skirtcafe.org

So as my next experiment, I thought I'd try making a skirt for me but not following any pattern. Just take a piece of material and work it until I get something that fits. What I basically did was take some measurements from a pair of cargo pants for top part and for the bottom a skirt with two box pleats, one front and one back. Throw in pockets, a zip and a button and viola. Yes, the zip a bit too visible, should either be hidden better or have a matching colour.
Now, this is terrible material for a skirt, but it does give a good idea of how it looks. The waist is 88cm, hips is 108cm and hem is 140cm which I've figured is enough to be able to go cycling in. The pockets are awesomely large, every skirt should have big pockets , most of the skirts I have now have such tiny pockets you can barely fit your hands in.

Initially the idea of the pleat in front-centre seemed like a nice idea, it was easy to make with the zip above it on the same seam, but I don't think it works entirely as I intended. I was thinking of remaking this with camouflage material, but I think I'll find a different front first.

My SO said that using measurements from a pair of cargo pants would make for a strange skirt, and I agree you won't find anything like this off the rack anywhere, I think the top half looks just fine.

Off to the next experiment!

Very commendable but ....

.... it just don't seem to fit right. The material may have something to do with it. If I were to make a skirt from scratch I would take an existing skirt that I wish to copy, see how it is constructed and take measurements of the panels and so on. No formal pattern but at least some basis for the new skirt.

The good point is that you did built it all yourself and to the end. Congratulations for that!

As you pointed out, the zip would have deserved to be better hidden. It gives a bit of the feeling to be an opening in front of your skirt, like if you didn't have closed it completely.
The split in front is not very good. Maybe can you try to add some top stitched seam(s) (*) inside of it to bring together a bit the outside textile? Also, it might have worked better with lighter textile inside of the split than outside of it. Note that I did never try any of those techniques, just some ideas coming into my mind.

I'm curious: what material did you use?


(*) Hope it makes sense, if not you can check out what I mean in this (french) video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9VKPvEgoRM

Spirou003 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:42 pm I'm curious: what material did you use?

This was for practice, so it's cotton from a bed sheet. Bought prior to lockdown at a second hand store for 50c and has a few m^2 of material. It's terrible stuff for clothing because it sticks to itself and the leggings. That's why they don't use it in clothing I guess. Another thing learned

But yeah, I was going to remake it in a different material but I've decided the front split is just a bad idea. I learned a lot about shaping though, so now when I look at an existing pattern I understand better how to fix it for me.

I have a gap skirt from over 10 years ago that has a front pleat. I can post a photo if you want.
I think the front pleat is a great design as a segway into guys wearing skirts in public since it retains a lot of the cargo shorts look.