Hayley’s Sylvie Skirt
Having spent February sewing up two Cinnamon Daisy Sylvie Skirts for The Pattern Club I was excited to make another one in a completely different style, the gingham seersucker from Fabric Godmother works so well as the shorter length version.
Now, I only had a day to get this cut out and sewn up (I even roped in the help and skills of my lovely mum to get it whipped up in record time) so I admit I went for the simplest version of the skirt. And please don’t look too closely at the pattern matching!
The Sylvie skirt is constructed with 13 panels to give a more modern take on the classic circle skirt. There are 6 panels in the front and 7 in the back and includes an invisible zip at the left side seam plus elastic in the back waistband. You also have the option of adding slash pockets at the sides and long waist ties that can be done up at the front or back for a cute bow.
There are also two lengths to choose from, a mini or a midi length. The midi works better in a fabric with lots of drape for a gorgeous summer skirt, but the mini can also be made in something with a little more structure. As the seersucker falls somewhere between the two – it’s quite lightweight but definitely doesn’t have the drape of something like a viscose I opted to make the mini length.
However, looking at photos of the skirt on social media the mini length was perhaps a little too mini for me, so I used the lengthen/shorten lines to add 3” to the length of the mini. The panel pieces are symmetrical so after cutting through the width of the pattern I lowered the bottom half following one of the side seams and then drew a new side seam on the other side from the waist to the hem, it’s important the hem stays in tact in order to maintain the circle shape once constructed.
This is a really easy skirt to fit, as there is a lot of room in the hips I opted to make a straight size N which fit at the waist and for this version I omitted the slash pockets and the waist ties which made it such a speedy sew.
Having made traditional style circle skirts which really eat a lot of fabric, I love this method of constructing it from panels as it takes a lot less fabric, and if you are using a plain or non-directional fabric you can lay the panels “top-to-toe”. You can also construct the skirt with different fabrics for the panels to use up some scraps and create a patchwork skirt.
The panels are sewn together, joining the front and back at the right side seam before attaching the waistband and inserting the invisible zip at the left side seam. Having not sewn an invisible zip for quite a while I’ve now done three in the last month so feeling pretty smug right now.
The elastic in the back waistband is sewn to the side seams of the waistband facing before folding it down and using the “stitch in the ditch” method to close the waistband. This is a little fiddly as you have to move the elastic through the waistband as you are sewing in order to get it lying flat as it’s being pulled under the presser foot. Take care here not to sew through the elastic as well!
I’m a sucker for a high waistband and full floaty skirt, but it’s really nice to swap from my usual gathered tiered style to something a little more elegant. With this gingham seersucker you can play up the punk style in a feminine way or opt for a more preppy style which works well with other garments in my wardrobe.