Part 2 of my Plus Fours outfit…
I’ve been wanting to make this skirt for a while. This is a 1930s French style skirt featuring diagonal shapes. It has inverted pleats at the front and back, small pockets on the sides, and a front-button closure. It actually comes in sizes 5½“ to 60” hip!
The fabric is a lovely textured duck egg blue linen from The Fine Cloth Company. It’s a pre-washed 260gsm and the perfect weight for this. I originally got samples of some pinks, since the blouse has pink in the pattern, but I’m not really a pale pink person, so this pale green was perfect. I did buy this fabric specifically for this purpose. It wasn’t the intention, but I couldn’t find anything suitable in stash.
This is one of the draft-at-home patterns, which is based on the Lutterloh system. A miniature half circle is placed at the edge of a large piece of paper. Printed graded rulers are pinned on a cross and moved around the semi-circle, marking the points based on the number on the pattern. Once those points are joined together that gives the pattern pieces. I just had two pieces, one for the front and the other the back. These don’t include seam allowance, pleats or the pocket pieces. I also had to draft the facings for the waistband.
My first version from my drafted pattern pieces was a positive disaster! The shape was completely wrong for me, way too tight on the hips and a waist that just fit! It was a red hot fitting mess! The original pattern has the pocket on the front as an extension of the back piece, although thinking about the pattern later, I’m wondering if I mixed up front and back pieces and what I thought was the pocket was the front button closure. Mm, anyway, too later now, at this point in the original make I pretty much started from scratch. Drafts 1 and 2 below.
I ended up with a mash-up of the Orageuse Berlin skirt and my own pencil skirt block. I had to add a full side seam to get the shape I needed. I ended up making enormous pockets – no chance of losing anything in these!
To get the pocket cuff, I just made a separate piece of fabric which was slightly bigger and attached it so that it stood out as per the pattern image.
The front button closure I kinda fudged and in the end made sure I added extra to the two front pieces so they would overlap. It’s a little longer than I think it’s intended to be, but I also wanted it long enough so I could actually get the skirt on. I did toy with making this front fixed and putting a zip in the centre back, but it just seemed extra work. The buttons came from stash and you might recognise them from my Twig and Tale Fable Dress (I had a few of these buttons!)
The skirt also has inverted pleats in the centre front and back. The front pleat has worked out a lot better, since I actually remembered to add the extra fabric to the bottom, the back one I can’t see, but has additional seams.
The deets
Fabric: Pre-washed linen from The Fine Cloth Company in a duck egg blue.
Notions: Thread and interfacing, big buttons from stash and a label from KATM.
Pattern: Mrs Depew Vintage 2107 D-A-H 1930s skirt, I think I drafted a size 116 from my hip measurement.
Changes made: Oh, I pretty much started from scratch, I didn’t really make changes as such, but the original pattern I cut didn’t work for my curvy shape and I decided to start again.
Another one/recommendations: I doubt another one is on the horizon, since it was made for Art Deco specifically. Also for me, I basically had to redraft from scratch. However, that does not mean this skirt hasn’t had much wear. I have worn it a lot for work. It goes with so much, it’s a little big around the waist, but it’s smart and works well with boots and tights in the cooler weather as well as with smart sandals in the summer. I love this skirt and it was definitely a new experience for me and yes, I’m super proud of it and it does look like the original image.
Nikki's Stitches 