Simplicity 1940’s Skirt

Lately I’ve been sewing costumes for this year’s Arizona Renaissance Festival. All the costumes I’m working on are complex and/or detailed and, although everything looks good and is coming together well, I became dishearten about the speed I was working on them. I thought it would be a good self esteem booster to make a simple sewing project and show myself that I can sew fast, sew very well, and the only reason why it takes me so long to make the costumes is because they are just that complex and has nothing to do with my sewing abilities.

Back in December, I found a reprint of a 1940’s Simplicity pattern for a skirt, pants, blazer, and shirt in one of Simplicity’s pattern books. The pattern, Simplicity’s 3688, immediately caught my eye. I had an idea to make a skirt in the style of the skirt used in a woman’s RAF World War II uniform, but I couldn’t find a pattern that was originally printed in the 1940’s. It irritated me because I knew there should be a pattern, but nobody was reprinting it or selling it. The skirt in the Simplicity pattern was the closest I ever saw to the RAF skirt so I bought the pattern along with blue twill to make the skirt out of.

I was able to finish the skirt this weekend and here’s how it looks…

The pattern was surprisingly easy to work with and the skirt fit was correct. Usually when I work with Simplicity patterns that are close fitting to the torso, I need to enlarge the pattern a size or more in order to allow room to fit over my hips. Even if there is a shirt in the pattern and the shirt fits me, I still need to enlarge the the skirt size. With this pattern, I used my normal size and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with the pattern! The waistband of the skirt sits higher than I’m used to, but I like it anyway. I don’t know when I’ll be able to wear it for the first time, but it’s ready to go!

I’m planning on making the shirt that goes with the pattern and possibly the blazer as well. I don’t know if they will fit properly like the skirt did, but I’m hopeful they will. Right now the shirt and blazer are not a top priority on my sewing list, but possibly after I finish my Festival costumes I’ll be able to go fabric shopping and see what I can find.

That’s all for now!