Sewn: GBSB Pencil Skirt

I have finished another bit of slow sewing, this time the Pencil Skirt from the Great British Sewing Bee Sew Your Own Wardrobe book. 

Pattern and Size: Free Pencil Skirt pattern here. The construction is very simple and the instructions and diagrams in the book make it very easy to sew. I went for the Size 12 as this is the ready to wear size that I usually buy, and the fit is fine.

Fabric: I squeezed this out of the last of the wool blend from Abakhan that I bought to make my cape (I see that they are sold out of all colours except orange now). 

Alterations: I inserted a lining (same fabric that I used to line my cape) mainly because it is a winter weight skirt and I find that wool pulls on your tights if a garment isn't lined. I also omitted the interfacing because my fabric was so thick that I didn't think it required the additional rigidity of interfacing. Having never added a lining to a skirt before, I just constructed the lining as the skirt and then machine sewed it to the waist at the same time as adding the facing. The fabric that abutts the zip and kick pleat are hand stitched in place.

Problems: I had a complete nightmare with inserting the invisible zip. I don't have an invisible zip foot, so I'm not sure whether that was the problem. However, I painstakingly unpicked it and re-inserted and although not perfect, it is much better.

My other issue was getting the facing to stay on the inside. I did consider understitching but wasn't really convinced that it would totally fix it, so I topstitched the top of the skirt instead.

The plan is not to wear this skirt with the cape! But, I can see me getting quite a bit of wear out of this at the office this season.

Love Mrs Jones x