Self Drafted Skirt- RTW Copycat

I saw the skirt  below when I was in Amsterdam recently and NEARLY bought it in the sale.   Its by Essentiel Antwerp, one of my favourite brands.  But you know how when you make your own clothes, you get picky about how things fit?!  Well this one was just a bit tight around the hips on me.  I loved the cut, and ADORE the fabric but I think it was a silk, quite delicate and with no stretch (not great for my lifestyle or when its a bit tight).  So I reluctantly left it on the shelf but vowed to make myself one if I could crack it!

And here is the wonderful Liberty Twill fabric that  I bought with a Christmas Gift Voucher to make it happen. 

If I can try to describe the cut- its A-line with a central pleat, sewn down at the top & pleat folded to the side.  It looks slightly Japanese to me.

So, where to start?  I took my skirt block and cut some adjustments:
- I added 4.5cm on each side at the front centre fold
- I tapered out and lengthened to get the A shape
- I added in an additional 4.5cm on each side at the front waist seams

I didn't do a pattern I just free cut it marking with pen on the back side of the fabric.  Once I had it right i transferred it to pattern paper later ;) ignore pattern markings, I used another pattern paper. But you can see the shape and adjustment from my block:

I firstly got the pleat right.  I sewed it down to just above the crotch so that the pleat would move with my legs!  I added darts front & back, then literally just sewed the rest together!!  i was very happy with how my invisible zipper went in:

I wanted to make an effort to finish it really neatly so I lined it nicely and used a lovely contrast thick bias tape for finishing the waist.

And I used a bias tape on the hem as I wanted to keep as much length as possible and didn't want to bulk the hem around the pleat:

And, well thats it, finished!

 I m really happy how the pleat turned out...

 Apologies for the creases, this is it after a full day at work.

I switched up the buttons on a plain white corduroy shirt to go with it - cute aren't they?  

Thanks for reading!
Messy Essy Makes
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