Simplicity 3935: the sabotage skirt
Do you have an inner craft saboteur? I seem unable to get to the end of a project without at least one major, avoidable and usually irreversible screw-up. I’m not talking about the standard moment where I realize I’ve sewn something inside out or backwards and have to unpick it; I’m talking about mistakes so colossal and bewilderingly elementary I can only postulate that I succumbed briefly to demonic possession. For instance, this tweed skirt from a 1940s Simplicity pattern.
It may look okay on the outside, but the inside is a train wreck. What in the name of all that is holy made me suddenly decide to half-line the skirt back after I’d applied the zipper and waistband? (I had to rip it out again.) Why didn’t I use paper strips when pressing the hem to prevent ridges showing through on the right side? (Don’t know how to correct this.) Why did I fail to grade, clip and in some cases even finish the horribly bulky and ravelly seam allowances before moving on? (Now too lazy to go back and fix them all.) I knew the right thing to do before I started, so why didn’t I do it? As James said after giving the matter some thought, “You concentrate very hard when you’re sewing… but sometimes I’m not sure what you’re concentrating on.” Me neither. Perhaps Craft Trance, like using a Ouija board alone, leaves me open to malign influences.
My interest in sewing from 1940s patterns arose partly out of my despair of finding attractive yet functional clothes to wear to work in London. If you don’t think women’s business attire is in crisis, tune in to Parliament TV on your next sick day. The many (sometimes extremely loose) feminine interpretations of a dress code designed for men are a sight to behold. When even high-powered female Cabinet ministers look like they got dressed in the dark, you know there’s a problem. Casting my mind back to bygone eras when women at work looked pulled-together without being shellacked, I alighted with a sigh of satisfaction on World War 2.
from the Library of Congress Flickr archive
Suits are beyond my skills for the moment, but 1940s separates are the answer to my workwear woes. I love their combination of clean lines (narrow skirts, long waists) and soft details (bishop sleeves, yoked blouses), which makes them sleek without being severe and feminine without being girly. They just breathe womanly authority. The look translates beautifully to a modern office with a few modifications, and I’ve enjoyed working 1940s pieces into my wardrobe.
I actually tried to make this skirt a couple years back, but it ended up on the Pile of Shame due to my failure to understand the concept of ease. The pattern is Simplicity 3935, and the skirt is a very simple six-gore design with topstitched seams in front and back:
I didn’t use the pattern directly. Instead, I used it as a guide while I drew up my first self-drafted skirt pattern, based on a block I made by following the instructions in Donald McCunn’s wonderfully demystifying How to Make Sewing Patterns. By comparing my pattern with the Simplicity pattern, I managed to achieve a pretty decent fit. A girdle helps, of course.
Notice the infiltrator at bottom. Center stage is Audrey’s natural habitat.
I love warm, sturdy tailored skirts you can live in. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the kind of wardrobe piece it’s impossible for me to find in shops, especially in my size (British high-street fashion sizing doesn’t recognize the existence of 34″ hips). This skirt cost me a whopping £30 to make in genuine Harris tweed from Butt of Lewis Textiles. I can’t say enough good things about this company. Their tweeds are excellent and handwoven in the UK from 100% virgin wool, their prices are amazingly reasonable and their customer service (which seems to consist solely of Callum) is friendly, fast and extremely knowledgeable. They even have a YouTube channel!
Because I’d been hoarding the tweed in my stash for a year or so, this skirt cost me no coupons. Hurray! I’ve also nearly finished the blouse to go with it. Stay tuned!
Lessons learned:
- Mark, mark, mark. If perfect fit is your goal, mark the seamlines.
- Have a game plan. I’m detail-oriented but not so hot at big-picture thinking, so garment construction (what goes where, in which order) can often be my downfall. Missed steps led to a lot of unpicking and restitching, or to errors in the finished garment. Maybe I will actually write out the steps of my next project before I start.
- Mid-project is not the time for major changes. To half-line or not to half-line? Whichever you choose, sort it out before you start.
- Press and finish seams immediately after stitching. Because it’s not always easy to grapple with a seam after it’s been intersected by another seam.
- When in doubt, slow down and check. I’m not an editor because I know everything; I’m an editor because I’m willing to check everything I’m even slightly uncertain about. I need to bring this attitude back to Atelier Catbox.
Hi Susannah,
Nice job. I don’t know if you are aware of this but I got into patternmaking through a love of period styles costuming for the theatre. The details are frequently so much more interesting in period styles than what you find in contemporary garments.
Was it a straight waistband or contoured? It looks like it rides high enough on your body that it could be a straight waistband. To get a contoured waistband you really need a very accurate sloper.
I am pleased you were able to get a fit by just using my book. I learned back in the 70s when I was teaching pattern design through adult ed. that a lot of people need to see the process visually rather than absorb the material through a book. That’s why I started my online patternmaking classes using a lot of streaming videos for the demonstrations.
I had a lovely experience last year helping a woman create a skirt for her asymmetrical body through my online skirt sloper class. Now that was a challenge.
Keep up the beautiful work.
Best,
Don McCunn
author of How to Make Sewing Patterns
The skirt had a straight waistband. I am tackling a contour waistband for my next trick, a cotton twill A-line skirt.
One reason why I wanted to learn to make my own patterns was to fit my asymmetrical hips. RTW skirts always hang crookedly on me. Thank you so much for your book, which made the process blindingly easy.
Susannah,
I don’t know if you noticed but in my message I included two links. One was to a blog entry I did on contoured waists and the other was on how to fit an asymmetrical body.
If you have any questions I am available almost 365 days a year through my free Yahoo Group How to Make Sewing Patterns.
The nice thing about this Yahoo group is that in addition to beginning pattern makers (and beginning sewers) there are some very experienced pattern makers, professional custom clothiers, and teachers so you can get feedback from a variety of people.
I created that group to help people such as yourself so it would be nice to see you there.
Best,
Don McCunn
My worst sewing day was the day I was learning to put in sleeves age 14 or 15.
I put the same sleeve in four times, each time the seam was on the outside and the sleeve was on the wrong side of the jacket. I finally got it in right the fifth time. Have you ever seen ANY fabric that is presentable after the fifth seaming?
that project ended up in the corner of my closet for three years. LOL Then that Florescent pink and orange 60′s print Jacket was tossed in the goodwill bag.
It taught me to LOOK at the item after pinning or baste, or check twice that I’m doing it right BEFORE stitching if at all possible. LOL Kitty
hi
did you know don has his own group on yahoo where you can ask all questions and he runs classes on the net
jane
At least it looks great on the outside! I’m betting those WWII parachute blouses weren’t very finished on the inside either, because it would’ve taken more thread and/or fabric. So maybe your skirt is just very period in that way
My mom was a teen in WWII, one of ten girls who were raised on a pittance. All of them sewed. The pinking shears were her favorite tool for finishing a seam allowance, but for a tweed, I’d use seam tape or a hand applied blanket stitch.
Yes, it’s my cat.
As in…the cat lies on my silk while I try to cut it…lies on my sewing machine while I try to sew…on my lap when I do the hand work…and this is not a *small* cat, he’s 28 pounds! All mistakes therefore become his fault.
As to the rest of it, sure we all still make mistakes. The skit is very attractive, and so I’d ignore the mistakes and enjoy it.
Ha! Talk about a pattern weight. Audrey is very inquisitive about my sewing projects, but not to the extent that I can blame her for their flaws.
Your skirt looks lovely, tweed is great. I just had a sewing disaster last night when I made a gathered skirt, and spend all evening hand sewing the waistband down inside while watching Dexter, only to realise when I had finished that I completely forgot to measure the waistband, and it is about 5 inches to big! What a complete idiot! It’s so silly I can’t even be cross with myself, will just have to cut the waistband off and start again.
This is unfortunate, but also very comforting.
I’ve done the waistband oversize thing, too. My solution was to open a bit of it at each end and run elastic through it to ease it in. Five inches gathered a bit doesn’t look too bad, depending on the skirt (not recommended for pencil skirts, of course).
The skirt looks great–and a real tweed! I’ve always liked tweeds. Everyone has bad sewing days along with the “why didn’t I follow the instructions?” times. My husband threatened to take my sewing machine away once when I was having such a bad spell and in despair. I learned more and got over it though. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before–there is a reason I have six seam rippers.
Great job! I have been tempted by the modern reproduction of this pattern (Simplicity 3688), and seeing your finished skirt makes we want to try it even more.
You should definitely add this pattern to the Vintage Pattern Wiki and include your picture in the gallery!
You’re fun! I probably have made these mistakes and more, but have totally forgotten them by the time I start looking at my next project. I never stay too long being angry, because the grass is always greener in sewing!
I think the skirt looks really charming!
Beautiful job on drafting it–bravo! I too often have certain projects that are plauged by things that are seemingly from a sewing horror movie! haha! Sometimes I wonder if I have my head on my shoulders too. 
rofl.
Did you like the McCunn drafting book? I keep toying with the idea of getting it, but have heard mixed reviews, so I’d love to know your thoughts!
McCunn is the only book I’ve seen that simplifies the process of drafting a block to your own measurements (everyone else seems to use mind-boggling calculus), but it’s of limited usefulness beyond that. Adele Margolis’s Make Your Own Dress Patterns is a reassuringly accessible book on how to manipulate the block once you’ve drafted it, and Harriet Pepin’s Modern Pattern Design, over on VintageSewing.info, has a lot of wonderful advice about design.
I’m working on a library page outlining what reference books I use, but those are my top choices for beginners like me.
The skirt looks lovely, and really, it’s the outside that matters
I love your skirt!!!
I just can’t beleive you have 34″ hips and its “unheard of”
Do you mean everyone else has bigger hips? I hope so…’cause my waist is a 31! lol…I think my hips are closer to a 42? not sure….Anyway I think women’s professional attire has sucked alot in the past few decades, but new up-and-coming 20 and 30 somethings are changing the whole look! Lets hope they keep it up..
I am half-Indian, which accounts for my slim hips. British high-street fashion sizing seems to cater to a more racially homogeneous market than in the US and Canada, and the standard body type has bigger hips (and feet) than me. So it’s difficult for me to find a skirt that doesn’t slither off and end up around my ankles in the fitting room.
The skirt is lovely, you did a great job drafting the pattern. Believe me, I am fifty and have been sewing since I was 12 and the little saboteur never leaves you. And does it really matter, at least you will know who made the skirt, it’s a one off, an original.
My inner craft saboteur goes by the name Fatigue. Because I am a weekend night owl, it is tough to recognize my best stopping point but usually the clue is revealed when a sewing project becomes wrecked. Then I begin to take shortcuts and mess up even more. Now, I try to stop and walk away.
Lol. I love this post! Yes, I often wonder if I also succumb to some sort of demonic possession when I look back on some of my sewing!! I think the skirt looks FANTASTIC. I love the fabric and will have to check out the shop. Your shoes are also great (and so is little Audrey, what a doll!). I can’t wait to see the blouse!