Such a Saucy Pencil Skirt !

Sometimes a piece of fabric just calls out to be made into a certain garment.  And at the sewing shop this week, I came across a roll I hadn't seen before.  There wasn't much left on it, but the fabric was so unusual, and so perfect for what I had in mind, that the whole length came home with me.

I have really been so delighted with my progress on the Sewing with Knits course, that I am skipping out from the scheduled projects to try a few more knit projects of my own, now at last I know how to handle these more difficult fabrics.  And this one is no exception.  Its very soft and stretchy, but also has different panels within the same fabric, and sheer areas too.  It's perfect for a very saucy pencil skirt!

This skirt is lined with a black thin Lycra panel at the top for modesty, down to mid-thigh and then the different panels of the fabric create a saucy silhouette   I read somewhere that when designing clothing think sheer/shiny, tight and short.  Each garment should have no more than one of these features.  As the fabric has some sheer panels, I chose not to make this skirt too tight (like the 30 Minute Easy Skirt I blogged about last week) or short, and instead kept it hanging straight from the hips and a classic pencil skirt knee length.  I used exactly the same method as the easy skirt, but made the fit looser and included elastic rather than the separate fabric waistband.

The stripes come along the selvedge of the fabric and the bottom didn't need any finishing so the skirt was virtually ready made apart from sewing it into a simple tube.

There is a simple wide elastic waist secured neatly between the inner and outer fabric at the top but its worn on the low waist and there isn't too much difference in circumference so it doesn't appear gathered when worn for a sleek look under shirts and tops.

Here is a closeup of the top part of the fabric.  Obviously it's black so its hard to show the detail.  The top part has vertical stripes, then there is a mesh area, followed by the horizontal stripes at the bottom.

I just LOVE this skirt.  Comfy to wear, simply slide it on, center the single seam at the back and good to go.  And it really is so unusual that everyone comments on it and it's nice to be noticed!

I do have some of this fabric left over if anyone would like it to make a really eye-catching skirt of their own.  The first piece measures approx 21 inches deep by 42 inches wide – enough to wrap around to make a single tube skirt like mine above.  The bigger piece is full width at 44 inches by 32 inches with the border along both of the 32 inch sides.  So grab this fabric and make a couple of skirts, a knit top with a border – or even a dress!  I think it would look great made into a fitted dress with the striped part around the bottom – and then around the neckline or even the middle!  This cowl knit dress would look stunning!  For sale including shipping to the USA for $12.  Drop a comment if you would like it and I'll email you back to arrange.

Authored by: Deby at So Sew Easy