TL; DR – Check the damn stretch of your fabric before cutting out all the pieces.

I call this one my “Aimée skirt” because she has been posting her pandemic fashion on her instagram, and one day she posted one of her in a windowpane checked asymmetrical skirt and HAD TO HAVE ONE. I found the fabric, and after some searching, found the Axel Curve Skirt by Megan Nielsen. What I particularly liked about the pattern were all the various skirt options. I felt like I was buying three patterns in one!

Now, stretch garments can be hard because they are meant to have negative ease, meaning that they are supposed to stretch. How much the stretch has to do with the fabric you’re using. There is usually a stretch guide on the directions to show you how much a fabric should stretch (so, like, literally an illustration for you to test the stretch). I chose my size, cut the waist band and then started cutting my other pieces.

I should have remembered the lessons from the pants: always test the waistband. Turns out, the fabric I had chosen (a rather stiff ponte) did not have enough stretch and the waistband wouldn’t fit, after I had cut out all of my other pattern pieces. And, I was out of fabric. In fact, I didn’t even have enough fabric, and I ended up having to cut two of the four skirt pieces on the bias instead of the grainline. This would have mattered more if a) the fabric was stretchier, b) it was closer fitting, and c) the pattern ultimately mattered. In fact, I liked the diagonal squares better, and I liked mixing up the pieces.

But there was no making new skirt pieces. Ultimately, I shortened the seam allowances when I sewed the skirt pieces together, and then added an extra piece of the fabric to the waistband to make it longer. Perfection, if even the skirt was now a touch loose, which I was FINE with.

The pattern was super-easy and I the skirt is EXACTLY what I wanted. This isn’t the greatest pic of the skirt because of the shirt I’m wearing it with, but I have an oversized cashmere bulky cream-colored sweater that pairs with the skirt marvelously. And I don’t mind it a little loose given I spend all day sitting at my computer anyway.

Ignore the socks. It’s cold in my room.

Next time, though, I am going to test the stretch AND test the waistband before cutting out any other pattern pieces.