This is a fun skirt to make.  I have several that I wear – one in hemp summer cloth for summer and two in wool for winter.

Here is the post when I reworked the hemp summer skirt – https://austerity101.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/the-fix-the-folkware-walking-skirt-in-hemp-summer-cloth-revisited/

My partner found for me some red denim that has a velveteen brush like finish on the right side. Total cost $4.00 for the skirt. The tread was given to me and the closure was a find at a thrift store in a bag of buttons and such.

The material is not part of the recommended list as it is normally too heavy but this is just a bit lighter than the regular denim so I went ahead with the cut.

The pattern is an easy sew except for the placket – it can be tricky. Here is a close up of the back seem just below the placket opening.

The placket sewn to the extending flap, showing the opening , and a placement of where it will go on the back panels.

A small clip is needed for the opening to function properly.  This is the trickiest part of the construction.  Attaching the bottom of the placket to the skirt while maintaining the top stitching on the placket itself.

The placket in place – I was not happy with the placket as it buckled at at the bottom opening so I ripped it out and cleaned it up.  Once finished only one button or in this case the hook will be necessary to secure my modesty!

In this shot above I have the back pleated but the end result was an overly large back side on an already large lady so I removed the pleats and inserted a gather as per the instructions.  To gather heavy material – use dental floss!  It holds forever and doesn’t break under the weight. I secure one end with a pin and pull so that I have an even texture along the line, baste to secure and ensure that there are no unsightly folds in the seam.

The finished  gather.  (please note that this is the correct color of the fabric – I have too much still to do to correct each photograph.)

Gentile has taken a liking to the ironing board and she is as stubborn as she is old so it can take a bit to get her to share the space!

For all of my waistbands I insert an elastic band the width of the finished band to keep the waistband from folding when I sit.  This allows for a long wearing waistband with the right amount of firmness at all times and no unsightly folds.

I ran over the basting with a 2.5 stitch to secure the waistband, clipped the edges ( perhaps a little too close) and

slip stitched the waist band into place

With the waistband secure, I moved on to the hem.  For a rare change, I actually ironed my allowance up.  Normally I just turn on the sewing machine and away I go.  As it is denim and with the a straight stich  on a denim hem has an annoying habit of turning up, and this can very hard to iron out..  To stop this I did an embroidery stich over the hem.  It adds color and dimension to this very red skirt and will keep the bottom smooth.

thanks  for taking the time to read about my adventure in sewing.