Butterick 5285 a.k.a The Perfect Summer Skirt

Monday 20 April 2015
One of my sewing aims for 2015 is to sew more separates, especially skirts and I’d forgotten about this gem of a pattern, Butterick 5285, which was hiding in my stash. The dated illustrations really don’t do this pattern any justice and a quick Google image search revealed its full potential. 



I went with version B which is pleated. I decided to make this exactly as instructed using some cheap dark blue cotton chambray from my local fabric shop; it would be a wearable muslin of sorts. 

The pattern dictates you can only use 60” fabric and it doesn’t even give you options for anything smaller. I’ve read that other bloggers have used a narrow fabric and simply inserted a seam at the centre front which I may try in future. Luckily the skirt front pattern piece just fitted onto my fabric. The back didn’t quite fit so I folded about 1.5cm from the large pleat which meets the zip and I was able to cut the piece out with the fabric still folded. I think the chambray is about 55” wide.

Construction was very straightforward although I rushed and didn’t notice that I’d started sewing my pieces together in the order for the gathered version A rather than the pleated version B but that was an easy fix, it just meant sewing all my pleats at once rather that front and 2 back pieces separately. My only annoyance is that my zip position is slightly too low on the centre back which means I have a tiny gap below the waistband – something which I’ll keep an eye on next time. The pattern suggests a hook and eye closure on the waistband but I had enough space for a button hole so went that route instead (also to help keep the skirt closed over my zip fail) plus I HATE sewing hook & eyes so avoid them at all costs!

The skirt has a gorgeous shape to it, a lovely flare over the hips and I’m already planning my next one albeit with a lining attached. The chambray works really well with my Boden stripe Breton top which is a bonus as I have several different colours.
Pattern notes: 
I used about 1.4 metres of fabric, from that I was able to cut the skirt front, back, one set of pockets and the waistband. I used some scrap fabric for the other set of pockets (pocket backs match the skirt and the fronts are light blue). 
I cut a size 22 which has a 37" waist and the only alteration I made was to pinch out 1.5cm from the large back pleat to fit the pattern piece onto my fabric.
There's a small 2cm hem and the skirt hits just below my knee (I'm 5ft6). 


I’ll leave you with a photo of my latest dress which I made a couple of weeks ago – it’s my Rainy Day Mortmain dress. I’d bought a fat quarter of this fabric at the Knitting & Stitching show 2013 and wished I’d bought more. After a mega internet search over the winter I managed to find a seller on ebay who had 3 metres in stock – meant to be! The Mortmain is fast becoming my Tried & Tested pattern of choice – I really love it!  
Happy Sewing! Hannah x 

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