After I finished cutting out the jacket in the previous post, I still had a sizable chunk of fabric left. I knew there would be enough to make a skirt, although I figured it would be a miniskirt, which would work fine with the Jem & The Holograms vibe the jacket had.
I finished making the jacket and laid out the remaining fabric and realized...there was enough for a long skirt--a long slim skirt, but, still. And I actually felt like that would be even more Jem Style.
So I got out Simplicity 9815 and started cutting. I didn't have quite enough to reach the full length as given, but I got close. I also decided to line it, because I almost always line a slim skirt.
The pattern illustration shows a lapped zipper in back, and I've wanted to get more comfortable installing lapped zippers, so I prepared to do that, but it was late, so I wasn't actually going to sew it until the next day. This gave me time to have the idea to put a welt pocket with a flap--using pattern pieces for the welt pocket with flap from the jacket--off center on the front of the skirt.
The pocket is there. Really.
Despite my precautions, I managed to cut it out with the print upside down, compared to the rest of the skirt (and the jacket.) I didn't discover this until the flap was already formed, and decided not to worry about it. The pattern repeat is pretty close (it's visible in this photo), but the foil colors being different makes it less obvious than it probably would be in a regular kind of print.
Here it is open, just because.
As with the jacket, I applied interfacing to the lining where the pocket opening would be, and put a circle of embroidery stabilizer behind the lower snap.
The lapped zipper went in with no issues. I still have to refer to (vintage) zipper instructions for how to do a lapped zipper, but I know I'll get the hang of it and not have to think so hard about it in the future. Maybe I'll get things aligned straighter, too.
And, yes, I decided to use a four part snap instead of a button. It's ~thematic~
The remaining yardage did limit the width of the waistband--what I normally like about Simplicity 9815 is how wide the waistband is, to the point where I often use it for the New Look skirt pattern I turn to for A-line skirts. I just didn't have enough fabric left for that, and I had to use the very edge, where the foil print was not, and where the glue they put on the edge (where they cut open tube knit fabric to make it flat) was clearly visible. It's on the inside, it's fine.
Also on the inside and fine is the area of lining around the zipper that I had to piece, because, again, there wasn't quite enough of the lining fabric left to fill out the whole pattern piece.
This also led to some improvisation around the vent, but I always kind of improvise around the vent, anyway, since this pattern doesn't include lining.
When I cut the back lining pieces, I did not include any extensions at the vent area, just cutting the edges flat (not that there was enough fabric left to do anything else), and counting on myself to figure out how to make it work.
It looks OK from this side, where the edge of the lining slit is concealed inside the fold over of the upper vent.
I usually allow skirt linings to hang free, but I did not want to deal with pressing up the lower edge of this knit fabric, so I bagged the lining, pulling everything out through the top of the skirt before sewing on the waistband.
No comments:
Post a Comment