Attempt to swathe girl, in place of skin treatment (7)
I believe the answer is:
tannery
'place of skin treatment' is the definition.
(place where animal skins are treated)
'attempt to swathe girl' is the wordplay.
'attempt' becomes 'try' (I've seen this before).
'to swathe' is an insertion indicator (swathe can mean to wrap up or clothe).
'girl' becomes 'anne' (I've seen this before**).
'try' going around 'anne' is 'TANNERY'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tannery that I've seen before include "Leather works" , "skin treatment facility" , "Place where leather is made" , "place for skin treatment" , "Building involved in making leather" .)