1940s pinstripe skirt

Pattern: Vintage Simplicity 3417, bust 34”

Fabric: 1.6 m pinstripe fabric (with 75 x 75 cm left over), I’m not sure what material

Haberdasheries: A zipper, a button, 1.85 m black twill tape

When I realised this fabric from my stash would be nice to use for a 1940s suit, I searched online for another suit pattern, but all the patterns I found were either similar to the one I already had, or I liked them less than the one I had. So I decided to make the jacket using my Simplicity 4915 pattern, and the skirt using the bottom part of the Simplicity 3417 dress pattern. If I just added a waistband to that, I figured I’d have a very nice skirt.

I shortened the skirt by 8 cm. Also, because the bottom part of the dress is a bit wide at the waist, and I wanted to attach it to the waist band without gathers, I took the skirt in by 1.2cm at every seam, so it follows my body at the top, after which it flares out.

This was a nice quick project!

Here’s the skirt laid out flat, to show the shape. Not a particularly sharp picture, I’m afraid.

 

These are the side closure and the twill tape on the inside:

And here’s me wearing the skirt in Normandy:

(Photo by Jaap Gordijn, edited by me)