McCall's 3341 - Glen Plaid Skirt

The fourth (and final!) part of the Coordinated Christmas Clothing project is a skirt for me. Truthfully, this was the piece I sewed first for a couple of reasons. I originally bought the fabric to make something for me and I knew that if I didn't like my garment I wasn't going to want to go ahead with this endeavor. So, I actually sewed this at the end of November and it might be a stretch for me to remember the construction process!

I searched awhile for a pattern that I liked. I wanted something a little more interesting than my usual plain choices, but didn't find anything from the major pattern companies that jumped out at me. I've never sewn a Knip Mode pattern before, but I've seen others make unique things, so I perused their site. There I saw this skirt that did jump out at me.

I tried buying the pattern when I saw it, but I was having computer issues and couldn't get the transaction to go through. Then I started thinking more about the pattern and knew there were a few things I would want to change - the length, the topstiching across the front and back yoke, and the wrap-style. It seemed like I could modify an A-line skirt pattern easily enough to include what I wanted and leave off what I didn't. So, that's the route I went.

McCall's 3341 is the pattern I started with. I had this in my stash, but had not used it yet. I compared it to McCall's 3830 that I have used a few times and the waist and hips measure the same. I traced it off and started drawing in the new lines. They're primarily all straight lines, so it wasn't too difficult.

For the back, I drew the curved yoke across the back and then incorporated the dart into the fullness of the skirt and the curve of the yoke. Dart manipulation fascinates me. I haven't done much of it, but I think it's always interesting.

The finished result:

I had a near miss with a case of zipper rage. See that bump at my left hip? Ugh. I didn't have a black invisible zipper, so I tried using a regular zipper and doing a lapped insertion. After three tries, I gave up and put in a brown invisible zipper. I had interfaced the seam allowances, but they had had it with my messing around. The hip bump was as good as it was going to get.

The back skirt panels are cut on the bias. The yoke is cut on the straight grain. I like the back of the skirt and could see using it again. (The front is pretty distinctive, so I'd probably pair this back with a different front).

I used Butterick 3344 (OOP) to make the turtleneck from ponte knit that was leftover from a different project. I've made similar turtlenecks before, but this time I left out the zipper at the back neck. The seam was stretchy enough to pull over my head when I used the serger. I couldn't make the extra-long scrunched sleeves that I like because of fabric constraints, but I did make extra wide gathered cuffs for a similar look.

The Preacher did play along with us on Christmas Day and wore this red tie with a gray shirt and black suit. We had someone take pictures of us, but they didn't turn out all that well.

Other related posts:
Jumper
Dress
Vest 

I'm not actually in the middle of any sewing project right now. There are many things I'd like to get to ASAP (nothing new there), but haven't established the pecking order yet.