Knip Mode Pencil Skirt with Pleats

I didn't make many skirts last year because, well, I already have a.lot.of.skirts. I was on the phone with a friend a couple years ago complaining that I didn't have the right skirt for an outfit. She made me go in my closet and count how many skirts I had. I think it was somewhere around 50. So I have slowed down my skirt making since then! That said, I am ready to speed it back up because most of my skirts from years past are A line, and the pencil line is all fashionable now. And maybe I'm just being influenced by fashion, but I think it may be more flattering on me, and unquestionably it looks better with voluminous tops, of which I've made a fair amount recently. When I saw this one, Knip Mode 11/2007 #12, it had to go into my closet.

So I don't speak any Dutch, but I'm pretty sure "Met slimme details" means you'll look skinnier so I was sold on this skirt. Actually, I just loved that assymetric pleat detail. It gives a little interest to a straight skirt without making it too crazy. I am really digging the Knip Modes I borrowed from Cidell. In a way I almost wish I didn't know it existed because now I wants and have no way to gets.

The fabric for this came from Kashi, purchased during PR Weekend 2007. I thought that I could brag that I had used all the fabric I bought that weekend within 2008, but dang it! Now that I look again I see that the blue/gray stretch woven on the lower right is still in my stash. (The maroon jersey became a hideous wadder.) This skirt is a lovely gray stretch wool (on the blue-ish end of gray, but not actually blue) with orange windowpanes. Kashi alleged it was Italian, but as Karen points out, doesn't he always?

I hesitate to point an accusing finger at Knip Mode, because the patterns seem exquisitely well-drafted, but you can see that the skirt does not hang quite right at the side seam with the pleats. I actually corrected the line a bit during construction when I first noticed the problem, but it's still not right. Normally I am happy to take the blame, but I actually made a serious effort to get grain-perfect in cutting this out. It was cut out in single layer, so it's not an issue of folding it incorrectly. I even cut off the selvages of the fabric because they were distorting the lay a little bit! So I don't know where the problem arose.

The pattern directions have you cut a straight piece of fabric for a waistband, but I really prefer a contoured waistband so I drafted one. It pulls away from the body a little bit above the pleats, another thing that bothers me. I thought this was because I was an IDIOT and cut out my single layer lining the same orientation (right side of fabric up) as my single layer fashion fabric when, in fact, they should be cut out opposite. I didn't want to re-cut so I just put the lining in backwards or sideways or mirror image or however you would describe it. That's slapdash for ya. But it bothered me so much that I actually went in, opened out the lining, and added a gusset there. No effect. So perhaps a straight waistband would be best for this after all.

As you can see, I reversed the pattern in cutting to change the pleats from the left to the right side. I prefer to have details on my right side, probably because I am right-handed. I just put the pattern piece on the fabric upside down.

Although in theory I love the higher waisted skirts that are coming in style, I think it will take a while to get used to them. They seem perfect for my body type--emphasizing a small, high waist; shortening my relatively long torso and lengthening my relatively short legs--but I felt kind of thick around the middle in this. Cidell's comment on seeing the photos (without me telling her how I felt) was that the waistline is very flattering, so maybe it's just a comfort thing. Low-rise was the thing for so long and it has been a decade and a half since I tucked anything in; maybe I just need an adjustment period.

All photos are here and the review is here.