Pencil Skirt: Cutting & Preparing Your Fabric

In this post you’ll find instructions to cut and prepare your fabric to sew the Pencil Skirt.  The MHS pencil skirt pattern has only 4 pattern pieces: Skirt Front, Skirt Back, Front Facing, and Back Facing.

 

Fitting

Before cutting your fashion fabric is always a good idea to sew your pencil skirt in muslin (or another inexpensive woven fabric) and fit it.  Once you have a good fit, you can use the pattern multiple times.

You don’t have to cut the facings at this point.

Sew your darts, back seam, and side seams.

It is easier to fit if you install a zipper temporarily. You can use the same zipper you are going to use for your skirt and use large stitches.

Try the skirt on and make any adjustments if necessary.  Side seams should be a straight line.

Adjust the length.

Test your fabric

Depending on the fabric you chose, you might need to  preshrink your fabric.

1. Press a piece of your fabric and if it shrinks, press it with steam before cutting it.

Fashion Fabric

1. place the fabric on a large table and make sure that the fabric fold is on the grain line.  The salvage edges should be aligned.
2. Place your pattern pieces over your fabric.
3. Use the fold of your fabric to align the Skirt Front and Front Facing Pieces.
4. Align the grain lines of the back skirt piece and the back facing.
5. Cut your 1 front on the fold, 2 back, 1 front facing on the fold, and 2 back facing.

You can pin your pattern pieces and cut with scissors or you can use weights and cut with a rotary cutter

 

Lining

 

 

 

Lining fabrics are usually slippery and they are easier to cut if you place them over tissue paper.

1. Cut your pattern in the Cut Here for Lining dashed lines
2. Place your lining pattern pieces on your lining fabric.
3. Align the grain lines
4. Cut 1 front lining on the fold and 2 back lining.

 

Interfacing

For this project I recommend Pellon SF101 (or similar).  This interfacing behaves like fabric and comes in white or black.  If your fabric is dark, use black interfacing.

1. Cut front facing on the fold and 2 back facing.
2. Cut one 1 1/4″ strip for the hem, the zipper area, and the back vent.
3. Fuse the interfacing to your fabric.

 

 

Next, we start the pencil skirt construction.

 

If you’re sewing along, I’d love to see and share your pencil skirts! Please share if you’d like, by tagging me on Instagram (@myhandmadespace) or on Twitter (@MyHandmadeSpace). You can use the hashtags #mhspatterns and #mhspencilskirt. If you are not on either of those, you could always email pics to me at [email protected].
Join our MHS Sewing Facebook Group and share pictures of your skirt progress.  You can also ask questions! we all like to help each other.
If you would like to participate or follow along, please complete the form below!

 

Happy Sewing,

Anabelle