Tutorial: True to Size Pencil Skirt

I love me a pencil skirt. Let's just get that out there now. My only problem with a lot of them is that 1- they cost way more money than I want to spend and 2- I don't know if I don't know how to wear them or if I can never find one that fits me comfortably. Anyway.....I really do love them. They're classy, slimming, versatile, cheap ($3-7 on average), and easy to sew! Why not make your own? Here is how I pattern my own dart-less (because let's face it, I hate darts) pencil skirt, but in the meantime, here's a tutorial for how I put mine together!

Supplies:

~ 1 yd of fabric (you'll need more or less depending on what size you are. I'm somewhere between a 2 and 4.)

~ coordinating zipper

~button

~ interface

Once I've cut out all my pieces from my pattern, I've got this: one front piece, two back pieces, and the waistband (I forgot to take a picture of it before I fold and pressed everything - in case you were wondering what those lines were).

The first thing I work on is the waistband. I fold it in half and press, open it and then fold the edges in to the middle and press again. I then set aside the waistband until later.

With right sides together I match the back pieces to the front pieces of the skirt. I then sew down both seams.

From here, I put the skirt on, inside out, and pin the back. This part is a little tricky by yourself, but it is definitely doable. Especially with a full body mirror. This is the part where you can eliminate the darts in the back. I just pull the pieces together and pin down until I hit the point where I want to slit to start.

This picture is to demonstrate two things: taking the skirt off while it's pinned, and where you will press the fabric. While the skirt is still on, I carefully pin down the material on both sides and slip out. After I've taken it off, I take it to the ironing board and press the fabric - folded over twice so the material doesn't fray. This seam is where the zipper will go in and makes the back slit.

Once the material is pressed, I like to line the edges of the back pieces together then line the zipper up and put a pin where it ends.

With the back edges still lined up, I sew from the bottom of the zipper pin and down the first fold line until I hit the point of the slit

When I'm done, the top should look like this: 

Next, I pin the zipper in and sew it to the skirt.

So far you should have a pretty little skirt starting to take shape! Next is the waistband. I fold right sides together, pin, and sew JUST one of the short ends. That's it. Oh, and snip the corners so I'll have a sharper corner. Hopefully, the picture demonstrates what I mean by folding the waistband.

For the waistband I like to fortify it with some flexible interfacing. The stuff I like to use is iron on, but it's sticky before you iron so it will stay in place! Cool, huh? And technically, I think it's fusible web, not interfacing. Is there a difference? Now you know how little I know about sewing! Anyway.....I cut out strips to line the waistband. For my waistband, it's about 2" wide strips by however long the piece of web is. 

I take the interface pieces and line them up in the waistband, sticky-side down.

Next, I fold the waistband shut again and press it.

The waistband is now prepped and ready to be attached to the skirt! Wahoo! Almost done! K, with the short edge of the waistband that has already been sewn together, you'll line that end up to the edge of the skirt just above the zipper. Pin the waistband and skirt together

When you make it all the way around the skirt you'll be left with the raw edges of the waistband. At this point, I fold the end right-sides together and sew the short end. Snip the corners and flip is back out.

Here it is with the corners flipped back out. Sew the waistband to the skirt.

Last few steps! Mark your button holes on the extra length of the waistband and sew. Attach the buttons. Hem the skirt to your desired length.

And ta-da! You've got yourself your own pencil skirt that no one will ever know was handmade. Trust me, everyone at Church is surprised to find out I made my skirt!

 My favorite part is digging through my button collection!

If you have any questions on how I did something or want to share what you've done, then send your thoughts/pictures my way: sewmuchpotential (at) gmail (dot) com.