Remade Retro Skirt

Instructions

I shortened the skirt (see "inspiration" below) and put in a blind hem by hand. The skirt itself served as a pattern for the lining; as a simple 3-piece A-line, this was very easy. Only the darts needed accounting for, and I left fairly generous seam allowances. I used baking parchment paper and a Sharpie to trace the pattern and then transferred the markings using Saral transfer paper (the kind that comes on a roll). The lining was hand-set using a fell stitch.

The lining hem was made using what I call a blind catch stitch. This is a catch stitch but with only a single thread pulled up on the side that will face the wearer (or the outside on fashion fabric). I find it is a bit more flexible than a traditional blind hem stitch and it allowed me to make a hem that didn't show at all while at the same time removing the need for me to finish the edges of the lining material. Not exactly couture, but it looks nice and will hold well. I shortened the skirt (see "inspiration" below) and put in a blind hem by hand. The skirt itself served as a pattern for the lining; as a simple 3-piece A-line, this was very easy. Only the darts needed accounting for, and I left fairly generous seam allowances. I used baking parchment paper and a Sharpie to trace the pattern and then transferred the markings using Saral transfer paper (the kind ...
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Difficulty:

Category: Sewing

Type of item: Clothing

For: Women

Style: Retro / Vintage, Classic

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Materials

Old skirt from the scrap bin plus polyester satin lining.

What was your inspiration?

This vintage skirt was in a friend's scrap bin. It began its life as a maxi, but there was a large dining-chair-seat-shaped hole cut out of the bottom. In addition, the buttons had been pulled or cut off. The cloth was good, the seams were sound, and the pattern was classic and well-matched, so I just had to save the poor thing! I didn't want to spend a huge amount of time on it, but I wanted something that would be wearable and breathe new life into

What are you most proud of?

I was committed to being true to the grain. To this end, I remembered to thread test the lining fabric I bought by pulling one thread at the selvage edge and using that as my perpendicular guide to the grain. As the photo shows, there was a lot of variation. In fact, I was frankly amazed at how "off" the cloth was versus the supposed mid-line fold down the middle of the bolt. But I trusted the process and the result was a true-to-grain lining that lies really well.

I'm also proud of the lining hem -- even if anyone saw it, there's nothing to see!

What advice would you give someone starting this project?

Don't try to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. If I'd been repairing a Chanel suit from the 40s, I would have aimed for perfection. This was a good mass production skirt, nothing more, to start with. So I didn't spend a lot of time, for example, finishing the inside hem of the lining and I opted for thread bars to hold the lining in place rather than a more fussy jump pleat. The result still looks and feels great and will wear well, which to my mind was the whole point of the original skirt, too.