Instead of writing one Epic Post about my #epicskirt, I'm going to spread it out into a few posts.
This skirt got me out of my sewing comfort zone in several ways:
- First time sewing with wool
- First time sewing with slippery lining fabric (rayon bemberg)
- Although I have lined skirts before, and sewn skirts with kickpleats before, this was my first time sewing a lined skirt with a kickpleat
- The pattern I chose did not have a lining which meant first time drafting a lining.
I really took my time with this skirt, taking the better part of two weekends to sew.
I'm somewhat allergic to wool. I can wear a wool coat if I have a scarf to protect my neck. I don't wear wool sweaters because even with a shirt underneath, some part of the sweater touches my skin, which itches and pinks up. I've considered this to be somewhat of a blessing as it means I have a whole category of fabric that I can't buy and stash.
At Elliott Berman, with a swatch of the fluoro fabric.
Well, at the end of last October, velosewer was visiting from Australia. We were at Elliott Berman in NYC and she bought this textured wool, which she called "fluoro" because of the neon orange threads. I was super attracted to this off-limits wool fabric, and thought, I can make a skirt that is fully lined, and wear it with tights and a shirt tucked in--all of my skin will be covered. If I have to, I can wear gloves while sewing the wool. (The Heidi Boyd Whimsy Kits use wool felt, and sometimes my fingers are itchy after stitching with them, but not always.)
A-line or pencil skirt???
Since it was quite wide, I bought 3/4 of a yard of it. Normally I sew A-line skirts (with my beloved NL6483), but I felt like this fabric wants to be a pencil skirt. I sought advice on Instagram and the general agreement was yes, this fabric should be a pencil skirt. I went with S2154, a skirt I last sewed in 2011, in the size 14. I took 3 inches out of the length at the lengthen/shorten line. I traced the front piece on Swedish tracing paper so that I could cut it out single layer.
Pretreating wool
I asked velosewer how to pre-treat the wool and she said to take it to the dry cleaners. I serged the cut edges and brought it to the dry cleaner who looked at me like I had 5 heads for wanting to dry clean a piece of fabric. "What is this???" she said incredulously. I replied, "It's a piece of fabric." She said she didn't know what to call it, and I said it would be a skirt, so she charged me the skirt rate. Has anyone else had that reaction from a dry cleaner when pre-treating wool fabric?
Next: Procuring some lining fabric. Having never lined wool before, what would I use? Details next post!
Be well!
