Knock-Off Contest Update

Apparently I wasn't the only person who got confused about the deadline Knock-Off Contest, so the folks at PR kindly re-opened yesterday, and I was able to enter my skirt after all.  Voting begins this weekend, so please consider voting for my project :-)

RTFM!

Shoot!  I missed the deadline to submit my denim pencil skirt for the PR Knock-Off Contest.  I'm not quite sure how I got confused, but apparently the contest ended yesterday and voting began today :-(

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummed out, since I hauled it to get the project done in time to enter.  At this point, I have yet to successfully enter a PR contest (since I hadn't been a member long enough when the Formalwear contest came around).

Oh well!  At least I got a nice skirt out of the deal.  And I'll definitely enjoy checking out other people's entries.

(P.S.  If you're not familiar with the term, RTFM stands for "Read The [Expletive] Manual!")

Denim Pencil Skirt Completed

I was sewing until almost midnight last night, but I finally got my denim skirt finished for the PR Knock-Off Contest, and I was able to snap some photos this morning before it started raining.  I'm totally pleased with the result: the fit is good, and I was able to reproduce all of the details I liked in the inspiration piece.  Plus, this skirt bridges nicely between casual and wear-to-work, which is exactly the kind of clothing I currently need most.

Just as a reminder, here's the inspiration skirt:

And here's my version:

Design Elements:

The pleat and pocket are spot-on, and add a nice bit of interest.

The back princess seams were the only design element I changed.  Instead of having them curve to intersect the side seam, I made the curve more gradual, and brought them up to the outer corners of the waistline edge.  I think this change makes the skirt a bit more understated, and is also perhaps more flattering on someone with a larger tush.  (I did end up top-stitching them to make them lie flat.)

Back kick pleats--sassy and functional.

Construction Techniques:

I went all-out with the couture details on this skirt, which was otherwise fairly simple.  I did Hong Kong seam finishes on all the raw edges, and used a bias strip to finish the hem allowance, too.  I also added a faced waistband made out of a tiny piece of ridonkulously expensive Liberty fabric, which I trimmed with a contrast bias strip and then hand-stitched down.

I'm really proud of the way the inside of this skirt looks!  If nothing else, this project was a great opportunity to experiment with higher-end finishing techniques, in which I am largely self-taught.

So there it is, my J Crew knock-off skirt!  I'm wearing it today, as pictured, along with my paisley Ute blouse for an entirely made-by-J outfit.  And I'm sure the skirt will be seeing lots of use as part of my summer mini-wardrobe, and into the start of the school year in the fall.

Jean Skirt Knock-Off: Drafting and Construction

One of the pieces I had in mind for my Up North mini-wardrobe was a denim pencil skirt.  Currently, I have several denim skirts, but the most wearable among them has been in my wardrobe for at least 5 years and is starting to look a bit peaked.

I had been thinking about making a pencil skirt, and using a piece of denim left over from an earlier ill-conceived denim skirt project.  Looking around for a picture to use in my last post, I found this skirt from J Crew:

I recognized it immediately: the previous day, I had noticed a colleague wearing this skirt, and admired it.  So I decided to create my own version, just in time to discover the Pattern Review Designer Knock-Off contest.  Clearly, the stars had aligned and my sewing of this skirt was fated!

The skirt has a couple of nice design details, which might be difficult to see in these pictures, but are much clearer if you zoom in using the viewer on the J Crew site:

• Front pockets and small front pleats
• Princess seams on the back, which curve around to intersect the side-seam edge
• two back kick pleats

All of these details were easy to draft.  For the front, I just transformed my existing darts into pleats, then added the pockets.  For the back, I decided to simplify the look of the skirt by having the curved seams end at the waistband edge, rather than the side seam.  I moved the back dart to the outside upper corner of the skirt, then used it as a basis to create the princess line, which went straight down the back of the skirt and formed the kick pleat at the bottom.

It took some serious fiddling to get the shape of this skirt right (even though I made a muslin!).  In the end, I ended up taking about an inch out of the hip and waist, and more like 4 inches out below the hipline to get a tapered, pencil shape.

Inspired by my green dress, I decided to use Hong Kong seam finishes again.  Although there are tons of great tutorials on Hong Kong finishes out there, in my next post I'll share a brief one of my own. Once again, I love the effect, but doing seam finishes on all 10 raw edges inside this skirt was tremendously time-consuming, and I'll just barely get the project done in time to photograph it for the contest!