Lace-backed skirt

So, Abi Sutherland was talking on twitter last week about making another lace-backed skirt, and we got to talking. Because from what I could tell, it was just the kind of project I needed – fast, elegant, and leaving me with modern clothing. Also, the silhouette looked like many of my favorite skirts, with the added detail of having the shaping at the back be provided by criss cross lacing. A-yup. Totally my aesthetic.

As she explained, this skirt takes the front of a pencil skirt, makes it a-line, and then puts in 4 gores at the back, folds it over, and laces closed.

This morning I finished my first one, and I have to say I really, really like it. She gave me permission to do a write up, so here’s one, with directions in imperial measurements. 😉 You know your elementary school teacher’s instruction to READ ALL DIRECTIONS BEFORE STARTING? Do that.

Needed:
measuring square
yard/meter stick
fabric measure (if you don’t have your current lower body measurements, you’ll need them)
chalk or pencil
2.5 yards of 45″ wide fabric, pre-washed.
1 yd cord or 2 ft cord and 8 lacing rings
calculator

Take your waist measurement, hip measurement, and the distance between the two. Also, the measurement of waist to where you want the skirt to hang.

Here are our two pattern pieces:

Personally, I did them on large pattern paper (I have a roll of contractor paper from Home Depot. If you do a more than two personalized patterns, the $15 is worth it).

So, divide waist and hip by 4. Use the square and draw your corner. Go down by the distance between waist and hip (Z). Go across from top and bottom by the divided hip measurement. You’re going to make a rectangle here. One side, you’re going to continue the line all the way down to your desired length plus 2 in for hem allowance. This is center front, and goes on a fold.

The top line of the rectangle is your waist line. Mark somewhere about halfway. Subtract (hip/4)-(waist/4). That’s how much you need to take out with the darts. So- halve that number, call it A. From your halfway mark, measure A away from the fold line. Mark. Measure one inch. Mark. Measure A. Mark. At half-A, between your pairs of marks, Mark. Draw a line down from this point 4 inches. These are your darts.

Here’s where we take what is currently a pencil skirt pattern and make it A-line. Take your yardstick and draw a shallow angle away from the other corner. 10-15 degrees or so. Shallow! On my pattern, it added 4″ to the bottom hem from the top waist, and I’m not a small person. So, that’s your front done.

The back gores take a bit of math here, as well. The top line will eventually become the back of your waist. So: (waist/4) x 1.5 is the measurement at the top. The bottom is 3x the top. The sides are your total length again. Figure out what you’re going to use for lacing up the back – if its going to be cord, you’ll want to cut and knot your loops now.

Cut all your pieces, making sure that you’ve got everything lying on the fabric grain. Sew all four darts on the front panel (match your top marks right sides together, pin the fold, sew at an angle to the bottom mark). WARNING: VARIATION! If you are going to use cord loops for your lacing anchors, you’ll need to space them here, about 1in apart, in seams 1 & 3, and pin everything! If you’re using rings, those get attached later. Sew together the back pieces. Sew your sides. Hey, look, something vaguely resembling a skirt, but much too big. Grab a pice of your scrap about 3 in wide by (waist+seam allowance) long. Right sides together, sew to top edge, creating your facing.

Time for the back lacing!

The easiest way to do this sounds hard, but isn’t. Lay out the skirt backside up. There should be a seam right down the middle. If you used cord, as above, hey, those are in place! In either case, fold seam 1 and top-stich about a 1/8th away from the seam. Do the same for seam 3. This is re-enforcement for the stress of being your closure. Fold so that 1 & 3 meet on top of 2 (see pic). If you’ve got lacing rings, space about 1″ apart on the inside of 1 & 3, so that from the outside of the skirt, you barely see them. Find the middle of your remaining cord, tack it to the top of seam 2, and use it to cross lace your closure. Make sure it fits.

It does? Good. Find a skirt hanger or a pair of clothespins and a line and hang that skirt for *at least* 12 hrs, and 24 is better. This is called letting the bias fall out, and has to do with grain and fabric structure and gravity. What you need to know is that hemming before letting the bias fall can result in an uneven hem long term, as physics does its thing. After you’ve let everything hang for a while, lay it back out flat with the fold at center front and back. The hems should roughly match, but the curve…won’t be smooth. Cut it so it is a smooth curve from front to back. Roll your hem and stitch it. Hey! Look! A skirt!