So, the ones who follow my blog are already familiar with this project. For the ones who have just found it (shame on you by the way! :P) visit these two posts first if you’d like to learn sewing a basic skirt and then style it up by adding simple and hip details:

1. Watch and Learn Grasshopper: Sewing A Basic Skirt

2. Create Chic Outfits with Basic Patterns - Pencil Skirt

I got great responses and some questions on both of these posts so I wanted to share with you a step-by-step tutorial on how I made this skirt that I already love so much. 

If you’ve read the two posts I mentioned already, you know that my starting point in this project was a pattern looking like this:

I first copied the basic pattern on another pattern paper.

Then I cut the back and front pieces ‘cause my initial idea was to stitch the strip fabric and the skirt fabric together. (But I didn’t use this pattern at all ‘cause I later realized that the strip fabric was much thinner than the skirt fabric and it would really look messy if I’d sewn them together. Instead, I sewed the strips over the skirt pieces. However, I can use this pattern when I sew a similar color block skirt with matching fabric thickness later on)

As for the front pockets, I cut out a square-like piece to insert the inseam pockets. But after I finished the pocket I thought maybe it wasn’t that necessary to cut it horizontally as well but just cut a vertical line to insert the inseam pockets. Still, this method helped me sew the pockets much easily and I was able to hide the seam line with my black strips later on.

After I finished playing with the pattern, I moved on to playing with the strips :)

I wanted to recycle a million years old skirt of mine and cut it in 3 cm (app. 1 inch) wide long strips. Then I made a straight stitch on both sides - making it ready to be stitched onto the finished skirt later on.

Next I placed the strips onto the lining skirt to decide which design would look better

Apparently, the third :)

So after I cut the front piece to make a pocket, I first attached the pocket lining onto the skirt fabric and then sewed the trim onto the skirt to hide the seam line.

I sewed the other part of pocket lining to the skirt and hid the seam line with the same black fabric. My initial idea was to leave it as it is, but then I realized that when I closed the pockets, I couldn’t see the same 3 cm (app 1 inch) trim and it would look unfinished. 

By doing so,  I managed to get the same width in all the parts. 

Since I was uncomfortable with cutting the skirt front like this at the beginning, I closed it with my black strips, which also helped me hid the ugly seam finishes of the pockets. 

So this is how it looked before inserting the side zipper.

And this is the finished version.

I added two slits, one on the front and one at the back. It makes it much easy to move around with a pencil skirt. 

And this is me being very happy with the outcome!

See how important it is to have pockets at the front?! You can always pose like this… :)

It’s comfy, it’s stylish and it’s perfect for my body type! For getting more sewing and styling tips for pear-shaped read through my previous 2 posts. 

happy sewing everyone! :)

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