Five panels that hug the hips and flare at the knees in a fun flippy way. My first try in a rayon challis looked like this. One of the panels has a longer bottom piece which creates the dip in the front hem.
I have lost count of how many times I have sewn this pattern since that first success. The second time I sewed it I also used a rayon challis and it was pretty much the same.
Then I started adding a lining. A single layer of fabric sticks to bare legs in Virginia summer weather so a lining actually makes the skirt cooler to wear. Cotton voile or batiste makes a good lining. I also eliminated the dip in the hem because if the skirt twiddled around the dip ended up wherever and wasn't a good style element anymore.
Then I got sick of the zipper, tired of sewing it in and tired of feeling it against my skin in the heat. So I started making the skirt in light weight cotton lycra knits, serging the seams and applying an elastic waist. Perfect!
Now I am once again sewing this pattern this time in a rayon batik, an impulse purchase at a local independent. The lining is a rayon voile, a nice combination with the batik. The best part about this skirt iteration is using the invisible zipper foot that I finally got for my Viking 950s.
It's like magic. I thought I was doing well enough with my pintuck foot using the grooves to guide the invisible zipper, hah, how wrong I was. This invisible zipper foot makes it all sooooo much easier. It's so easy and nice that I don't even mind the fact that (due to poor planning on my part) I have to take out the zipper in my skirt project and install it again.
