I’ve been eying off the Burda Jenny Skirt for a while ever since I did a Google Image Search of this pattern and was struck on how lovely it looks on everyone.
I came into a fabric stash bonanza last week when my husband went to Vietnam on a business trip and went out of his way to go to the fabric district/street and went fabric shopping for me. Having no idea about fabric he sent me a few bewildered text messages while I frantically tried to point him in the right direction via telepathy.
Anyhow, he managed to do an excellent job. I have enough fabric to see me out for a few projects.
One of the pieces he bought was a length of what feels like a stretch twill/drill in a dark olive green/khaki. Not sure of fabric content. It feels nice, and a natural fibre not synthetic.
I printed off my Jenny pattern and set to work. I had just enough to make the skirt but not cut the waistband on the bias.
I am loving this pattern, I did make a couple of tweaks…
– I tapered the skirt in a little from hip to hem, about an extra 1/2″ for a total 2 inches overall.
more fitted pencil skirt. I also halved the waistband width.
– I only cut 1 of the waistband pieces and then folded it over to make it half the width as I didn’t want the really high waistband look. The top was siting out from the body a little too much so I pressed the fold so I had a clear crease and then stitched some cotton tape next to the fold mark, pulling the tape as I stitched and easing the waistband in as I went. This worked so nicely: it stabilised the waistband beautifully and also brought it in snugly against my body for exactly the fitted look I was after. Will do this again.
– I added a back vent as per Sunni’s tutorial, a much classier look. Sunni has also done a pencil skirt sewalong which is brilliant.
I used some leftover silk bias strips to finish the waistband so I wouldn’t have bulk from turning the seam under and also to finish the vent seams and hemline, which just looks pretty on the inside. I didn’t line it as I wanted to fit it closely and take advantage of its natural stretch unhindered by lining. It is a heavy weight fabric so sits well without lining although I may go back and add some later (maybe cut on the bias so it has stretch as well??).
This will definitely be a TNT pencil pattern. I plan to make a few versions as I really love this look, plus its such a great quick and easy project to knock out, which was a relief after the many hours I spent fluffing about with my Juniper pants.
My firsts for this project:
- First back vent
- First time using binding to finish waistband facing instead of turning under.
I’m wearing it here with my new Simplicity 1872 blouse.
