It was the easiest thing ever to grade. The skirt, aside from the pleats is cut on the fold, and is only two pieces, but I made both skirts from leftover fabric, so I had to improvise, and that is why you see that panel above the pleats in the front. I cut the front of the skirt short using the pattern as a gude, and cut those two smaller pieces from the scraps.

It works rather well because it gives a seam to line up the pleat piece so you dont have bulge by pivoting your stitch.

Here, I tried devoutly to follow the directions, and it turned out rather well. The drape of the wool helped tremendously too, because it was easier to fold the pleats (by the directions with the stiffness of this fabric.