McCalls 5590- The Ultimate Pencil Skirt

My first Sew-As-You-Go piece is done (finally): M5590.
I love this pattern, which, sadly, is now OOP. This skirt is exactly the kind of thing I like to wear- the high waist was made for my long torso. I actually made this once before, in a black and white hounds tooth. It turned out very nice, although I need to go back and alter the waist a little bit.

This time I used a charcoal grey pinstripe from Hancock Fabrics. I think this fabric is a wool blend. The skirt is fully lined with an "anti-static" lining fabric also from Hancocks. I expect to get lots of wear out of this once the weather cools off.

This skirt is super easy to put together. There are only four pattern pieces: front, back, front facing, and back facing. The skirt has two darts in front and two in back, a center back zipper (I used an invisible zip) and a slit in the back.

I used one of the decorative stitches on my machine to "bar tack" the top of the slit in back.
I also interfaced the area at the top of the slit to stabilize it and prevent it from ripping under stress.

I did not use any boning in this skirt (the pattern does not call for it.) I used standard, lightweight knit interfacing (it's what I had on hand) on the facing pieces, which in my opinion, gives adequate support for the waist.

I cut a straight size 18 and took the waist in approximately 1/2" on each side seam. I could probably go down to a 16 in the waist and taper out to the 18 at the hip on the next version. You need a good, almost snug fit in the waist for this skirt to look right. (My first version is loose in the waist and gapes a little bit, so I only wear it with an untucked top covering the waist, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of a high-waist skirt!)

I also removed some of the hip curve. I think because my torso is so long, and my waist is so high/hips are so low, many skirt patterns give me a strange "bubble" of fabric at the high hip area.

This is an outstanding skirt pattern. I've made it twice and I can totally see myself making it again. If you have this one, definitely pull it out and give it a try. I can see wearing this with a cute knit top, a dressy blouse, or a pretty sleeveless top and a jacket or a cardigan. I plan to get a lot of mileage out of this piece!

Stay tuned, there are more Sew-As-You-Go pieces coming soon!