I’m not sure if it’s because Mad Men has returned or if it’s something else, but I’ve really been wanting to make myself a pencil skirt. They’re super versatile, and they’re form-flattering. Since the weather’s getting warmer, and I only own about three summer weight skirts, I decided this was a good project for April. Your basic pencil skirt really only consists of three pieces of fabric–front, back and waistband (okay, really it’s four if you count the two halves of the back)–so I figured it would be pretty easy to make. Since I still consider myself at the beginner intermediate level when it comes to sewing, I figured this would be a fine project to tackle. There would be some opportunities to try some slightly more advanced techniques, like altering the pattern to get the right fit, and I had never sewn an invisible zipper to a piece of clothing before, so that would be a first.
I debated making myself a pencil skirt pattern using my measurements, as there were a few tutorials online, and this one especially looked good. In the end, though, I decided that it might be safer to find a pattern I liked and alter it. (I also didn’t have paper that was large enough to cut out the pattern, so that was also a deterrent.) As I mentioned last month, my mom has a whole bunch of patterns that she inherited when my grandmother passed away. A lot of them are from the 60s, so I thought I might be able to find a pencil skirt pattern in her stash, but no luck. I ended up purchasing a McCall’s pattern from Joann Fabrics (on sale for 99¢!). It was pretty close to what I wanted, so I figured I could make just a few alterations and be good.
