Third bit from the right

I haven’t written about any sewing projects since the denim skirt episode. Which is not to say I haven’t been sewing. I have; I just couldn’t be bothered telling anyone.

Over the past few weeks I’ve made four identical skirts. Five if you count the toile. Not all the same fabric, don’t be ridiculous, it’s not a corporate uniform. Four different pieces from Darn Cheap Fabrics – three were only $10/metre, the fourth was a bit more pricey. Cheap skirts when you consider I only needed a metre for each one, plus a bit of lining and a zip.

Here’s the Vogue pattern (no. 2863; click to see a larger version). The main aim of this style of skirt is to have it fitting nicely on the waist so it doesn’t slip down towards the hips. When it works, it means you can wear a wide belt over the top and not have to worry about yanking the skirt back up every 10 minutes.

I’ve made the skirt before but it didn’t fit well. I altered it a few months ago but it’s still not great, and it’s 5 cm too long. (I’ve also made the dress – boring, wore it once. And the pants – didn’t fit. And the shirt – I looked like a waiter.)

This time I made a toile in calico and adjusted it to fit me properly but it was still pinching badly at the waist, like having a piece of string knotted round me. Something was not quite right. Why was I having to ease the skirt so much to fit the facing? Stupidly, I went ahead and made the first skirt anyway.

Then I checked the pieces of pattern. Interesting – the facings are not a direct match for the skirt front and back, as you can see in the photo. The curves are different and the facings are at least half a centimetre narrower at each side seam. I don’t know if this is intentional or a Vogue error.

Whatever. I recut the facing patterns to match the shape of skirt pieces (see the photo on the right) and whipped up the remaining three skirts, one after the other. They’re much more comfortable.

The blue chambray fabric has a bit of stretch in it. And the bone-coloured material is a very loose weave. For both of them I stitched twill tape into the waist seam to make sure the skirts didn’t stretch. And I only hand-sewed the hem on the first skirt. The others I simply machine-stitched; my care factor was pretty low.

Alas, my search continues for the sewing project that doesn’t require any pattern alterations.