Autumn skirt – with a temper to match

The story of this shirt started over a year ago when I first saw the fabric in my local fabric store. I immediately loved it, it’s wool, it has a lovely drape, and the colors are gorgeous. It was also rather too expensive to justify buying it without a plan, so I left it. A short while later though, I saw it again, but this time on sale. So I immediately bought all that was left. Just 1,10 meters, but I figured it would work for a skirt.

So the planning started! I wanted to make a skirt with a pleated top, matching the tartan. But I also wanted it to be quite long, a little below knee length, and to have a narrower line than the ‘poofy’ skirts I often make.

So I started pleating along the 1,5 (width) edge. It was a large challenge to both match up all the stripes and end up with my desired waist measurement. I’d normally take 3 times the waist measurement, but this time I had a little over 2 times, so it just wasn’t working.

After re-pleating it about 3 times, I decided I could add a little width by taking off the length. I had 1,1 in length which was too long anyway. So I cut down the bottom 30 cm and re-sewed it to the sides, matching up the pattern. Doing a french seam, it again took me about 3 times to get right, but it worked.

This is an image of the finished skirt, which still has the french seams. Almost invisible, yay!

So I started pleating again! Again, it took a while to get right, but at least I had a little more width. When the pleats were done, I stitched them together for about 10 cm deep. I then put in the zipper, and the waistband, made from the tiny bit of scraps I had left.

I hated it. It still turned out a bit too big. The very long pleats didn’t work, it just wasn’t flattering at all. So I took out about half of the length of the pleats, and I re-attached the waistband as facing. But honestly, it was still a bit too big, and not really what I’d had in mind. Because the fabric was so pretty, I didn’t want to settle for a shape which didn’t work. I’d also put in so much work in endlessly pleating and re-pleating, so I couldn’t quite bear to take it all apart yet. So I frustratedly threw it in the ‘todo’ basket and left it there for nearly a year. This is how it came out of the basket (including wrinklyness…)

Speed up to a couple of weeks ago! I’d been looking at autumny skirts, and thinking back to the gorgeous fabric. I decided to completely re-do the skirt. Having only pleated, I still basically had a rectangle of fabric to work with. Pleats didn’t work, so it would be an A-line  model!

So I took out the waistband facing, the pleats, the hem and the zipper and ended up with a ‘loop’ of fabric. Carefully patterning on paper, I figured I’d be able to make an almost .45 circle with minimal waste.

This is what the patterning and cutting looked like. As you can see, minimal waste! The sides are on the fold, so those didn’t need an extra seam.

This pattern worked a lot better. I also added a lining so it’d work better with leggings, and re-attached the waistband and zipper. I left the circle hanging to stretch for a week and finally did the hem.

It took a lot of time, and loads of frustration, but I am finally really happy with how this turned out. The fabric is still stunning, and perfect for the changing weather!