Burda Style Skirt #108 7/2010

My July Burda Style magazine arrived this week and I love the dress on the front.  However, I am not brave enough to attempt that one just yet, and am not even sure it would work for me, but I do love skirt #108 and with only three pieces thought it might be a good place to start.   So without further delay here it is!

I made this out of a lightweight rayon/poly blend.  The fabric has a really nice drape to it.  It is a light heather gray.  I lined the inside with a good quality slippery knit made just for that purpose.  I was concerned that the fabric would catch on itself if I self-lined the skirt.  I think I see that happening in the picture on page 17 of the magazine.  I made the size 36 and added about 3/4" to the waistband width.  I read through the instructions one time to get an idea of how to do the twist bubble hem.  Then I proceeded to put the skirt together in my own way.  

It is interesting that this is a knit pattern, but you are to make it much like a woven.  There are darts in the top of the lining pieces; strange for a knit I think.  The first thing I did was to line all four of the waistband pieces with Pro-Sheer Elegance interfacing.  I also sewed a ribbon on the seam allowance at the top of the waistband. Both steps were done to prevent the waistband from stretching.

I did place an invisible zipper on the left side of the skirt as instructed.  Having never inserted a zipper in such a stretchy fabric, I also interfaced the edges of the skirt panel where it was placed to give it some stability.  It worked well and I did not have any puckers in my finished zipper.  The picture makes it seem that the waistband does not line up on the front and back, but it is within an 1/8".  There is a hook and eye at the top. There are some wrinkles, but I think that is related to twisting the hem. 

   

When I had the skirt all finished and tried it on, I was disappointed to see that some of the lining showed at the hem, even though it is a couple inches shorter than the skirt fabric when you cut it out.  So I unpicked my lining from my inside waistband facing and cut 1.5" off the top to shorten the lining even more.  If you use self-fabric for the lining and some of it shows at the hem, it wouldn't be very noticeable, but with my lining being quite a different color I had to fix it.  So I would guess that my skirt is about 3/4" shorter than what it would be if you eliminate this step.   

I am showing a picture of the inside of the skirt.  I hand sewed the lining to the zipper.  I was able to do everything else by machine.  I am pleased with this skirt.  It is comfortable and I could see it looking nice with a variety of tops.  You may like to give it a try too!

Technical Drawing: