Ready, Set, SWAP - Part 2

I started construction of the skirt by resizing all the pertinent pattern pieces , as discussed in my last post. I added 0.5" to the centre front piece along the fold line and 1" to the side seam of the back piece and the side front piece - this adds up to an addition of 5" to the hip circumference. You can see the adjustments in the photo to the left (and yes, those are my toes in the picture - I had to stand on my kitchen counter to get a shot of all the pieces together!) Notice that I did my fitting adjustments to the actual pattern. Many seamstresses will trace off vintage patterns and make adjustments to the tracings and sometimes I do as well. However, unless the pattern is extremely old and/or brittle or it is very rare and/or valuable, I just have at it and save myself some time.

Although the pattern did not call for a lining, I decided to add one anyhow. Thank you to all those commenters that left their opinion on which lining to use. The majority of you chose the same lining I was leaning toward, so apparently it was meant to be! I cut out all the main body pieces of the skirt on the cross grain of the lining fabric to take advantage of the border print. This layout has the added bonus of requiring no hemming (thank you Ann Rowley, your tip on this thread at SG is great and I will be using this time saving idea often from now on). The skirt body and the lining were constructed separately and then treated as one when sewn to the waistband. I prefer this for a skirt that does not have a slit, as it allows the lining to hang free and move independently of the skirt (I find it more comfortable to wear this way). The lining was hand sewn around the invisible zipper tape to clean finish this area (see photo to the left).

The skirt is designed with two inseam pockets in the front. However, unlike regular inseam pockets that are on the sides of the garment, these pockets are in a vertical front section (almost like kangaroo pockets). The two pockets come together in the middle front and are stitched together for stability and to minimize show-through to the front. When worn, it is not immediately obvious that the pockets exist (top photo on left), until they are opened up (bottom photo on left). The pockets function as more of an interesting design feature then being practical due to their small size, but they will hold my school keys when the need arises.

Lastly, I debated back and forth on whether to interface the hem or not. Normally, I like an interfaced hem - it just looks crisper. However, since this skirt is meant to be soft and fairly unstructured, I decided to forgo the interfacing. I just turned up a 4" hem and finished the raw edge with coordinating seam binding. The excess fabric was removed with copious amounts of steam and the hem was handstitched into place.

As you can see in the photo to the right, all the raw edges of the wool were finished with pinking shears. I had thought about serging the edges, but I didn't want any seam show-through to the right side of the garment. Anyhow, this is a 60s garment, so I stuck with 60s finishing techniques and the lining covers up the inner seams.

All I have left to do is sew on two hooks and loops on the waistband above the zipper in back and my first SWAP piece is done. I really, really like this skirt and I will certainly make it again. When I tried it on for my husband, even he commented on how much he liked it too. As soon as I finish the coordintaing jacket/top, I will post final pictures of both garments.