Mum rang this afternoon and said that she was going to stop checking my blog because it never changes - so Mum, this one's for you :)
Despite my love for pencil skirts I have exactly none in my wardrobe and every time I try to make one the results are less than flattering. Every other sewing blogger talks about how simple pencil skirts are so I feel like a bit of a failure for having so much trouble getting one to fit me properly.
I can't say I'm overwhelmingly in love with this skirt either, but the photos are convincing me it looks better than I thought it did. This is Simplicity 6107 , view d made up in a stretch cotton sateen I picked up at Spotlight.
Like every other pencil skirt I've made I ended up with a very 'poofy' front - the fabric just folds in on itself in a very unattractive way. I tend to look like I'm wearing a skirt designed for the male anatomy. I blame my 'mummy tummy' and have tried all sorts of combinations of darts and nothing seems to work particularly well.
I've since read that someone else just folded that excess fabric out of their pattern (sorry can't remember where). A simple solution and one my study addled brain didn't think of! Instead I extended the front darts by 2.5 inches which has helped, but not completely eliminated the problem.
I'm not a huge fan of people being able to see the outline of my pelvis so I was incredibly conscious of not making the skirt too tight. After wearing the skirt all day I could probably have taken the waist in a little more as it didn't feel particularly secure.
Well I now have one pencil skirt in my wardrobe and next time I'm going to try folding the excess out of the pattern. I made my first fabric.com order recently and received my fabrics on Monday. I've been madly studying all day so that I can finish my assignment and spend a totally guilt free, self indulgent day in my sewing room tomorrow.
Time to get back to the books.
11 comments:
What a lovely colour - definitely a touch of summer. Looks lovely worn with your vogue top and those shoes. You're not alone - I've never owned a pencil skirt either. They've always felt a bit too on the 'corporate' side of things for me and my life is so far from corporate. Nope you got your study done and you get some sewing time today.
Love the colour of your pencil skirt and really like how you have combined this outfit. Fingers crossed the assignment is complete!
You are looking very tall and elegant in this outfit...keep working on the pencil skirt, because the style looks great on you.
Your pencil skirt looks great! gorgeous summery colour and the fit looks really good. My guess is that it stretched out around the waist after wearing just because it is a stretch sateen... it helps to cut the waist facing in a different, non-stretch fabric.
Hope you get the assignment done!
I really love the colour of your skirt - perfect for summer. I agree with Carolyn with the waist stretching out - it is the fabric.
You're not a failure, you just need to find (and stick to) talls patterns. I'd suggest going for burda talls or drafting a block (it only hurts once) and then making sure whatever you make from it flatters your natural height/silhouette. Again, I'd strongly recommend burda (their talls are always styled just right, i.e. the length of the hem, areas of flare, areas of narrowing etc).
Not sure if there's anything the matter with this fabric but for me the proportions (where the waist starts, where the blouse ends, the level of overhang from the tucked in edge of the blouse) are off in some way. .
Best of luck!
If you want the perfect pencil skirt go to www.studiofaro.com.au and purchase Anita's instructions for self-drafting. You will never look back. See examples on my blog.
You're not the only one - I can't make a decent pencil skirt to save my life! The closest I got was with ponte fabric, using a Sandra Betzina pattern which had extra darts at the front, I guess to shape around the mummy tummy :(. Mine still wasn't a perfect fit. Anyway, regardless of the attainment of perfection, this looks like a lovely outfit on you and I have to say these colours are also amazing on you.
Pencil skirts are definitely trickier than they look, I think! It looks great in the pictures (I love it when the pics come out better than you thought they would!) and I'm very much in love with your summery colour palette here. White, turquoise, nude shoes and a slick of lippy? Looking great!! :)
I think I have this same problem - for me it's a sharp difference between my lower abdomen and my upper thighs - that is my ab sticks out! ;) I'm not complaining, it's a beautiful part of my body that grew me some gorgeous kids - but it is hard to make a pencil skirt look good there. I'm curious to see if anyone else has advice. Also curious about the drafting option!
I've also had success with Studio Faro's pencil skirt instructions. But then I'm short but I know you'll able to make these instructions work for you.
Post a Comment