Reviewed: Simplicity 8664 (Straight skirts) Again!

Simplicity 8664 version 2 (horribly blurry photo, good grief, but I don't have time to re-do it)

I decided, after some thought, to go back to the beginning for the fifth and final skirt of my winter work wardrobe. I previously made view B (ish) of Simplicity 8664 and really liked it. This time, I made view A, which is the one in yellow in the upper right of the pattern envelope image, with a slit in the front of the skirt rather than the back. This time I didn't peg it, so it's just a straight skirt rather than a pencil skirt. I also did NOT do the "optional embroidery" though I can see how that would be cute on a skirt intended for summer.

This is not a sexy model pose, this is an attempt to show the vent!

The main difference between View A and View B is that the vent is offset on the front of the skirt. I probably should have made the vent slightly shorter as when you sit down it does end up rather high on the leg, but it's not indecent and I quite like it. Still, anyone else making it should consider how high they want to show off their legs, with particular reference to how high it ends up with they sit down (spoiler: higher than you expect).

Skirt lining

The fabric I used for this one is a wool blend from eBay, of which I bought 1m. Have you ever started something and then thought: good grief, WHY AM I DOING THIS? That is how I feel about this fabric. The description said "heavy, but will need lining", which I was going to do anyway. Then it arrived and, frankly, it was see-through. SEE THROUGH WOOL. WHY. But because I'd spent money on it and I need a black skirt and I couldn't think what else I could do with it, I soldiered on. I washed it. It shrank horribly. I cut it out. The material moved about weirdly and literally crumbled at the edges when I cut it. It wrinkles if you so much as look at it. It stretched and warped as I sewed it no matter how careful I was. Overall, it was a mess. The lining, on the other hand, I really like. It's just a poly satin but I love the crazy pattern and having an interesting lining on what is otherwise a very staid skirt. As before I interlined/seam finished with this lining rather than doing a straight lining.

Back of the skirt on Flossie

Cost-wise, the fabric was £6 including p&p for the wool, and the lining was a remnant that cost £3.50 including p&p. I had nothing left of the wool but a nice piece for bag-making left of the lining fabric, which I have therefore transferred to that stash. It has a zip, for which I paid about 50p. So I would guess my materials costs were around about £10 for the skirt.












Nitpickery: 

- Overall I am disappointed with this skirt, not because it's unwearable or anything, but because of the finish I got on it. I was trying a few new things with it and not all of them worked (most especially not overlocking the interlining, which suffered for my lack of overlocking experience). There are so many places with little flaws that are difficult to fix. It's not worse quality than skirts I've bought before, but it's not great either.

- The fabric is dreadful. I'd actually be stunned if it survives more than a few washes because it wants to stretch and warp and crumble so much. I ironed it and pressed it and ugh, NOTHING wanted to make it look good. I wore it for about 15 minutes to take photos, hung it over a chair while I changed and came downstairs to photograph it on Flossie and it looked like I'd screwed it up in a ball and sat on it.

+ I got the interlining technique spot on this time, and I love the fabric I used for it. If it doesn't work out as a skirt I'll harvest the interlining and see if I can use it for something else, I think.