I can’t resist a beautiful wool, it can make a long, cold winter a little more tolerable. It may just be my favorite fabric for sewing, it’s so forgiving. I purchased a soft gray worsted wool a few years back at the downtown branch of Vogue Fabrics and finally found a pattern, Burda 7252.
After reading a couple reviews and blog postings on this skirt, I thought I needed a muslin to figure out the engineering as much as getting the fit right. The zipper application is unique, it is inserted into a slit in the pleat underlay, rather than a seam. The underlay becomes the center back of the 3 layer pleat.
The pocket welts are cut on a slight angle and the wool was a rectangular window pane which looked off kilter at an angle. I thought finding a coordinating leather or suede for the welts would resolve the issue, but my bright idea nearly turned into an obsession. We had a day off work due to the extreme cold and I spent it running around trying to find just the right shade of gray leather or suede. I did find a piece of leather at Tandy, but it required buying the whole skin, which was $160.00. A bit much for pocket welts, don’t you think? My search continued once I got back to work, checking in our college’s Color and Materials Library. They had some nice samples, but not quite the right shade. I also went to our Craft Department. They had some lovely pieces, but not the right color.
I was about to give up when I found the perfect piece, right in my own closet, a suede belt I bought on a trip to Italy and have never worn.
It seemed soft enough to sew and cut so easily I decided to use some as a piping along the waist band. Oh, it seemed like such a good idea, until the sewing started, or didn’t. As soft as the suede felt, a needle would not go through it, not on the machine or by hand. I tried every type of heavy duty needle and could not get anything through. Who knew suede was so tough?
The skirt should be a fairly quick sew, but all these roadblocks were making it very slow project. Inspired by a video with Martha Stewart making a leather bag, using a Dremel to make the holes to sew the bag together by hand. Next step, bring out the drill. I didn’t have a Dremel, but I had my little Ryobi power screwdriver/drill. The welts didn’t take too many holes, but the piping…it seemed endless. Then I sewed the welts and piping on by hand, which means most of the waist band was done by hand. Getting this skirt done took an extra week…
That darn button…it took so long to get the suede thin enough to do the covered button I skipped the button hole and made it strictly decorative.
It’s done! Finally! I still love wool, but suede may be off my list for a while.
You might take a piece of the belt to a Bernina dealer and ask them to let you try stitching on it. I sew all types of leather on my Berninas without any problem. They might let you use one of their floor models next time you want to sew on leather.
Do you think they would let me do a whole skirt? 🙂
Lovely skirt and the wool looks divine!
Thank you, it feels good too, so soft.
Gorgeous skirt!!! I love the back details!
Thank you, the back was one of the reasons I liked the pattern.