Hagen skirt sew-along – Part 3

Today we’ll be cutting the fabric for our Hagen skirts. We are using black wool suiting and will be cutting the third pocket variation that we shared on the blog last week.

Before cutting it’s always smart to pre-shrink your fabric by simply washing and ironing it. Make sure to follow the fabric’s care instructions.

The pattern instructions on the second page show you how to lay out the pattern pieces on the fabric. It depends on the size you are cutting and the width of your fabric.

As always we don’t recommend using pins with pdf patterns since they are printed on regular office paper that is difficult to pin through. Use fabric weights if you have some, otherwise any small, heavy items will work fine for keeping the pattern pieces in place.

Note that you might be placing some of the pattern pieces print side down, depending on which size you are cutting.

Place these pieces on the fold:

•Both hem facings
•Front waist facing

These pieces are cut as two separate pieces (Cut 1 on folded fabric):

• Front
• Back
• Back waist facing

Use tailor’s chalk or a soft pencil to trace around the pattern pieces. The Hagen skirt includes all seam allowances so you don’t have to worry about adding them, unless of course you prefer to have wider allowances.

Note how we’ve cut one dart leg and folded the other leg. This is one way to mark your darts.

Notches can be marked similarly: Cut the notch on the pattern, flip one side up and draw a small line along the cut line.

Note that the pocket will be cut last on a single layer of fabric in order to save fabric. Unless you prefer two pockets of course!

When cutting, always cut away your tracing lines to make sure that you get an accurate result.

Don’t put your pattern pieces away after cutting, you’ll need to mark a few things. Print side down, place the front pattern on the other front piece and mark the other dart.

You will also need to mark the pocket placement on the front piece. Punch a hole in the pattern with scissors small, sharp scissors. Place pattern on top of front piece and mark through the hole with tailor’s chalk. If you’re not sure whether the chalk will wash out mark by doing a stitch in contrasting thread (“tailor’s tacks”).

Cut the lining fabric, again, follow the cutting layout on the pattern instructions. Note that the darts have been eliminated from the lining pattern. The front lining is cut on the fold and the back is cut in two pieces.

Interfacing for front is cut on the fold and interfacing for back is cut in two pieces.

Fuse the interfacing in place on the wrong side of the fabric.

Store all the pieces carefully. This pattern includes some small pieces that can easily get lost. Next on the sew-along we’ll start sewing.