I made a new skirt using a pretty special piece of fabric… there’s a little story behind it. It’s a handprinted organic cotton/hemp from Ink & Spindle with a really lovely kangaroo paw motif; designed by Lara Cameron and handprinted in Melbourne… mmmm everything in their range is SO yummy, it was reeeeeally hard to choose just one print…! I bought a piece and sent half to my friend Lisa of Lisa’s Carolina… she had once shared a piece of lovely Dusk blue Alabama Chanin cotton jersey with me and we made something in the same fabric… and I thought it would be fun for us to do the same with some Australian stuff. And it doesn’t get much more Australian than this!
Kangaroo paws are the state flower of Western Australian, so an apt pressie for an international sewing friend! And I thought the colours so pretty and earthy; rich tomato-ey/paprika and warm dusky pink on a natural unbleached background… actually I’ve just checked the site and it’s called “desert red on sand” Perfect!! I cannot WAIT to see what Lisa makes with her piece! 🙂
Anigozanthos manglesii… picture taken by me of a particularly nice specimen in our neighbour’s garden. Kangaroo paws come in many different colours now, however this red/green is our state floral emblem
I got to mulling over what to make with my bit… a skirt seemed like a good choice for this full-bodied canvas-sy stuff. I wanted no seams on the front and the back, because I wanted to make the most of the random print, and hunted out an old favourite Vogue 8363, a pattern I’ve used loads of times before. But I didn’t even want a side zip closure either… then I got the idea in my head to make it to have pockets that perform double duty as the closure of the skirt. Meaning… NO ZIPS! I’ve made a couple of skirts like this before and knew this pattern could happily be adapted pretty easily to have this feature… I’ve written a little tute below in this post on how I did it 🙂
Because this is going to be a summer-y skirt, I left it unlined and enclosed all the raw edges with HongKong binding, using a pale coffee cotton voile from Spotlight. I also used this for the pocket lining and the waistband lining…
This skirt has taken me the LOOOOOOONGEST time to write a blog post for it… I’ve even worn it a few times… which is a kinda fail for me since I have this thing that I shouldn’t wear something until I’ve written a blog post about it. Naughty! Partly because of my plan for the pocket closure tute, about which I’ve been terribly procrastinate-y. Well I’ve finally done it now, at last. Please do let me know if you find this useful and/or helpful… and if you use it of course!
How to adapt a pattern to have a side-pocket opening… this is a good feature since it negates the need for a zip AND you get the bonus of pockets, naturally!
skirt map
The pattern I used here comes with a slant-edged pocket pieces and either a CB zip or button front closure so it’s pretty easy to adapt the waistband and method of construction to accommodate the pocket closure. However, even if your skirt pattern doesn’t come with pocket pieces you can still draw your own pocket pieces and adapt any skirt pattern to accommodate them… as long as you remember this VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: your skirt pattern MUST be roomy enough in the hips so that you can comfortably shove your hands inside without making the skirt too tight by doing so i.e.. NOT a figure-hugging body-con pencil skirt. Though you can of course start with a figure hugging pencil skirt pattern; keep the waistline and just grade the side seams out at the hips to give you the pocket room you need… allow around 12cm at least of extra ease at the hips from a pencil skirt starting point.
My pictures demonstrate a skirt opening at the LEFT hip… for a right hip opening just flip sides!
The pocket (below, at right) has the same top and side edge as your skirt front piece, and the pocket bag (at left) has the slanting opening edge. This slanting edge should be cut identically on the each of the topside edges of the skirt front itself also… If you’re drafting your own just ensure it has the width to accommodate your hands. Also, the waistband is going to overlap at the top of the pocket… so cut the waistband piece long enough to go around your waist, plus at least the width of the pocket bag top edge.
For the L pocket only: mark with a pin a point A on both pocket and pocket bag pieces as indicated here, roughly 12cm (5″) from the top edge.
Finish the raw edge above this point. I have finished mine with a bound HongKong finish, however a skinny hem or overlocking is perfectly fine.
Stitch pocket bags to each side of the skirt front along those slanting opening edges.
Press seam allowance open, grade seam allowances, re-press all seam allowances towards pocket bag, under stitch, press pocket bag under. At this point, pocket bag and skirt can be basted together along the top edge.
Pin under-pocket piece to pocket bag piece along unfinished curve edge. Stitch from point A to the side edge. Note: the R pocket is pinned in the same way, and stitched along the entire pocket edge to the top edge.
Finish seam allowances. R pocket edge can be finished along the entire seam, L pocket must be left open above point A
For a HongKong finish, leave a little tail which can be turned under and enclosed within the binding as shown in the following pictures…
Stitch a bar tack at point A to reinforce and strengthen the pocket opening,
Align the skirt front/pocket bag over the under-pocket, keeping the finished edges together. … and baste all three pieces together along the side seam below the slanted pocket opening. This is the skirt front, finished, at this point join skirt fronts and backs together along the side seams. Above the slanted pocket opening, the skirt back is stitched only to the under pocket piece for both R and L sides.
Attach waistband to the top of skirt, commencing from the skirt front/L pocket bag edge, encircling the waist and extending past the L side seam taking in the top of the LH pocket piece also.
Hand slipstitch the waistband facing inside in the normal way, and stitch press studs and/or a wide hook and eye on the waistband overlap…
Ta da!!
Details:
Skirt; modified Vogue 8363, upholstery fabric; worn with:
(at top)
Drape-y top; the loose draped top from “drape drape”, by Hisako Sato, details here
Hat: Vogue 8844, ivory corduroy, details and my review of this pattern here
(below)
Tee; modified Nettie, Closet Case patterns, details here
Cardigan; my own design modifications of Nettie, Closet Case patterns, details here
Raincoat; Kelly anorak, Closet Case patterns, details here
Shoes; made by me and my own design, details here
the skirt is a little longer here… This was its first length and is how I wore it for its maiden voyage… and then I took one look at my pictures and thought, hmmmmm. I don’t know if it’s just on me, but I find knee length skirts are an instant frumpify-er… I like them to be EITHER a few inches above my knee OR to be full midi length, halfway down my calves, every time I’ve gone for a middling length I’ve regretted it. Like, it’s gotta be one extreme or the other… but NEVER in between! I think it’s just right now!
What a clever hack! Thanks for the tutorial! I also ❤ the draped white tee. 🙂
I thi k your fabric is absolutely beautiful and is perfect in this skirt.
Great skirt! I like the clever way you have closed this. Thanks for sharing.
This is such a beautiful fabric-pattern- combination! I love the clever closure and all the neat finish in the inside! Thank you for sharing. I can see that you have got summer weather already. Ia am so glad that we have got a golden fall and NOT already winter 😉
Nice! And helpful
Gorgeous! I love it! By the way I had no idea Kangaroo Paws were flowers (I’m in the US), so I have to confess I was a little disappointed there were no actual kangaroos in this post. Maybe soon??
haha, I’ll have to go through my pictures, no doubt I’ve got tonnes of pictures of kangaroos, somewhere! in the meantime I’ve added into my post of a kangaroo paw so you can see what they look like… they are our state floral emblem 🙂
Me too, Ann. I kept thinking “those are flowers not kangaroo paws, what?
Hi Connie; I’ve added in a picture of an actual kangaroo paw so you can see what they really look like 🙂 the print on my skirt is just a silhouette of one and doesn’t actually show much of the details
Thanks for reminding me of this type of closure and for a great tutorial. I haven’t made a skirt with a no-zip opening for a very, very long time. I might try it again sometime. Your finished skirt is really lovely with a nice story of the fabric. I must look out for what Lisa does with her fabric. By the way…I hate to wear anything until I’ve photographed and blogged about it too!
I guess a make feels like old news if you wear then post, but I do it constantly because my blogging never keeps up with my sewing. I am a very bad pattern maker because I have to admit to just yesterday having ordered Megan Neilsen’s Flint pants because I just didn’t ant the headache of sorting this detail out using my noggin – shame on me. And here you have produced a perfectly perfect tutorial, if only I’d waited a day! Thank you Carolyn, Kangaroo Paws don’t do well in our humidity, but I do love ‘em. OH and yes, yes, yes about the skirt length. Knee length is always a regret for me too!
Love this!!! I have to leave more words in my comment so here they are. (15 characters minimum!)
Thank you very much for this! Ever since the Megan Nielsen? trousers, I have been tempted by this type of opening/closure. Will save this in PDF form so I can refer back to it, offline.
I love the fabric design – and it’s perfectly shown off in this skirt
I love that style of pocket and have just done one on a ‘Christmas’ Skirt but I wish I had bound the pocket edge now that I have seen yours. There is always a summer version to try. Cool fabric. Jo x
This is such a lovely outfit! I really need to get that book one day. I love everything you make from it.
Beautiful fabric! And so very clever what you have done. Thank you for sharing this!
If I’m using a waist band that is curved, then I just need to ensure I extend the correct segment for the pocket, yes?
This is awesome and I’ll clearly be using it!
yes, that is correct Chris! Just abut your waistband pieces together, keeping centre backs and fronts in the same position, and redraw the new waistband in one piece, with the ends/overlap extension as indicated on the “skirt map”
and thank you!
This fabric is so beautiful and your pictures are lovely. I love to see summer arriving down south!
Love this! Thank you so much for taking the time to write out these tutorials, they are appreciated! And as another reader from the USA – I had no idea Kangaroo Paws were flowers! I scanned through looking for actual kangaroos at first, LOL!
thank Angela! yes they are our state floral emblem too… I’ve added in a picture of a kangaroo paw so you can see what I’m talking about, sorry about that!
That sort of pocket/waist closure was standard construction in the late 70s and 80s in commercial sewing patterns — and even in some rtw slacks and skirts. It’s a good one, and makes it easy to adjust garments for a fluctuating waist measurement. Well done, you.
Love Kangaroo Paws – they’re beautiful and graphic and have translated so beautifully to this print. I’ve used a similar solution to the pocket/closure dilemma and it worked well. Your skirt looks great and the shorter length looks wonderful. Well done. It’ll be fun to see what your friend does with the same fabric.
I love the skirt and tutorial! Thank you. I agree that the shorter length is better, but I don’t think you could be frumpy even if you tried!
You have some of the best tutorials. The skirt is so beautiful.
What a beautiful print. Perfect for this skirt.
I love fabric with a special story behind it! The skirt is beautiful. Thank you for the clearly written tutorial!
Dear sweet Carolyn! Your skirt is so perfectly lovely!!! And the shorter length shows off your great legs!! This is a perfect length for you. Thank you so much for mentioning me and how sewing/fabric connects us though we live so far apart. Your gorgeous fabric is being much admired and petted daily with plans for a skirt similar to what you made. Thank you SO much for this tutorial as I’ve been wanting to use this closure technique. But especially thank you for your sweet and thoughtful friendship. With love. Lisa
Thanks for the tutorial, it’s really appreciated. I just made a pair of pants from a vintage 70’s pattern that did exactly this (although on both sides) and I’d never seen it before. Such an obvious, neat solution once someone points it out. I love Ink and Spindle fabrics too. Dreamy, hey.
Great tutorial, I will definitely try it, I wanted to make a peppermint wide leg pants with this closure, now I don’t have to figure it out myself!
Beautiful skirt and fabric and I agree about the length, in between doesn’t work for me either.