White Maternity Skirt

I have been needing a white skirt to wear with some tops that won't go with anything but. Last night I sewed up a 7-gored, 7 godet skirt out of a white jacquard weave linen.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="This was what I wanted it to look like."][/caption]

It would have a stretch waistband with a maternity panel in from to accomodate my belly. No closures.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I got out my file with all my drafted blocks and patterns."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="My skirt block drafted from Winifred Aldrich's Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Laying the  skirt block out."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I've drawn a maternity line-the curved line follows the baby bump all around. Everything else will fit as per pre pregnancy."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I draw out the stylelines for my skirt. You can see the godet I drew in between one of the gore panels."][/caption]

I already have a pattern for a 7 gored and flared skirt from a few months before, so I only needed to draft the godet. I made it  6inches long, and 3 inches wide on each side of the red middle line.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="My trusty carbon sheets. This is just 8 sheets of A4 carbon paper stuck on a broadsheet newspaper."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Laid a sheet of newspaper on top"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Layed the block on top"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="And used my double Clover tracing wheel to trace the seamlines of the godet onto the newspaper"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Turn the newspaper over-and tada! A perfectly traced godet pattern piece."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="These are the pattern pieces i made a few months back for a flared, 7-godet skirt, plus my godet."][/caption]

I wanted my new skirt to be an inch longer though, so I made a note on all my pattern pieces that it be cut an inch longer with 5/8 inch seam allowance.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="These were the materials I used. The white linen jacquard and a white Lycra I bought for AUD1.99 from an opshop at 1.5m."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I laid out the pattern pieces on the material and pinned and cut."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Laying out the rest of the pattern pieces"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="This is the Lycra piece I cut for the waistband"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I wanted it 3 inches wide"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Here is the maternity waistband all cut out."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="All the pattern pieces cut out."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I used tailors tacks on all the points where the seams join, especially for the godets, which saved me heaps of time."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I made sure I marked the centre back, centre front, the right and wrong side of the material."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Overlocking all the raw edges of the material"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Here I overlock the centre back seam of the waistband into a tube and pinned all the edges together."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="And overlocked all the seams"][/caption]

Next, I laid out all the front panel pieces together.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Matching tailor's tacks between the gore panels."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Matching the tailors tacks for the godets and the panels."][/caption]

I realised that I had to sew the godet onto one panel first, before joining two gore panels together.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="That little tailor tack X was very important."][/caption]

I had to make sure to start the stitch at that point on both sides of the gore panels, being careful not to catch the fabric underneath, which would have resulted in a pucker.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Sewing the two gore panels together from the top down to the godet point X."][/caption]

I repeated all the steps for joining the godet and panels for the front.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="This was what the front looked like."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="And the back"][/caption]

I always make a point of making the front and back panels separately, and then joining the side seams last with a basting stitch to check the fit. At this point, I realise that it was too tight, so I reduced the 5/8 inch seam allowance to 1/4 inch at the sides. But that wasn't enough either, so I had to rip out the stitchs at the centre back seam and resew that at 1/4 inch seam allowance.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="This is what the whole skirt looked like after I joined the front and back panels together."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Ironing the seams flat. Very important."][/caption]

Next, the waistband.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Joining the waistband to the skirt"][/caption]

I had marked the centre of the skirt and the waistband with tailors tack, so matching them up was a breeze.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I separated the waistband into quarterly intervals, and pinned it to the skirt, stretching the lycra to ease in the skirt fabric."][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Tada!"][/caption]

It needs an iron again.

But this is what it looks like on me.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="321" caption="Front Side view"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="321" caption="Back side view"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="321" caption="Me in my new skirt."][/caption]

I hemmed the skirt up, but wasn't satisfied with the way it fell stiffly, so I unpicked the blindhem stitching, and will use a rolled hem on my overlocker to finish it.

I love the versatility of a white skirt, and especially a maternity one with an wide stretchy waistband.

The Big 4-Pattern Books and Envelopes

In Malaysia, we have dressmakers and tailors galore who charge very affordable prices to make garments. The tailor I used to go to charges RM20-40 for her labour-which in Aussie dollars is a mere AUD 7-15! If you want something made up, you go to a dressmaker down the road. In Australia however, dressmakers charge by the hour, and labour is expensive, so if you want something made, you have to fork out big time, or, buy a commercial pattern in your size, and sew it yourself.

Coming to Adelaide, I discovered the wonderful world of ready made commercial patterns. There are four main companies producing patterns-Vogue, Simplicity, McCall's and Butterick-collectively called The Big 4. Fabric and haberdashery stores like Spotlight or Lincraft will have a browsing table with pattern books from the Big 4, as well as other smaller brands like Kwik Sew and Burda. You choose your pattern, your size, note the number and go to the counter and ask for your pattern. The store will have all of the  patterns in different sizes in stock filed in filing cabinets. They find that particular pattern number, fish out that pattern, and walla! It's yours. Pattern prices range between AUD5-25, Vogue being the most expensive.

In Malaysia, commercial patterns aren't available, and most people aren't aware of them. Home sewers draft their own patterns using the oriental method, from which they make all their clothes. They start with a dress block of their measurements, which is a bodice and skirt block combined, from which they draft all other patterns. It's a versatile method-no tissue fitting for every new garment design, and cheaper besides.

When I first came here, I never thought to pick up sewing. But since I was given the sewing machine, and Wyld Man said that I could have an overlocker, I tried my hand at sewing and garment construction and got hooked. However, I  remember my mom making her garments from her own dress block, which I didn't have. So I bought some commercial patterns to try out. But for every different outfit that you want, you needed to purchase a different pattern, a habit that can get expensive,  and I'd rather spend my money on fabrics. I decided to learn to draft my own patterns instead, and bought Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Womenswear as well as Dorothy Moore's Pattern Drafting and Dressmaking book. However, I wanted still wanted some design inspiration-as those books had some rather outdated designs.

I used to walk into Spotlight and stayed an hour just to browse the pattern books. Those books were often at least an inch thick-with about 500-700 pages of designs. I loved looking at the design elements of each piece and studying the technical drawings. I was very happy to find that Lincraft sold out of season pattern books for only AUD5 each. I went and got as many as I could carry home-7!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="McCalls, Butterick, Simplicty, Vogue and Burda"][/caption]

Some of them were Spring/Summer collections, the others were Winter/Autumn.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Cocktail dresses"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Evening dresses"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Jeans patterns"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Jackets and blazers"][/caption]

Most pages had a textbox with information pertaining to sizes and yardage required for a particular design.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Winter coats"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Some maternity designs"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="More evening dresses"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Children's patterns"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Even costumes"][/caption]

Except for the evening dresses, most of the tops, skirts, pants and dresses I can draft with the help of my pattern drafting books-so I won't need to buy more commercial patterns. However, I do keep a lookout for difficult patterns or patterns for evening gowns in opshops. This is one which I picked up for a dollar.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="STYLE evening gown pattern"][/caption]

For the benefit of those back in Malaysia, I will proceed to explain what is in a commercial pattern.

Patterns come in a paper envelope with the photo or illustration of the design in front, and sizing and yardage requirements on the back.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Sizing, finished measurements, required yardage and notions."][/caption]

Some patterns come with multiple design variations, and each design is called View A, View B, View C etc.

Inside the envelope, you get a design sheet, and an instruction sheet.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Instruction sheet"][/caption]

The instruction sheet gives an overview of pattern pieces you need to cut, sewing instructions and construction sequence.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Pattern sheet"][/caption]

The pattern sheet is a huge piece of tissue paper with pattern pieces printed on it which you cut out. Seam allowances are usually included, as well as darts placements and markings which you transfer to your fabric.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Instructions on pattern pieces"][/caption]

Each pattern piece is numbered, with instructions for cutting the number of pieces.

Most patterns nowadays are multisized, meaning that you have to choose a size for yourself out of a range of sizes printed on the pattern paper.

Although I was very excited when I first came and discovered commercial patterns, I've quickly found that not all the sizing is accurate-the bust may be too big, the length too long, the sleeves may be too large-which can only be resolved with making a test garment and tissue fitting. Aside from that, I've mentioned earlier that it can be an expensive habit if you want a range of designs for your garments.

But having learnt how to draft patterns and having thos 7 humongous pattern books, I have the best of both worlds. I have technical drawings to base my drafts on, my garments made on my personal block fits me perfectly, and I don't have to pay everytime I need a new design.