Semi- self drafted linen wrap skirt

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been busy making myself a capsule wardrobe (using the Seamwork Design Your Wardrobe resources). This linen wrap skirt is perfect for that, because it goes with pretty much everything!

The navy linen I used was originally intended to be a Colette Zinnia skirt (version 1), but I decided it would be too bulky for all the gathers at the waist… on the other hand, I thought it would be perfect for something a little more structured, and lately I’ve been seeing lots of beautiful linen wrap skirts all over Pinterest, so here we are!

I say the skirt was ‘semi-self drafted’ because I used the instructions from Tanya Whelan’s book Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time, which walk you through adjusting the straight skirt pattern piece that comes with the book into an a-line skirt, and drafting your own waistband. I was given this book a while ago and this is the first thing I’ve made from it. Ironically, it’s not a dress!

Honestly, I wasn’t very impressed with the instructions in the book. They seemed to skip over some fairly important parts of the construction, which are easy to add in if you’ve made skirts before, but could be quite challenging for a skirt novice. For example, it doesn’t say in the instructions to make one side of the waist tie longer than the other. Unless I’m mistaken (which I may well be) for a wrap skirt to work, one side of the tie has to be long enough to go around the back of your waist and be tied in a bow with the other side of the tie. However, it didn’t say in the instructions to make one side of the tie longer than the other, and the illustration showed both sides being the same length… I can’t see how this would make a usable wrap skirt.

Another issue I came across (also to do with the skirt tie) was the formula for working out the length of your tie. I double-checked my calculations, but I still ended up cutting out another one and sewing it to the original in order to make it long enough.

This makes me a bit wary of attempting the other patterns in the book, but maybe those ones have better instructions; after all, it is a book about dresses, so perhaps more attention was paid to the dress instructions?

That being said, it’s a very straightforward design, so these issues didn’t cause any real difficulties.

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Despite some minor hiccups with the instructions, I really enjoyed making this skirt and I’d definitely make more in the future, maybe in a drapier fabric next time!

Pattern: Modified pattern from Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time
Size/Fit: I made the smallest size, and fit wasn’t an issue due to the adjustable wrap style.
Fabric: Navy linen.
Sewing Time: Maybe a couple of days? Could easily be sewn faster if you wanted, I was just taking my time!
Quality of instructions: Not great…
Difficulty: Construction-wise it’s a beginner level pattern, but due to the bad instructions I’d say confident beginners and above.
Adjustments: Making the waist tie longer.
Make again? Definitely, it’s such a versatile style I could see myself making lots more!