After wearing my blue scuba knit pencil skirt to work and realizing how comfortable it was, I decided I had to make more. For my next go at it, I decided to make a few changes to my basic skirt pattern. This time I added two darts to the back and I also added a kick pleat using a number of different YouTube tutorials (just search kick pleat and you will come up with a bunch of them).
I thought the kick pleat would be difficult but it turned out to be quite simple. If you are making a lined skirt or coat it would be a bit trickier but as this skirt is unlined, it was just a matter of splitting my back pattern piece into two halves and adding a step out at the bottom of each half. I made the kick pleat width the same as my hem which allowed me to do a mitered corner on the outer flap for a nice clean look. The only problem I had with this skirt was that the piece of fabric was a remnant from a another make (coming to the blog soon) and I ran out of material for the waistband. Luckily I had some thick, soft elastic in my stash. It is a slightly darker grey but I don’t think it looks too bad and without it, this skirt would just be an unfinished, unwearable project so I’m fine with how it looks.
For this version I used a thick, winter-weight Roma di Ponti. It is an absolute dream to work with and to wear. The thickness provides great coverage but it is still stretchy enough for extreme comfort. It is easiest knit fabrics to sew with that I have ever used and it doesn’t fray so no hem finishing is required… plus it goes great with my newest Sew Over It Pussy Bow Blouse!
I have another, slightly lighter ponti left over from my last Seamwork Astoria and I think there is just enough to make another pencil skirt. The wrong side of the fabric is a lovely mottled dark grey that I think will work perfectly and I should have enough for a matching waistband this time. As always, stay tuned!
~ Lindsay