High Waisted Houndstooth Pencil Skirt (From Fabric Remnant)

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I had just under 1m of this brown and cream houndstooth* left over from another project (found here*, fabric provided by Minerva in exchange for that post), which gave me just enough fabric to make a simple fitted skirt. I'm trying to work through my giant stash of material (as I discussed in my previous post), and I tend to find that leftover fabric can often cause the biggest conundrum in what to make, since there's generally less of it and it's likely a very random shape. I'm thinking of doing a separate blog post sometime on fashion-oriented clothes and accessories to make with fabric remnants - let me know if this is something that would interest you!

Anyway, this fabric remnant was thankfully pretty much rectangular and just long enough to make a skirt that covers up enough for me to actually be able to wear it. I can't resist a high-waisted moment so I had it sit a few inches above my natural waist - if you've got less fabric to work with (for reference, my skirt is a total of 20 inches long) you could always have it sit lower down towards your hips, or hitch that hemline higher up for a full on mini or even micro skirt experience.

To make this skirt, I used my basic skirt block - there are tutorials on how to draft one of these all over the internet far better explained than I could ever attempt, so I'd recommend doing a little Google search if you're interested in drafting your own to fit your measurements. If pattern drafting isn't for you, a well fitting pencil skirt pattern will make a mighty fine alternative.

When I said this was a simple skirt, I really did mean it, because I made absolutely no changes to the block other than to the overall length (bear in mind to leave enough room for your hem allowance). So, I had one front panel cut on the fold, one back panel on the fold, and also front and back facings.  Normally I'd cut the back as two pieces and have a zipper down the centre back, but after about 20 minutes of carefully placing my pattern pieces on the fabric, I realised there was simply no way of squeezing out enough fabric for the CB seam allowances while also trying to roughly pattern match, so this had to be on the fold instead. It still worked fine, and I just put the zipper in one of the side seams.

  

As for the skirt facings, to make a pattern for these, all you need to do is trace the top, say, 3" of both the front and back pieces, and you're good to go. And that measurement was completely arbitrary, so if you want a longer facing, or have less fabric to work with, feel totally free to change that.

Also, if you'd prefer a waistband, you can completely forgo facings, and just cut out a rectangle the size of your waist measurement plus seam allowances (or, if your skirt isn't sitting on the waist, the measurement of wherever it is going to sit). I like to make mine 3-4" tall so that when folded over and the seams are sewn, the band will be around 1 to 1 1/2 inches, but again, this is completely up to you.

If you're working with a stretch material (I wasn't), you can go for a really close fitting skirt by taking in the side seams a little, and maybe even increasing your darts (not too much) at the back to help emphasise those curves. If you're working with a non-stretch material (I was), you do have to bear in mind you'll need to be able to both walk and sit in this thing, so there does have to be some ease in your seams (mine has about 1/2 an inch ease in total). The first few skirts I made, I took the side seams in far too much, so though they looked super flattering if standing up straight, I'll be honest, sitting down was a struggle. Don't make the same mistake I did. Prime suspects can be found here and here (oh, how I wish I could fit into that blue skirt...).

I'm wearing this with my Vogue 2063 shirt dress - I'm not usually one for multiple prints in one outfit, but I think it worked. Also, this houndstooth fabric was provided to me by Minerva in exchange for a blog post (coming soon) in which I made Vogue 2401, a vintage style coat dress. See below (or my Insta 'cause I've already posted a load of photos there) for a sneak peak! Oh, and the fabric can be found here* if you're interested. That's it from me this time!