First step in the endeavour: gathering relevant information.
For example, this outfit. When looking at the ensemble closely, you can tell that the front of the skirt is left straight, while the sides and back are gathered into cartridge pleats. The very top of the pleats are bound by a strip of fabric that is also used to tie the skirt at the back.
Since I have plain black linen, and that the only interesting details are the pleat at the waist, it is very straightforward to make. I measured from my waist to the floor for the length, and added 2 1/2 inches. 1/2 inch at the bottom for the hem, and 2 inches at the top to be folded over at the waist and offer support to help the pleats stand up.
Now that we know what the skirt needs to look like, and how long the fabric needs to be, it's quite easy to proceed. I used the full width of my fabric, and cut two rectangles of the required length. I joined the selvedges together, and since I kept them intact, no need to finish those edges! Hurray.
Then I did a double fold at the bottom, and hemmed my skirt. It took me a few days, because I was sewing at a very leisurely pace, and because this is done entirely by hand, for a lack of a sewing machine.
Next step, fold the top edge down by 2 inches. Remember the extra that we added at the beginning? Yes, that's where it goes. The skirt should now be the exact length that we wanted, in this case, waist to floor. Perfect.
I cut a slit in the center back, about 20 cm long, and bound it with a 1 inch wide placket.
Now to the pleats! From looking at the image above, I would say that the pleats are probably 2-3 inches long. I decided to make mine 2 1/4 inches, just a little longuer than the extra fabric on the inside. I left 5 inches at centre front free and flat, and marked it with pins. There are going to be three rows of stitches holding the pleats in place, the first one 1/4 inch from the top, and the subsequent will be an inch apart from one another.
I started poking my needle through the fabric, 1/4 inch from the folded edge, at 1 cm intervals. (Okay, okay, I know, I keep switching between inches and cm... Sorry. I'll blame it on my Canadian-ness, where we use the metric system in school, and the imperial system at home...) I got bored quickly of this method, it was slow, and holding my measuring tape up to the fabric was starting to get annoying. Had I brought some smart marking device, like my tailor's pen, I would have used that. Unfortunately, my bare-minimum-survival-sewing kit only has a small chunk or rather non-too-sharp wax chalk. I had a brilliant idea though! I created a paper template. And used it. It was glorious.
It's a very simple thing indeed! I took a piece of paper, marked a line 1/4 inch from the edge, and another an inch lower, and cut the paper 1/4 inch after that second line. Result, a piece of paper that is 1 1/2 inch wide. Then I marked the edges at a 1 cm interval, and cut little channels based on those marks. All I had to do after? Paper to the folded edge of fabric and one over, one under, one over, one under. Then do the same on the bottom row. Remove paper from first line, fold over second time, repeat the over-under sequence to create third row of stitches. Rinse and repeat until the top edge is pleated completely on both sides.
This is the picture of the first side pleated. It's incredible how much fabric can be gathered up in these pleats. But this is definitely not the finish width... I had to release the pleats on a few inches. Then I tied the threads in the back.
After the correct waist measurement was attained, it was time to bind the top of the pleats. I took a long-ish strip of linen, folded one edge over, attached it to the front of the pleats and along the flat edge at centre front. Then folded the other edge under, and whip-stitched it to the inside of the skirt. I finished the ties, and now my skirt is ready to wear!!
Some pictures of the finished skirt, on my very professional looking red background... Namely the carpet.
And on me. It fits. It's real. I like it. :)
