Bias-Cut Maxi Skirt Vikisews Sati

I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing the bias-cut maxi skirt everywhere in articles about trends, specifically satin skirts, some in midi lengths as well.

I love a long skirt but am not so fond of the shiny satin versions, so if I was to make one for myself it would need to be in a matt fabric with a nice weighty drape. In my stash was a lush linen and Tencel blend fabric which had been given to me by a lovely sewing friend and imagine how pleased I was when I realised that it would be perfect for a bias-cut skirt.

The colour is a cross between rust and mahogany (Mahust? Ruhogany? 🙂 ). There’s a very slight hint of pinkness about. I felt confident it would mix and match well with a lot of my wardrobe. I wanted to put a lining in my skirt (the main reason being that if I wear woolly tights my skirt wouldn’t stick to them) and as luck would have it I had a random length of black lining in my remnant bag. I think the lining belonged to my mother once and it doesn’t worry me that it’s a contrasting colour because what’s not to love about using up your stash eh?

Bias-Cut Maxi Skirt Pattern Selection

So I’d made up my mind about the style but I needed a pattern. Did you know there are so many bias skirt patterns out there? Well take my word for it, there are so many to choose from! To be honest I think they are all pretty similar and ultimately I chose the Sati skirt by Vikisews because it was on offer (call me cheap eh? Ha!). What I liked about the Sati design was the long length and the fact that I could simply not sew the back waist darts and have it fit my proportionately larger waist.

I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed making this skirt. The fabric handled beautifully and pressed equally well. The instructions were easy to follow and as suggested I basted up the side seams and did a proper fitting before sewing on the machine. I love that the main seams are all sewn as French seams as it gives such a nice clean finish. I cut my lining exactly as the main fabric and also used French seams on that.

By the way, I was right about those back waist darts. I chose a size 40 based on my hip measurement and without the back waist darts, this size worked out perfectly for me.

As with many bias skirts, the waist on this one is elasticated, however…I did not follow the method for attaching the elastic. The instructions ask you to use two lengths of elastic and sandwich the skirt fabric between the two elastic layers. I do not doubt that this would probably give you a nice clean finish, but I’d suggest if you did the same I feel you’d need a fairly soft elastic because two layers of sturdy elastic may not stretch enough and feel too heavy.

The elastic I used is quite a sturdy substantial one with vertical ribs along it to keep it rigid, so one layer for me is perfectly adequate. As a result, I used a different method to attach it, where it’s laid on the right side of the fabric/lining combo and sewn along with a zigzag stitch, and then the elastic is flipped to the inside. The edge of the main skirt fabric folds back on itself and you don’t see any elastic peeping out over the edge of the waistline. Here’s a photo to show you what I mean.

I sewed the elastic in place on each side seam and also added hanging loops. After the skirt had been left to hang overnight to allow the stretchy bias fabric to settle, I sewed narrow baby hems on both the lining and main fabric. I love how clean and tidy it all looks on the inside 🙂 PS…baby hem tutorial in this post

I chose an analogous colour scheme and Winterised my skirt by pairing it with my chunky knit Nikki sweater and suede boots. My skirt will also go with so many other pieces from my wardrobe. I actually couldn’t be happier with it, I love it when that happens!

And on that happy note, I’ll end my post and I’ll see you soon.