My new leatherette skirt...

 

Never ever ever ever was Sarah Liz going to make a faux false leather anything.  Ever.  At All.

Until now, that is.  I happened to see this faux leather in Spotlight, and it was 40 % off, which made it only about $12.00 for fabric, plus thread and zip.  I loved the colour and decided to buy it.

I decided to use a straight skirt pattern I have used before:

This is a basic straight skirt, front and back darts with a  godet at the hem at the rear of the skirt.  I did not use that, instead extending this part of the CB seam into a kick pleat.

As this fabric cannot be ironed (it's sort of PU sprayed onto polyester jersey) as it would melt, I had to decide how to flatten the seams.  I decided on to fold the seam over (like a flat fell, one seam trimmed back, and the other folded over, but not pressed under), and then top stitch it.

I inserted an invisible zip, and also finished below that with the same seam method.

For the waistband, I thought this fabric would not take the strain of a skirt hook, so for the inside waistband I used a firm interfaced cotton drill.  I also used a bit of elastic as both my waist varies, and so do the amount of layers I might wear with the skirt.  They add bulk too.

I overlocked the seams - the fabric was not going to unravel, so I could have skipped this step, but it just looks more finished inside.

I used a ball point needle to make this skirt - I wasn't sure what to use, but it did sew up very nicely.

Now for the construction pictures (I'm sort of proud of how this skirt worked, but I have to admit I did put in quite a bit of effort too!):

Back with invisible zip:

The folded and flipped seam below the invisible zip:

Inside

Outside

The folded and flip

Inside

Outside

Details of the kick pleat - I used binding on the inner pleat as this was less bulky than doing a narrow hem on this fabric:

And the finished entire length of the back:

And the waistband:

And the waistband fasteners:

 And how do you press the hem of a fabric that can't be finger pressed flat and can't be ironed.  Use  a heavy weight - I used a phone book:

And now, the pictures of me in the skirt:

Normally I tend to wear tops out over my waistline, as I am a rectangular shape and can look a bit like a block, albeit a thinnish one.

 So this is what the skirt looks like with a longer line top over it:

So there we are, my never say never faux leather skirt.  I love it :)

Do have a lovely weekend everyone, wherever you are...

Sarah Liz