How to Create a Skirt Placket / Aimee's Victorian Armoire

Knowing how to create a skirt placket is a very easy, yet very vital skill when it comes to sewing. Whether you sew historical pieces, vintage or modern, a properly sewn placket adds a crisp and tailored look!

But what is a placket, you ask? Great question! It is actually something I learned years into historical sewing. A placket is a small strip of fabric attached to a slit in back or front panel of the skirt. It is carefully constructed that when you skirt is closed, no gaps or glimpses of your petticoat will be seen! Handy, right?

Begin by taking a 3-4 inch wide piece of fabric and cut it as as long as you need. I usually cut my plackets 4″ x 10″, but it is up to you – let your waist measurement be the guide. The wider the waist, the longer the placket needed.

Then press down the top of one long side.

Now this part is the key to a properly constructed placket!

Take your skirt and identify where you want the placket: center back, side, front. Cut the skirt half the measurement of the placket. For example: with a 10″ placket, I will have my cut go down 5″. Then pin the placket to the edge of this cut, right sides together. Line up the raw edges until around 2″ on either side of the middle of the cut, then begin to pin the placket 1/4″ above the skirt. See the pictures below…the skirt is on top of the placket.

Notice how the raw edges are not even? Thats what you want. The places to peep up about 2″ from either side of the cut.

This is what will allow the placket to hang properly. Go ahead and stitch a 1/4″ seam along the entire placket – however, note that the skirt will barely have any seam allowance the closer you get to the center of the skirt.

Now, press the placket in half towards the inside and stitch the folded edge over the raw edge of the skirt.

Then, fold the skirt and placket right sides together and stitch a diagonal line across the bottom of the folded placket.

And that’s it!

Notice how the placket naturally falls with one side laying over the other. Baste the side that naturally wants to fold back to the inside along the top and continue your skirt as desired!