I think I carry around some emotional baggage about pencil skirts. I have extremely short legs – I am not too short, measuring in at 5’4 and a half (the half is really important!) but I swear my legs are disproportionately short for my height. Because of this, I have always struggled with RTW skirts. I used to try and try and try to wear them when I was in high school and college, but without a doubt, I always looked terribly shorter than I already was and it was just not flattering. This was also before I knew how to sew, so therefore taking things somewhere to get hemmed was a terrible inconvenience. This led to the purchase of SO many pencil skirts, that always led to disappointment.
When I started sewing, I was immediately drawn to the Alberta Pencil Skirt pattern by Sew House Seven and minus some initial issues with the pattern (user errors – not pattern issues!), I finally have found the perfect pencil skirt for me!
I made some adjustments to the pattern which I think have really helped in me loving it so much! As mentioned above, length is usually an issue for me with skirts. I took off 3 or 4 inches from the pattern. I also graded in the side seams towards the waistband to help it fit better. I also leave the pockets off to make it look a little bit more dressy (even in a denim like it is here!).
Since figuring out these adjustments (which are minor) I have made three in total. This was my third and I love this for running around on the weekends or a casual Friday at work. The denim is super light weight and comfortable and has a good amount of stretch so it stays comfortable throughout the day. I purchased the denim from Hawthorne Threads a while ago, but it’s still available here. It’s a light weight Robert Kaufman denim.
I used a Liberty fat quarter for the wasitband facing to reduce bulk and used my favorite zipper type – an exposed zipper! In hindsight, I shouldn’t have used a white zipper as the blue from the denim tends to get on it, but I still think it’s super cute.
Zipper installation in progress shot!
I paired this denim Alberta with a Union Street Tee by Hey June Handmade and a Julia Cardigan by Mouse House Creations — both of these are worn on repeat. I love both of them and find myself wearing at least one of them once a week. I’ve made two of the Julia Cardigans and plan on making many many more!
As I continue to explore new patterns, I’m loving that I’m finding the “perfect” patterns some of the time. I am definetly not a person that dislikes making a pattern more than once. In fact, with RTW clothes, I am the girl that buys the same shirt in every single color, so it fits here too!
Do you have any go-to patterns? I’d love for you to share so I can check them out as well!
Have a great Monday! Thanks for stopping by!
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