Now autumn has arrived. The leaves are colorful, the meadows are intensively green and the weather is unstable. I love autumn: the beautiful colors in nature, the wind and of course, that I can wear skirts and boots again! Skirts of tights and boots are simply my favourite outfit combination for everyday life. That’s why I sewed an autumn wool skirt to get myself started in the new season.
This skirt is a very special sewing project: I haven’t bought any sewing supplies to make it. It’s all inherited, in some way. The fabric comes from my mother’s fabric scraps, the buttons from my grandma’s sewingbox and the thread from the store of a friend’s deceased mother. Even the zipper was from a box with old sewing things that I bought on Ebay many years ago. So this skirt is not only a zero-budget-project, it is also sustainable.
The pattern
This pattern comes from an old burdastyle magazine (09/2004). The cut of the skirt is pretty awesome! The skirt has a yoke on the hips and is closed on the side with a zipper. The ingenious thing about that skirt is that it only has pleats at the front. The backside of the skirt is even and the side seams align with the silhouette. In contrast to pleated skirts, that have pleats all round the body, this one doesn’t appear bulky on a curvy body shape. Due to the fabric division on the front yoke the side seams move optically together, so it makes the hips look more slender and longer. This pattern is perfect for all women who don’t look good in classic pleated skirts and kilts.
As you can see in the picture the skirt in the magazine is made out of red tartan fabric. The buckles on the side are only decorative, the skirt is closed – as I wrote before – with a zipper on the side seam.
I already sewed this pattern in 2006, when I was a teenager and totally into punk and gothic styles. Back then I made the skirt out of green/brown camouflage fabric with patent buckles on the side. 2020, when I was looking for a pattern to sew something out of that grey wool fabric, I stumbled on this one and decided to try it again.
Pattern changements:
When I tried on my old skirt (Yes, I still have it because it reminds me of old days), it was too small. I was not really surprised – I would have been if I’d look like 16 when I’m 32 😀 So I just added a few cm of width on both sides of the skirt. I also changed the amound and width of the pleats, because I hadn’t much fabric and the original pleats wouldn’t have matched.
As you can see in the picture above, the front skirt is even. I measured the length of the piece and then parted it in the pleat’s widths.
The fabric
Is a piece of clothing sustainable when it’s made entirely from old materials? It’s kind of recycling, right? When my mother died, she left me a whole closet with fabrics and fabric scraps from her sewing projects. One of them was this grey wool fabric, which I loved instantly. I don’t know what my mother made from this fabric – That piece of clothing must have been gone since a long time.
It’s a noble grey wool fabric, though I don’t know the exact material composition. The fabric has just the right thickness to be worn as a skirt. It falls smoothly and is not bulky, also it’s easy to iron but doesn’t wrinkle easily.
The fabric scrap I had was just enough for the skirt. When I finished it, nearly nothing was left. The fabric was very easy to sew. Since I had made this pattern before, sewing wasn’t complicated. On the inside of the yoke I used some grey lining silk that was a leftover from another old sewing project.
Conclusion
I’m very happy that I sewed that pattern again! That shape of skirts might not be very fashionable right now, but I think it’s flattering for my bodyshape and somehow classic. This pattern is very versatile too! It can be made to end on the hips or the waist, the pleats can be changed according to the length of the fabric and it can be made with or without the buckles. The grey wool fabric is very comfortable, soft and doesn’t wrinkle easily when I’m sitting. I have worn that skirt already a few times in everyday life and I love it.
When I was done with my skirt, only a few scraps of fabric were left. I used them to make a little version of the skirt for my girl. For her the skirt is still too big, but maybe next year we can do a mother-daughter partnerlook in this.
As you might have noted, my velvet blazer now finally has it’s closures in the front! When i finished it for the september challenge of #mywardrobebasics, the closures I ordered hadn’t arrived yet. They arrived not until last week, so I directly added them to the blazer and wore it for the skirt’s pictures. With the closures, the fitted shape of the blazer is visible very well.
Thank you for reading my blog post. How do you like that skirt? Shall I sew this pattern again? Please write a comment or visit me on Facebook or MeWe.
