Pencil skirt from handwoven cloth

There are various first for this skirt: it is my very first sewn anything, the very first garment from my own handwoven yardage, woven on a rigid heddle loom, the very first use of my new-to-me sewing machine.

It is quite far from perfect, but I am very very pleased with it – in hindsight, I should have used a silk thread – the cotton thread I used hasn’t any give, and so the bottom hem does show. But hey, we live and learn, and considering that the patter of the two sides more or less matches, that the skirt fits, that the zipper is invisible. Indeed, fitting the zipper must have been be the highpoint of my sewing experience! I managed to fit it quite perfectly, after following this video by Aneka of Made to Sew. It is a bit long, but expecially if you are an absolute beginner like me, I think it is worth every minute!

And here is MY “perfect” invisible zipper:

The pattern I used is SK002 from Sarah Howard’s Etsy shop – really simple, and done for the rigid heddle loom, so there is minimal waste: what you see sitting on the cut pieces in the picture below are are that was left of my yardage!

I will not go into tips on sewing handwoven cloth, as I have already put them together here – however I do want to show off my perfectly opened seams – you really want to press them with a damp towel on top and a Taylor’s ham or substitute underneath. This were thick layers!

And finally, here is my pride and joy! In the meantime the weather has turned warm, but eventually I will update with modelled photos!

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