(I fear I’m a few days too late for a “Trick or Tweed” post title!)
I’m starting to get into the Fall/Winter sewing mindset now (having almost entirely missed this summer, it’s a bit of a stretch), so what better says cold weather than a nice tweed skirt? After browsing through my pattern magazine archive, I finally decided on the rather recent Skirt 110 from the September 09 Burda magazine.
I chose this skirt because I really liked the big front pleat that conceals the two single welt pockets, and having that large pleat means there’s plenty of walking ease. I tend to walk really fast and with a large stride, so I always need a walking slit or pleat in my skirts. The fabric is a great wool (with a bit of synthetic thrown in, according to my burn test) tartan with lots of earth colours and even a thread of blue running through it, which is great for classic Fall and Winter looks. I mentioned before that this fabric was also a gift from my neighbour Helen, who had kept it from her fashion school days and thought I’d make better use of it than her spare room storage!
I already wrote about creating the single welt pockets, which took as much time to sew as the rest of the skirt combined, but here’s the end result!
As you can see, the sides of the skirt pull away into an A-line shape (rather than a straight pencil skirt), which means that the pleat doesn’t conceal the welt pockets as shown in the technical drawing. It does the same thing on my body as it does on the dressform, too (sorry for no photos on me, but I still look a wreck from the Graft vs Host hives). I’m not sure whether I prefer the intended look or the reality, but I’m happy I took so much care with the welt pockets since it turns out they’re not concealed!
The inside of the pockets are lined with powder blue silk twill leftover from my superwarm winter coat, so they’re really nice to put your hands into!
The pattern called for an invisible zipper in the centre back, but all I had on hand was a standard zipper, so I substituted that instead. Also take a look at my awesome plaid matching! Even with the irregular offcut of fabric, I’m pleased I was able to make this work!
And here’s an inside view of my seam finishing, which was just to overlock the seams with some woolly nylon. With the scratchy wool, I might’ve chosen to line it, but with the big pleat it seemed awkward. My skin has never been one to be bothered by wool, either, and I’ve got loads of silky tights to wear with it so I just kept it unlined. The hem and facings I hand stitched at my monthly moorings craft night over lots of nibbles and gossip, hurrah.
Finally, I’d like to say Happy Birthday to my mom and Happy Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Day to all the Brits. Our moorings are having their annual giant party tomorrow night with a floating brazier and tons of fireworks, so I’ve got to remember to wear a short wig and not stay too close to the fire to avoid any unsightly curling and melting, ha!