Wool pencil skirt, free Lekala #5088 < with my hands

Are you also a person that stores half a metre lengths of fabric and waits forever for projects that would use them up? I have been storing this black wool for ages. In my last stash clean-up I refused to put it back in the storage bin no matter what. Yes, it is summer and not the best season for a thick wool clothes but I decided to make it anyway.

I decided to test the free Lekala Three-seam-skirt pattern #5088. I have had one bad experience with Lekala skirts before, when there seemed to be something wrong with their pattern drafting process (The 3D-images did not resemble any human body that I’ve never seen as far as the shape of the hips were concerned.) but it seemed that they had fixed the issue since.

This skirt was a basic pencil skirt. The front piece was cut on fold and it had darts on both sides. The back pieces had two darts each. In addition there was a waistband with a button, a back zipper and a simple slit.

Since this fabric was a remnant from an old (unsuccessful) project I did not have enough fabric for the whole length. I had to make it about 4 cm shorter which I decided to compensate leaving out the slit and the hem fold and replacing it with a faux leather bias binding. I did not have enough black lining and because this was supposed to be a stash-busting project I did not go and buy more fabric but decided to use contrasting red-lining that was also a remnant from an old (unsuccessful) project. (Hmm… there seems to be a pattern, here.)

While I was using these remnant fabrics I decided to try something new: The newest Love Sewing magazine (issue 42) had a nice article about how to sew the lining into the zipper before attaching the facing or, in this case, the waistband. I tried it and it was surprisingly easy. The only thing that I still need to go through in my head is how to handle the end of the zipper and the lower part of the centre-back seam of the lining. Now I just sewed the seam and fixed the ugly bits at the zipper end with some hand sewing.

I like how this skirt turned out. I am happy that I got rid of some remainders of failed sewing projects and gained something nice to wear. Sorry for the wrinkles! I ironed the skirt in bad light and did not notice that some stubborn wrinkles remained. I also like how the faux leather trim adds a little bit something to such a basic garment.

The fit of the skirt is very good. The slight shortening of the hem makes walking easy even without the slit at the back and I can still tuck my blouse in. My Deer and Doe Mélilot suits well with the skirt!

I did not follow the sewing instructions but they seem sufficient especially if you have done any sewing before. Due to the customised fit that is based on my measurements the skirt has pretty much perfect fit. I can definitely recommend this pattern for everyone, even people that haven’t sewed a lot before. And you really cannot beat a custom-fit sewing pattern that is provided for free!

My husband was kind enough to take the photos, while I tried balancing with heels on a narrow wall with not-always-so-good results. No sewists (or my poor plants!) were harmed in the process, though!