The Classic French Skirt Course

The Classic French Skirt takes our Straight Skirt pattern and elevates it to an entirely new level. 

• The same quilting technique that is used in the Classic French Jacket can be applied to other garments as well - and it works beautifully for fitted skirts.
• Darts can be very bulky with textured fabrics, though, so we’ll start by modifying our darted skirt pattern, changing it to a pattern with princess seams.
• You’ll learn how to treat the lining seams, too - they’re finished by hand, in the same manner as the Classic French Jacket.

We’ll make two versions:
The first has princess seams, two small slits at the base of the side back seams, a hand-picked zipper, and an inner grosgrain waistband facing. Of course, there’s the quilting, too–for our sample, the fashion fabric is a loosely-woven tweed, and the lining is silk charmeuse.  We’ll discuss laying out plaids, and how to match them, and we’ll put a zipper in by hand. The resulting skirt is both structured (thanks to the quilting) and soft (thanks to the fabrics). It’s beautiful, and will keep its shape forever, thanks to its construction.


The second skirt has princess seams, too, and it has a faux overlap.  It closes in the center back with a hand-picked zipper, and it has a waistband. The fashion fabric has plenty of texture, so while the outer, visible part of the waistband is in the fashion fabric, the inner part of the waistband is in the lining fabric–it’s a clever way to reduce bulk. You’ll learn how to make a couture waistband–with its inner stay, covered snaps, specially-attached hooks and eyes, and couture-style hanging loops. And the skirt is trimmed along the edge of the overlap and the hem with a Classic French jacket-style braid…and 3 buttons along the edge of the overlap complete the design.  It’s quilted, of course, so the fabric is stabilized, yet retains its lovely movement.

NOTE: international customers will receive a digital version of the pattern for printing.