So, this page from May of 2004 that describes the quest says in the last line of text that the tailoring skill check was removed:
http://web.archive.org/web/200405240...lostcircle.htm
So, presumably it was removed at some point before that guide was written. Nailing down exactly when is eluding me at the moment, but if the devs removed it here then they obviously found data indicating that during the server's intended era it had a skill check.
-Mcoy