Hello! I’m very excited to share with you today about making a lined, wool pencil skirt. I made the Utu skirt from the book, Breaking the Pattern by Named. I’ve also made another project from this book, the Sade top in a previous Minerva project (link below).

https://www.minerva.com/posts/1025093

The fabric I used for this skirt is amazing!! It is a 100% superfine wool, Barathea suiting fabric base. It has a slight drape to it while still being a medium weight fabric. 100% wool fabrics can be harder to come by so I was super excited to get to work with this fabric. The width is 59” to give you more bang for your buck with more fabric included in the width. Barathea is considered a twill weave and is most commonly used for coats, dinner jackets, or military uniforms.


Pattern Version: Skirt (the pattern also includes a pinafore vest option)

Size: 5

I’m slightly in between sizes with a 40” hip. Size 4 recommends a 39 ⅜” hip with 42 ¼” being the finished hip dimension and size 5 recommends a 41” hip with 43 ¾” finished hip dimension. With this design being a wrap, I wanted to go up a size so that I would have enough coverage with the wrap element.

Seam allowance: The seam allowance is included in the pattern and is ⅜”.

I lined the two Front pieces and the Back piece with a Bemberg Rayon Lining Fabric. Although the lining fabric that I used was not from Minerva, the Robert Kaufman Avanti Bemberg Rayon Lining Fabric would be a good option to pair with this fabric (and is similar to the fabric that I used for the lining).

I wanted to note that although the fabric is a Navy, it is a dark navy. Of the threads that I had in my stash, I found that my black thread was a better color match then the brighter blue/navy that I had on hand. I just thought I’d share that detail in case it might be helpful, thread color wise.


Pattern Mods:

Raised the hem 2” shorter than the pattern’s recommendation
One interesting note in this pattern is that the length is the same across all sizes. So, depending on your height, you may want to add or remove length to the pattern (if you want the end skirt to be at knee length). I cut out the pattern as designed but I raised the skirt hem 2” above the ended hem length. Modifying the skirt length is a little tricky in this pattern in the way the hem is constructed. The pattern has a fold-up method such that the Front facing pattern piece is shorter than the bottom skirt length. If you sew the skirt as intended, you get a nicely finished miter type hem. I first sewed the hem as designed. After I tried on the skirt, the hem length fell below my knees. I wanted to go with a knee length skirt. In hindsight, I wish I would have basted the hem in place and tried it on (before serging the edges which needed to be unpicked before moving the hem length). I unpicked the serged edges and seams and then tried folding up the hem length with pins (to try on the skirt length 2” shorter than intended). I was happy with this length so I cut off approximately 2.5” from the Front facing pieces and repeated the finishing step that the pattern included with the fold up hem. I have some pictures included in case they’re helpful (for this mod).

Lined the skirt
As I used this really nice, wool fabric for the skirt I wanted to line my skirt. I have to admit that I haven't inserted a lot of linings to woven garments. I decided to do an underlying to the skirt so that the lining was free hanging inside the skirt. The darts and side seams were sewn in the lining and the skirt. Then the lining is basted inside the skirts with wrong sides together, basting along the top and side seams.

Used alternate D-rings
The pattern calls for using two 1 ¾” metal D-rings with the skirt. I had D-rings in my stash so I used what I had. When it came time to sew the d-ring loop, I layed a d-ring on top of the d-ring loop pattern piece, wrong side out. I sewed with a ¾” seam allowance to bring in the seam so that the pattern piece would fit my d-ring when turned right side out.

Used a hook and eye instead of a button for the waist overlap
I didn’t want the permanence of a button and buttonhole insertion (as the pattern recommended) so I went with a hook and eye closure for the waist overlap.


Alternate pattern mod ideas:

Add a second belt loop to hold the belt end
The pattern includes one belt loop that is inserted in the center back of the skirt. This helps hold the belt in place as it goes from the right sides of the skirt, around the back and to the D-rings on the left side of the skirt. The design intent of the skirt is for the end of the belt to hang off the left side of the skirt as a design element. I thought about sewing a second button loop and adding it to the left side of the skirt (to hold the end of the belt loop flat). After wearing the skirt, I decided I liked the belt hanging to the left as intended. As the skirt includes the belt loop pattern piece, you could sew a second loop and add it to the left side of the skirt.

Tack the facing pieces along the two Front edges.
The pattern mentions that you can understitch the Front facing pieces to help the edges of the wrap lay flat. I found there was still a slight “bubbling” in the Facing pieces of the skirt as I wore it. I thought about adding hand tacks to the facing pieces to the lining to help the facings lay more flat. That said, I decided to skip this idea after wearing the skirt. When I sit down, I like the “bubbling” feature as it gives me more coverage (as the wrap comes open slightly as you sit. I still feel comfortable in the skirt, but I like having a little more coverage by not tacking the facing pieces to the lining.