Sewing Circle: Reader request for skirt pattern

Sewing Circle: Reader request for skirt pattern

• 12.30.2010

I recently got an email from a reader asking for a pattern for a skirt like this one she'd found:

Yael said, "I like the high waist and the pleats, but I am not so attached to the buttons (they are cute, but I don't need them)."  Well, Yael, I've seen some similar skirt patterns here and there, so let me offer my ideas...

It's hard to tell exactly what's going on up at the top, but it looks like the skirt has a 1-2" wide waistband with an inverted box pleat to bring the fabric in to the waistband.  You could probably make this kind of skirt without a pattern, but let me suggest a couple similar ones:

• Simplicity 2413.  Make the full-skirted style with the waistband, rather than the paper bag skirt, in the length you want and without the details on the waistband.  You can cut the center front on the selvage rather than the fold and add 4" or so extra to the right side, add 2" or so to the left, and turn them into buttonhole and button carriers if you want the buttons (make sure you mark the center front to match the pattern!).  If you want the buttons to be the functional fastening, do the same thing to the waistband piece and don't put a zipper in the back or side.  Or, you could just do the buttons up the front of the skirt and let the waistband be solid in the front, fastening with a zipper in the side or back seam.  Note: this skirt has knife pleats, but you can do them as inverted box pleats when you pin them in.

•  For a slightly wider waistband, do one of the skirts from Simplicity 2698.  This one has a pleat in the center front, but again, instead of the pleat, you could make it button down the front as I described above.  This one has box pleats, like the original.

• McCall's M5591 version A is similar, too (the other two are fuller).  Do the same thing with the buttons if you like.  This skirt also has box pleats.

Any of these skirts may be a little fuller than the original, but that's easy to remedy by cutting them out narrower than the original and giving them fewer pleats.

Also, check out this info about pleats to understand what I'm talking about when I say box pleat, inverted  box pleat, and knife pleat:

• This site on historic clothing explains the types of pleats really well, with pictures: http://www.elizabethancostume.net/pleats/
• Wikipedia explains the types of pleats but doesn't have pictures, so look at this site after you see the historic clothing one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleat
• This BurdaStyle article shows how to do an inverted box pleat: http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/make-box-and-inverted-box-pleats

Hope that helps, Yael!  Thanks for reading and thanks for your question =)