The skirt--part 1

The material has been cut and the sewing has commenced!  It is always a big step to actually cut the fabric.

I started with the skirt because:

• I had the pattern ready
• It is the easiest part to make
• It has the largest pattern pieces and uses the most material.

The skirt is from Vogue 1044, a Vintage Vogue pattern.  It is an original 1956-1957 design.  It is a gathered skirt with 4 inverted pleats--one on each side, one in the center front and one at the center back.  Here is a line drawing of the skirt from the pattern envelop.

The skirt's finished hem circumference is 10 feet.  This is far less than the 20 feet of big blue, so it should not scare the groom.

The skirt consists of three layers:

• Crepe de chine is the outmost layer.  The lace will be appliqued to this layer.
• Cotton/silk woven blend is the next layer.  It provides opacity and structure.
• Silk organza is the underlining for the cotton/silk layer.  The organza is a great underlining for the skirt.  It is crisp, yet lightweight, and gives beautiful support to the gathers.  The underlining will also hide any hand sewn stitches I use for the hem or to finish the side seams.  The organza is basted to the cotton/silk before the seams are sewn.  I then handle the cotton/silk and organza as one piece.

A total of 12 panels were cut out, 4 for each layer.

The 4 crepe de chine panels were sewn together using French seams.  I used a techniques from Kenneth King's Cool Couture book.  I love these seams--they are so easy to do and look great.

The first step is to serge the pieces together using a rolled hem stitch.  This trims and sews all at once.  Here is what this step looks like:

This serged seam is then enclosed by the fabric and the second seam is sewn using a sewing machine.  Here is the final seam that will be inside the skirt.

Isn't it gorgeous?  Be sure to check out the inside of the skirt when you see Ginny at the party.

The 4 panels of the underlined cotton/silk skirt were constructed using a typical 5/8 inch flat seam that I finished by catch-stitching to the underlining.  The catch stitching keeps the seam flat and prevents it from raveling.  I used tips from a Threads (March, 2012) article "Couture Construction--Build a beautiful garment with skill and confidence" by Susan Khalje.  Here is a picture of this seam.

Next blog will show the pleating and gathering of the skirt.

Judy