Esther’s Sati Skirt

My sewjo has been playing a game of hide and seek and I’ve just let it. I have done very minimal sewing this summer but I’ve leaned into it and just taken the time to rest. But I’ve really been missing sewing and I was so excited to receive this month’s box. 

There is something so luxurious about satin fabric, the flow and finish of the fabric just screams luxury. As an individual, I usually spend time over thinking my makes, I sometimes spend more time thinking about my makes than the actual execution but not this time. As soon as I saw this satin fabric, I just knew I was going to make a satin slip skirt. I also knew the pattern I was going to use. So I went straight to making. 

There are different types of satin, some are so light and flimsy that after using them, you can’t stand to think about sewing again haha. Thankfully, this satin is not one of them. I was able to press this satin using the cotton setting on my iron which says a lot about the sturdiness of this fabric. Cutting the fabric was also nice and easy. 

I chose to use the Sati skirt pattern by Vikisews. This is my second time making this pattern and I love the sewing process. This pattern is a bias skirt, as such, the pattern is cut on the bias aka 45 degree angle. Not to worry, the pattern has the relevant grainline marking to help you cut the fabric on the bias. The skirt has an elastic waistband which makes for a comfortable waistline. The pattern only has three pieces – front, back and elastic gauge. Vikisews does unique pattern sizes, in that, they have various height options which reduces the requirements for lengthening and shortening, it’s not usually a problem for me as I’m 5″6 and most patterns are drafted for that length or close enough. 

The pattern teaches you to use French seams to finish this garment but I forfeited that and just finished the seams with my overlocker. The elastic waist is done in an interesting way as far as I’m concerned and uses double elastic at the waist which makes for a comfortable and sturdy waistband. As there are so few seams, it was a very easy. 

Based on the fit of my previous make, I made a slight adjustment to the pattern. On my previous make, I noticed that the side seams pulled to the back, it felt like less room was needed in the front and more in the back, specifically at the waist. I just simply took off the seam allowances from the front piece (the pattern has the seam allowance lines) and I added the extra 1cm allowance to the back seam and this fixed things nicely. 

Since this skirt was cut on the bias, I let it hang overnight then levelled the hem. In order to level the hem I cut off about 2 inches off the length and I still love the skirt length of the skirt. This was a wonderful make to resuscitate my sewjo. One of the Autumn outfit formulas I’d like to try is a slip skirt with a jumper so I’ll get on to making some lovely jumpers to go with my new skirt, as I’ve clearly given up on summer 2024 and moved straight on.