it at Paron's, and as seems to be the case there every time I fall for a fabric, it was the end of the bolt so I got the last 1.5 yards of it.

I've been holding onto it ever since, waiting for a project that would use the plaid to its best advantage.

Last week I wore my black skirt, and partway through the workday it struck me that if I cut the U-shaped insert in this skirt on the bias, it would display the plaid nicely and I'd get a really cute plaid skirt out of the deal. Sold!

This pattern doesn't even use a yard of fabric, but because I was being fanatical about the plaid matching down the back and on the yokes, and because of the size of the bias piece, I really only have scraps left from my 1.5 yards.

I also made the inside yokes from the plaid - it's not the heaviest fabric, so I thought that making the entire lining from lining would make the skirt feel too insubstantial.

This is a pretty easy pattern, but for once Burda actually includes a few helpful hints in their instructions, reminding you to interface both the curved top of the insert and the curved opening it gets sewn to, so that the curved seam sews smoothly. I also used twill tape at the waist seam to keep it from stretching out when I sit all day.

For the lining itself, when I went into the deep drawer of lining fabrics, I came to the shocking realization that I had no black lining fabric. How does this happen? The elves don't come in at night and do my sewing; do they instead come in and steal my lining fabric?

Then I kicked myself because while we were at Paron's last Saturday, I pulled a bright turquoise lining and showed it to Elizabeth as an example of the color in this plaid. Why didn't I get a yard? Anybody?

Thankfully I had some of the blue lining left from the theater costume I made last month, so that got put to use. It's not the right blue, but it works well enough.

I've posted pictures of the lining so you can get a better idea of how the piecing works in this skirt; my old link to the Burda line drawing isn't working (when are they going to fix their website?) but this shows it pretty much. There are no side seams on the skirt, only on the yokes, and the from the center back seam the side pieces wrap all the way around to the front where the inset is put in.

I topstitched the yoke seams and around the inset with black thread. I couldn't find my topstitching thread - I'm sensing a theme here - so I just used regular black thread and the stretch stitch on my machine so I had a continuous line.

I'm going to have to make this skirt again, because the pleat in the back came out so much better this time than it did in the black skirt.

Thinking this one deserves to join the TNT pile - it's definitely something I'd make again, and you can either hide the piecing in a solid, or show it off.

10 comments:

Lori said...

Great looking skirt.

Rose said...

Nice skirt with great details. I love a pencil skirt and, finally, got a pattern to fit. Now that I have a sloper, I'll have to check my Burda Magazines for some detail ideas. BTW, those thiefing elves come to my sewing room occasionally.

Anonymous said...

Love love love!!!!! So cute. What sz did use? Can I trace this pattern from you???

Lisette M said...

This is a beautiful skirt,using the plaid on the bias for the center panel was brilliant.

Andrea said...

That skirt is gorgeous. Love it.

Vicki said...

Wow, I like that! And I have just rushed to my fabric stash and pulled out a plaid with embroidery on it. Hmm, my plaid is not even, but I don't think that will matter! Thanks for the inspiration.

Shannon said...

What a fabulous pencil skirt - I love the bias section!

Ann Made Studio said...

I love your skirt and the details are so very nice.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

You really raised the potential of that plaid from okay to outstanding! Love the skirt!

gwensews said...

That's a terrific Glen Plaid skirt. It looks great on you.