Lanesplitter skirt

At long last, I finally finished my Lanesplitter skirt. It didn’t take long to knit, as it’s done on pretty big needles using a rather thick yarn (I used the suggested Noro Kureyon). The significant lag time between start and finish arose from the fact that I wanted to add a lining to the skirt. Linings can serve a number of functions, but I was mainly concerned with taking some of the stress off the knit fabric so it wouldn’t end up stretching out after a few wears. In the end, I’m sort of satisfied with the result, but not as much as I expected I would be.

It’s a cute pattern that takes on an A-line shape when the elastic waistband is sewn in (otherwise, it’s really just a large rectangle).

I used this tutorial for adding a lining, out of a piece of ribbed jersey knit I picked up as a remnant. You can see the lining here (and the nice thing about working with knit fabrics is the edges don’t ravel, so no hemming!):

What I discovered is that the entire waistline ends up quite bulky, even though the jersey itself is relatively thin. In fact, the skirt + folded over lining was so thick that my sewing machine couldn’t quite handle it and I had to resort to sewing by hand. I also found that the lining clings quite badly to tights/leggings, although it’s fine with bare legs. I guess it will be more of a spring than a winter skirt.

I do really like the look of the fabric, though. Next time I might just make one without the lining and see how it holds up. Another option might be to use a more slippery lining, although it won’t be as stretchy (and will be even more difficult to work with). Still, it will be fun to wear as Toronto slowly warms up in the brief window of decent weather it calls springtime.