Wool Gathering

The past couple of winters, I've been wearing a quartet of thrifted wool pencil skirts from Sag Harbor, probably dated from the early 1990s.  Maybe late '80s.  They fit me well, had a bit of elastic at the back waist, and were just the thing in cold weather. 

Well.  One of the skirts doesn't fit at all right (it was borderline tight to begin with and I always struggled to pair it with other things in my closet).  The other three still fit fine (although are very slim-fitting) but the polyester lining on them drives me crazy with static, so I've long thought to replace it with something less static-prone like bemberg.  Even though I generally try to make things I already have work, I found the skirts a bit uncomfortable, and decided to shelve the lining idea for the moment.  A project for another day.

 

In the meantime, however, I wanted to have at least a couple of easy skirts that were warmer than the Brussels linen or flannel or corduroy.  I found an end-of-bolt yard of Melton wool at Fabric.com that looked like a bright emerald green on the monitor, but turned out to be the most gorgeous shade of peacock teal you could ever want (even better!), and a light pink mystery wool blend in a looser weave. 

The pink wool has tweedy little flecks of teal, green, yellow, and red in the weave, so it is a lot more interesting than a plain pink would be. I decided to line it with the leftover white bemberg from my Sorrel dress, so I had to piece the lining a bit and the hem is a bit wonky, but given the simple shape of the skirt, it worked out fine.  No one sees the hem lining but me, so it doesn't matter.  Even better: I used up all but a 6" square of that bemberg!

A few things to note about making the Free Range Skirt hack in this heavier fabric (probably applies if making the pants in the heavier fabric too).  I originally sewed it all according to the packet instructions (which have you top stitch the waistband and hem), but decided I didn't like how that looked:

 

Too boxy, bulky, and puckery.  So I went back and redid the hem with lace hem tape stitched down by hand and also hand stitched the waistband facing to the skirt.  I think it looks much better that way.  The pockets I left alone.  Because I omitted the front center seam but left part of the seam allowance (just a smidge), I believe I sewed all the seams at 5/8" as directed.

The main change I made to this make was in the elastic length at the waist.  I discovered quite by accident that the elastic needs to be several inches shorter in a heavier fabric.  For my Elemental skirts, 29 1/2" with a 1/2" overlap is perfect, and that length also worked well for the Brussels linen and silky noil skirts. In this heavier fabric, 27" with no lap (just butting the edges) is perfect.  I'm also using Ban-rol elastic, which has a different sort of stretch to the hard elastics found in most sewing supply places.  For reference, my waist is around 32-33". 

 

I'm not really sure why, but shortening the elastic made a huge difference to the fit and feel of the skirt (so much so that I went back to my plaid flannel skirt and shortened the elastic there as well--much better!) 

As per my now-usual, I applied the waistband facing as directed, at a 5/8" seam allowance, and then divided the waistband and elastic into fourths, and zig-zagged into place on the seam allowance so that the gathers are evenly distributed (as opposed to inserting the elastic into a channel and sewing the ends together). 

I think what I like so much about this pattern is that it is a slim skirt (that actually feels slim to me while I'm wearing it) but it is still flattering and easy.  The pink isn't in my usual palette, at least not for a bottom weight, but I've worn it a ton, and it goes with much more of my wardrobe than I would have thought!  I love it with this teal top, and it goes nicely with my Evendoon and Stripes! sweaters (both of them!)