Perfect Pencil Skirt Part 2

It’s been a couple weeks.  I had a 3 orders to complete, a couple coats to finish(I sew patches on letterman’s jackets), and 2 hat ideas came to mind.  So I’m back to working on something for me. 
I finished my muslin, and took the brave step of trying it on.
My hips are not as curvy as the pattern, which created these weard sunk in dimples on the sides.  And the back darts didn’t seem to be long enough, which caused a weird bubble over my butt.  Being that I’m only 5’ tall, it’s obviously too long.

I decided to tackle one issue at a time and started with the back darts, figuring that might also remove some of the excess in the hip area too.  I turned the skirt inside out and pinned out the ease in the darts and lengthened  them. 

After taking the skirt off, I then marked the end points of the darts, and redrew  new darts in red so I could distinguish the new lines from the old.  Then basted the darts with black thread and put the skirt back on to deal with the hips.

I to be honest, I think part of the hip issue was my underwear.  I marked the adjustment seam the same way I did the darts.


The hips didn’t need much of an adjustment, but they look much better now.  I shortened the skirt 3 inches.  I thought the bottom of the skirt was too wide for me, so I narrowed it by 1/2 on both sides.

I rethread traced the new seam lines.

I decided to use the original cutting lines, and just trace the new seamlines onto the fashion fabric.

I moved the slit up 3 inches and redrew the front slit directly onto the fabric using tailor's chalk.

I bought some stretch bengaline from Joann’s.  When I got it home I reakized the stretch went with the lengthwise grain.  Since I didn’t want my skirt to grow in length as I wore it, I decided to try a usual no-no.  I cut the pieces out on the crosswise grain of the fabric.  We shall see how this works out.

My Perfect Pencil Skirt Project

  I’ve been sewing for over 30 years, and in that time I have developed some really lazy habits.  Around the age of 16, sewing became a way for me to build a trendy wardrobe on a very small budget.   It was also the beginning of my worst habit.  I would start a blouse on a Friday night and work all weekend so I would have a new blouse to wear on Monday morning for school.  They were big, oversized, men’s wear  shirts, that were worn with a tank, unbuttoned, belted, with the sleeves rolled up.  Most of the time my cuffs were never finished, but who knew anyway right?  The sleeves were rolled up.  So you would think an unfinished garment, put together half assed, would be my worst habit, but it’s not, it did however contribute to it. 
Large oversized shirts didn’t need fitting.  So I never learned how to fit myself properly.  I slowed down my construction process and honed my construction skills.  I never took the time to make sure  the garment would fit right.  It was always a big surprise at the end. 
So this is my back to basics project.  To teach myself the skills I should have learned long ago.  Because if the project at the end doesn’t fit perfectly, then I’ve missed the entire point of sewing my own clothes.
I’m starting my perfect pencil skirt off with a muslin.  My entire knowledge of muslin making came from this Oct/Nov issue 151 article in Threads Magazine “Muslin Refined” .
This is the basic pieces traced and cut out on my muslin.  I has been many, many years since I used transfer paper and a tracing wheel.  Didn’t the paper used to be more waxy?  This stuff was chalky and the slightest touched transferred rub marks.  At least this is just the muslin.

Close up of the dart markings.  In the past I’ve just used tailors tacks.

This is after I thread traced all the seam lines.  I also discovered something about my machine.

My guide is about 1/16” – 1/8” off.  Which doesn’t sound like much, but could lead to the skirts entire finished measurements being off by 1/2” – 1”.

I got as far as inserting the zipper last night.  I took the time to practice inserting it properly.  Zippers have always been the bane of my existence.  But basting it into place with 2 separate top stitching lines instead of trying to do the whole thing in 1 made a HUGE difference.  I think zippers can now be my friend.


Side seams tonight.then….The Fitting.