Faux Leather Pencil Skirt

I decided to use a heavy weight, durable vinyl for my skirt, along with Simplicty #1760. Faux leather and the like can easily be found in larger fabric stores or online, and I recommend stepping out of your comfort zone and opting to use a bold shade for a playful, fun look.

The Amplify scissors' long blades easily slice through multiple layers, which allows you to cut accurately and precisely. It is not advisable to pin pattern pieces to faux leather or vinyl fabrics because the pin holes will make permanent marks. I used pattern weights to keep my pattern in place.

After cutting my pattern pieces, I followed the pattern directions for assembling the skirt. I deliberately chose a simple pattern because constructing a garment with bulky fabrics can affect how the fabric hangs when worn. And of course, there's no need to interface pattern pieces that usually require it, such as the waistband facing.

When it came to sewing, I pinned my pattern pieces together with pins inside the seam allowance – that way, the pinholes are not marking the front of the skirt. As you sew and build up multiple layers of fabric that you cannot pin, I recommend using binder clips or clothespins, to keep your fabrics together as you sew.

In order to ensure long-lasting, strong seams, I reinforced the stitching by pushing the seam allowances to one side and topstitching them down ¼" away from the original seam line. Faux leather does not have any stretch, so the seams are under pressure constantly as you move, stand and sit!

The pattern I used has a curved waistband. Cutting out notches within the seam allowance to make the fabric lay flat was very easy with my Amplify^® scissors. They cut super sharply, right to the tip of the blades.

Sewing a skirt like this can be a fun project for someone ready to take on the challenge of working with unusual fabrics and with the Amplify^® Scissors, there's no excuse not to get started!