Really, I had a score to settle with a faux leather skirt that I recently tried on in Topshop (pictured below). If you read my last post, you'll already know exactly how I feel about the sizing on the high street, and this one was no different. I loved the garment on the hanger, but when it came to trying in on, the hip measurements seemed to barely change between sizes. This was just at the time when I was testing the Nita pattern, and I thought it would work perfectly in faux leather if only I dared to brave working with it...

I bought the thin leatherette from B&M Fabrics when the lovely Jess from All Stitched Up came to visit and we had a mooch around the fabric shops of Leeds. It has a slight stretch, and is backed with a soft, thin jersey. I was wearing my first Nita at the time, and very much sitting on the fence wondering I could tackle a second in a fabric like this. Big thanks go to Jess for encouraging me to go for it - I needed the back up with this one!

The pattern itself is super simple to sew up, but making it in the faux leather proved to be pretty challenging. Although it was fine to sew when right sides were together (with the soft jersey backing on the outside) it was an absolute nightmare any time the right side was exposed during sewing. The tacky leatherette side dragged against my machine, creating some nasty misshaping when I tried to topstitch my front facing in place. Unpicking this left some dodgy marks too (see below), but luckily they're hidden away on the wrap side that sits underneath.

This is so not a forgiving fabric for making mistakes with!

I hadn't planned on doing it, but at this point, I realised I'd have to line the skirt to secure the folded facing edge (and avoid the topstitching). I used some leftover black crepe from my stash, which worked quite nicely. I hand-basted the lining and outer together to avoid any further machine-drag issues. Then followed this up with more hand stitching to finish the waistband. This was much easier than I thought - it just took a sharp needle and a bit of patience.

Hand basting layers together

The inside waistband, hand stitched to finish

Pressing wasn't too bad. Where I could, I used a cool iron on the wrong side of the fabric, and for the front and belt I managed to get some use out of my cooking books - knew they'd come in handy for something!

Resorting to unusual pressing techniques!

I made View A this time (the mini length) but still wanted to stick with the D-ring fastening of View B - I think the hardware and faux leather perfectly complement each other. I added an inch to the length of the skirt so I had a bit more room for manouever when hemming... but when I got to it, I was stumped by how to actually hem it, if at all! I knew I couldn't topstitch it like a normal hem because of the dragging issue, so tried hand stitching, but that just threw the fit of the front panels right off, creating unsightly kinks on the diagonal wrap edges.

Close up detail

So its currently unpicked and hanging loose - not the end of the world. Now I see why a lot of hems are unfinished on high street garments made in similar fabric. I probably should've tried out some of the nifty tricks for sewing with difficult fabrics from the start of this project. I'm really interested to know if anyone's tried the tape on the presser foot trick? Does it really work?! I've since bought a walking foot - a real investment, but if you're in Leeds, buy one from the sewing machine repairs shop in the market for about half the price! I've already tried it out on some hard to handle stretch fabric and it was G R E A T so I'm hoping it will work magic with faux leather too!

Sorry for the creases! I'd been wearing it for half the day by this point